Notre Dame snags a win over Duke 93-89

Mike Brey and the boys bounce back from their collapse on Saturday with their first win against Duke in over 5 years

After a slight bump in the road against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over the weekend, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men’s Basketball team tried to put another notch in the win column on the road against the Duke Blue Devils. Headed into the match-up Notre Dame was 7-10 overall, 4-7 ACC, and Duke was 7-7 overall, 5-5 ACC. Duke also headed into the match-up off a weekend loss against their cross town rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels. Here’s how the game played out.

Duke got on the board first, and made two buckets in a row before Notre Dame got on the board with a Juwan Durham layup. The Irish had a difficult time getting the buckets to sink in the first ten minutes of the half, being down as much as 15 points, and then the Irish seemed to get their rhythm back.

The gap started to narrow in the last five minutes of the half, and with 3:24 remaining a Cormac Ryan three-point shot got the Irish to within two points (38-40). The Irish performance at the free throw line in the first half, also contributed to the closing gap, with Nate Laszewski, Nikola Djogo and Ryan being very productive from the free throw line.

At the end of the first half, the Irish were only down by five (45-50), and the smell of an upset hung in the air.

In the second half, the Irish started sinking the three-point shot, with Cormac Ryan making one to start the half, followed by another three by Prentiss Hubb. Three minutes into the half, though, the Irish were down by nine (51-60), and the upset wasn’t looking so good. But as the half continued, the three-point shots got hot again, with Dane Goodwin and Trey Wertz getting into the action. Then, on a jumpshot by Juwan Durham, the Irish would go up by one point, 68-67 (12:54).

For the remaining twelve minutes of the half, the two teams would stay neck and neck with each other, with the largest lead being a 92-87 lead by the Irish with 21 seconds remaining in the game. The Irish would hang on to upset the Blue Devils by a score of 93-89, and add another win to their record.

Game Stats:

Field Goals: Notre Dame 55.2 % - Duke 52.2%

Three-Point Shots: Notre Dame 44% - Duke 45.5%

Turnovers: Notre Dame 7 - Duke 12

Rebounds: Notre Dame 27 - Duke 35

Game Leaders:

Cormac Ryan (Notre Dame): 28 Points, 10-16 Field Goals, 4/5 Free Throws

Wendell Moore Jr (Duke): 24 Points, 9/16 Field Goals, 4/4 Free Throws

Next up the Irish face the Miami Hurricanes at home on Sunday, February 14th, at 6:00 pm ET.

Cheers & GO IRISH!