That hurt
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Tonight the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (15-8, 6-6) continued their road trip, traveling to Charlottesville (John Paul Jones Arena), to face the defending national champion Virginia Cavaliers (15-6, 7-4). The Irish are the only team in the ACC scheduled for three away games over the course of seven days in league action this season. Notre Dame hoped to get its first win in Charlottesville, and trails Virginia 2-12 in the all-time series. How did they do? Lets take a look.
Virginia wasn’t able to score on their first possession of the game, but Notre Dame converted on theirs with a jump shot by John Mooney. Juwan Durham was the second Irishman to get points on the board, and then Virginia sunk their first three-point shot to take their first lead of the game, 5-4 Virginia. Notre Dame quickly answered that three, with a three-point shot of their own, by Prentiss Hubb. At the first timeout, Notre Dame was up 7-5 (15:30)
Following the timeout, Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite made his layup to tie the game at 7-7. Notre Dame missed two three-point shots on their next possession, but Virginia couldn’t score on their next possession either. Notre Dame would then miss five straight shots, and go scoreless for four minutes, but the game was still tied. Virginia, who was also struggling with a scoring drought of their own, finally got a bucket to sink at 11:08; getting the bucket and the foul. Diakite made one from the line, 10-7 Virginia.
Hubb then shot a contested three, but missed yet again, and the Notre Dame scoring drought continued. At 9:46, Mooney missed his layup but drew the foul, and headed to the line and sank them both. (10-9 Virginia) Dane Goodwin then sunk his first three-point shot to give the Irish a two point lead. On Virginia’s next possession, Braxton Key snuck in a two-point layup, and then Hubb answered with a three-point shot. Virginia’s Kihei Clark made a jumper, and as we headed into a timeout, the Irish were up by one, 15-14. (6:58)
John Mooney was then fouled by Jay Huff and headed to the line, but only made one of the two shots from the line. Virginia headed down court and Casey Morsell made a jumper, which was followed quickly by a Nate Laszewski three-point shot. Notre Dame up 19-16. At 3:09 Virginia’s Clark made a jumper, followed by a Durham jumper which also drew the foul. He did not make the shot from the line though. Virginia’s Diakite made a jumper, quickly followed by a Durham dunk. (23-20 Notre Dame, 1:33) To round out the half, Diakite made one more jumper, and TJ Gibbs responded with a three-point shot, and we head into the half 26-22 Notre Dame.
Lets take a look at the stats at the half. Notre Dame made 9-of-27 two-point shots, 5-of-12 three-point shots, and made 3-of-5 shots from the free throw line. Virginia made 10-of-26 two-point shots, 1-of-8 three-point shots, and made 1-of-1 shots from the free throw line.
To start the second half, Rex Pflueger missed a layup and Virginia took over on possession. The two teams kept trading possessions, and finally Virginia got points on the board with a three-point shot by Clark. This was quickly followed by a Mooney jumper, 28-25 Notre Dame. Diakite made a jumper, and Mooney responded with a jumper of his own, and it’s still a three-point game. (30-27 Notre Dame, 14:50 remaining in the half.)
Clark sneaks in a bucket at 14:29, and the Cavaliers moved to within one point. Laszewski then shot from the key and it rolled in, 32-29 Irish. Hubb made a beautiful jumper, and Notre Dame had it’s largest lead of the day, 34-29. But, it didn’t last long as Casey Morsell made a three-point jumper and Notre Dame’s lead was only two points. Laszewski made the fast break and the layup, and it was a four point game.
As we headed into a media timeout with 11:28 remaining, the Irish were up by three, 36-33. Coming out of the break the Irish get on the board first on a Laszewski jumper. On Virginia’s next possession, Mooney picked up his first foul and Diakite headed to the line and sank both shots. (38-35 Notre Dame) Virginia’s Jay Huff then sank a huge three, his first points of the night, and the game is tied at 38. At this point Coach Brey decided it was time to settle everyone down and he took a timeout. (8:55 on the clock.)
After the timeout, Jay Huff made a quick jumper, followed by a three-point shot on their next possession, and the Cavaliers were up by five points, and were on a 10-0 scoring run (eight of them scored by Huff). Notre Dame got their scoring going again on a Hubb layup, and the score was 43-40 Virginia. (6:58) Time to turn it on, Irish.
Diakite snuck in a layup, and the Cavaliers were back to a five point lead. Notre Dame responded with a layup from Laszewski, and the Irish were down by three points. 5:40 remaining in the game. Virginia’s Tomas Woldetensae missed his three-point attempt, and at the other end of the court Mooney tipped the ball in and the Irish were only down by one. (45-44 Virginia) Virginia’s Casey Morsell missed his three-point jumper, and Laszewski got the rebound, and Notre Dame took a timeout.
After the break, Hubb picked up the offensive foul, and Virginia got the ball back, but couldn’t convert the possession into points. Hubb shot the three and missed, and on the next Virginia possession Diakite got fouled by Mooney. Gibbs Jr. made a clutch three at 2:42, and the Irish go up by two. Mooney got the defensive rebound, and Hubb attempted a three with two seconds on the shot clock and missed. Virginia ball. (1;37 on the clock)
As the seconds run off the clock Notre Dame makes the steal, and Hubb is fouled by Huff. One minute remaining on the clock, and Notre Dame had the ball. Laszewski let it fly and missed and Virginia got the rebound. With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, Virginia tied the game on a Diakite jumper, and Coach Brey called a timeout to center his squad.
20.1 seconds on the clock and Notre Dame must control the basketball. Hubb took the ball in, and was fouled by Clark. (13.1 seconds on the clock) Hubb with the ball again, and was again fouled by Clark. Three seconds left on the clock, Mooney tried to sneak a shot in under the basket and missed, but there were still .3 seconds on the clock. One more chance to win in regulation. The ball is inbounded to Gibbs Jr who made and instant shot and missed. We’re headed to overtime.
Both teams missed shots to begin overtime, and with one minute already off the clock it’s still tied at 47. Diakite was fouled by Mooney, and headed to the line where he made both free throw shots. 49-47 Virginia. On Notre Dame’s next possession Hubb made a gorgeous jumper to tie the game once again. Gibbs went up for a jumper, and even though there was a lot of contact no foul was called. Huff was fouled by Gibbs, and Huff missed his free throw shot and Goodwin got the rebound. Mooney drove in the lane and missed his jumper but was fouled by Diakite, his second. At the free throw line, Mooney missed both shots and then the loose ball foul was called on Mooney. Key headed to the line and made one of his two shots. 50-49 Virginia.
Two minutes remained and Notre Dame had the ball. Goodwin shot a three that nearly went down, but bounced out and Virginia got the ball back. The Irish got the ball back on a Pflueger block and with two seconds on the shot clock Hubb missed his jumper and it’s Virginia ball. Clark shot a three and missed, and Notre Dame takes a timeout.
With 18 seconds left on the clock Notre Dame inbounded the ball to Hubb and the Irish headed down court. Gibbs made a three point shot and missed with six seconds on the clock, and Virginia won by one point. This one is a heart breaker for sure, but the Irish never gave up.
Here are the final game stats: Notre Dame made 20-of-61 two-point shots, 6-of-26 three-point shots, and made 3-of-7 shots from the free throw line. Virginia made 19-of-51 two-point shots, 5-of-20 three-point shots, and made 7-of-11 shots from the free throw line.
Notre Dame’s next game is on Saturday, February 15, 2020, at Duke, 4pm ET.
