Notre Dame Thumps Boston College For An ACC Tournament Victory
Notre Dame (20-12) turned the tables on Boston College (13-19) to win its first game of the ACC Tournament, beating the Eagles 80-58 after the two teams split one-point games during the regular season.
Head coach Mike Brey shook things up at the start, replacing Juwan Durham with Dane Goodwin in the starting lineup. The move paid off with Durham getting into double figures for the first time in seven games.
Durham finished the game with 12 points after scoring just nine in the previous three contests.
The start to the game was similar to the previous two contests, which both ended with the victory pulling the game out late by just a point. Notre Dame held a 12-9 lead through the first nine minutes of the game, but an 18-3 run put the Irish up 30-12.
Durham scored seven straight points at one point during that run, and Goodwin and fellow sophomore Nate Laszewski provided offense as well.
Boston College went on a 7-2 run before the Irish rattled off the final five points of the half, with Goodwin drilling a triple from the right wing with just over ten seconds left on the clock to put Notre Dame up 36-21 at the half.
Durham and Goodwin combined for 16 points at the break.
Notre Dame’s defense wasn’t as crisp if the second half and the Irish allowed the Eagles to get back in the game, at least for awhile.
Goodwin knocked down a corner three on a drive and dash from point guard Prentiss Hubb to start the half, but and the Irish led by at least 12 points for over eight minutes of the second half.
Boston College junior forward Steffon Mitchell got hot and got the Eagles back in the game. Mitchell scored seven straight points to help cut the lead to seven halfway through the final half.
Notre Dame had no answer for Mitchell, who scored 17 points in the second half before going down with an injury.
Mitchell made a pair of free throws to once again get the game to single digits before a game-changing sequence sucked all the energy away from Boston College. Laszewski slashed to the basket and hit a bank shot, and senior guard TJ Gibbs stole the in bounds pass and put it in to finish off a four-point swing that put the Irish up 13 with 6:03 left in the game.
Boston College would never get it back to single digits, as Notre Dame outscored the Eagles 23-10 in the final six and a half minutes of the game.
The Irish had a balanced offensive performance with five players reaching double figures, and none of them were first-team All-ACC forward John Mooney, who scored just eight points (11 rebounds) while battling foul trouble.
Mooney struggling and Notre Dame dominating was a great sign for the Irish. For much of the year when Mooney didn’t play well the Irish struggled, but that wasn’t the case against the Eagles. Gibbs paced the Irish with 16 points, Goodwin scored 15 points, Hubb added 14 points and Laszewski had 10 points off the bench.
For Notre Dame, the hope is this kind of performance will instill confidence in the other Irish players and also take some of the pressure off Mooney, who has had to carry the team for much of the season.
Notre Dame shot 44.6% from the floor and 40% from deep (10-25) after struggling to shoot in its two regular season matchups against Boston College.
The Irish will face Virginia (23-7) tomorrow night in the quarterfinals. Tip off is slated for 7:00 PM (Eastern).
