Notre Dame had a chance at its signature win of the season when it welcomed Duke to Purcell Pavilion. A sellout crowd was on hand hoping to storm the court in Mike Krzyzewski’s final game coaching in South Bend. Instead, the Irish were stymied by a tough Blue Devils and did themselves no favors offensively in a 57-43 loss. It was the lowest scoring output for the Irish since a 59-41 defeat at Georgetown in 2012.
The Irish (14-7, 7-3) shot a paltry 6 of 32 from the field in the first half (18.8 percent), missing from just about everywhere on the court, and never recovered. You especially can’t expect to do that when you go scoreless for the final four-and-a-half minutes of that half. Add in some big defensive plays throughout from the Blue Devils (18-3, 8-2), and this was a game that fell far short of the hype. While the Blue Devils didn’t shoot that great from the field either (39.4 percent), there was no way the Irish were going to win shooting 27.9 percent from the field against anyone, let alone a blue blood.
Paolo Banchero, expected to be one the first picks in this year’s NBA draft, led all scorers with 21 points. AJ Griffin supported Banchero well with 13 points. Both players grabbed nine rebounds, as did Theo Jon.
Paul Atkinson Jr. was the only Irish scorer to reach double figures (14 points). Although Nate Laszewski became the 67th player in program history to reach 1,000 points, his four points while shooting 1 of 5 from the field barely registered a blip on the radar. Blake Wesley shot 3 of 15, and Prentiss Hubb was 2 of 9. Worst of all, Dane Goodwin had an 0-of-7 showing and was held scoreless for the first time since his freshman season.
This was bad. Like, all of it was bad. Now, the Irish have to travel to ACC-leading Miami for a game that won’t be any easier. It’s back to the drawing board for Mike Brey and his staff.
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