Notre Dame Offense Catches Fire In Upset Win At Duke
Notre Dame (8-10) accomplished something it has never done in Mike Brey's long and successful career, and that is beat the Duke Blue Devils (7-8) in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Notre Dame's redhot offense ultimately could not be contained as the Irish beat the Blue Devils 93-89.
Notre Dame could not stop Duke in the first half, as the Blue Devils scored 50 points in the first twenty minutes, but guard Cormac Ryan was just as hot, and he kept the Fighting Irish in the game.
Ryan scored 21 points in the first half as the Irish trailed just 50-45 heading into the break.
Notre Dame wasn't much better in the second half when it came to getting stops, but it didn't matter, as the offense took it to the Blue Devils all game long, doing damage inside and out.
Duke started to pull away early in the second half, scoring two quick baskets to go up nine. That is the point when past Notre Dame teams would start to fade, but not in this game. Ryan responded with a triple, and after Duke scored on the opposite end Irish guard Prentiss Hubb hit another triple and the Irish were able to keep Duke from running away with it.
Notre Dame slowly chipped away at the Duke lead, and when Ryan started to get some help the offense took off. A pair of makes by Trey Wertz were sandwiched around a triple from Dane Goodwin as Notre Dame took a 66-64 lead.
Duke took the lead back on a three from Jalen Johnson, but Notre Dame big man Juwan Durham put the Irish back up, and over the next five minutes the teams continued to trade leads.
With the game tied 83-83 the Irish made their run.
Durham went to the rim to give the Irish a lead, and that lead was extended when he knocked down a baseline jumper. Ryan took a charge on the defensive end, and Hubb answered that big play on defense with a triple that put Notre Dame up 90-85, and Duke couldn't answer.
Ryan finished the game with a career-high 28 points. All five Irish starters finished in double digits, with Hubb adding 15 points and Durham doing for 13. Hubb also had eight assists. Wertz and Nikola Djogo both scored seven points off the bench.
Notre Dame knocked down 55.2% of hits shots from behind the arc and went 11-25 from deep. The Irish also went 18-20 at the free throw line, compared to just 7-8 against Duke, something you rarely seen in Cameron Indoor.
Notre Dame snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Blue Devils.
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