New night, same story — the Irish choked down the stretch as they went cold and couldn’t box out in the final five minutes
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s hoops team lost in a close one to the Florida State Seminoles this evening, falling 68 to 61 on the road and making them 13-15 (3-12 ACC) on the year.
The Irish were led by D.J. Harvey’s 18 points and Prentiss Hubb’s 17 points and 7 rebounds. John Mooney added 14 and 8, and the Irish shot 40% from both the field and from three point land. T.J. Gibbs, notably, had a poor shooting night, as he made just 2-of-9 shots and scored only 4 points after averaging 19.5 ppg over the last 4 contests.
Florida State, meanwhile, shot 45% from the field and 32% from deep, led by Devin Vassell’s 13 points and 7 rebounds. Christ Koumadje added 12 and 5, and Mfiondu Kabengele scored 10 in the winning effort.
The two teams were even at halftime with 33 points apiece, as the Irish shot uncharacteristically well, knocking down 6-of-13 three pointers. D.J. Harvey (11 points) and Prentiss Hubb (10 points) paced the first half effort and actually pushed the Irish to a 10-point lead early on, but the Seminoles stormed back behind Chris Koumadje (8 points), Mfiondu Kabengele (6 points), and Devin Vassell (6 points). FSU turned the ball over 9 times in the first half.
In the 2nd half, the Irish kept the good mojo going, opening on an 11-4 run to take an 8-point lead into the first media timeout, as Harvey and Hubb both continued their strong shooting during the run.
From there, Florida State trimmed the lead a bit, and then the two teams traded baskets as the ND lead hovered around 3-5 for a solid stretch of the game. The Seminoles then went on a little run, taking the lead with roughly 6 minutes to go.
For the next 5 minutes, Notre Dame failed to make a field goal, but still managed to be down just 63-61 with about 35 seconds to play.
However, down the stretch, the Seminoles hit enough free throws and the Irish struggled to get any more buckets, ultimately falling by 7 in Tallahassee.
The Irish play again on Sunday at the Louisville Cardinals.
