Duke Dominates Notre Dame As Irish Tourney Hopes Fade

Early on it seemed Notre Dame vs. Duke would look much like most of the games played by the Fighting Irish this season. But late in the first half the game started to take a much different turn as the Blue Devils routed Notre Dame, winning 94-60.

Seven of Notre Dame’s first nine losses were by five points or less, and for much of the first half it seemed we were headed for another close finish. After Duke took a 20-12 lead, Notre Dame scored seven straight points to make it 20-19 with 8:38 left in the opening half.

Duke scored the next nine points, and after the Irish briefly battled back the Blue Devils started to pull away with another 9-0 run, which led to Notre Dame trailing 42-32 heading into halftime.

The Blue Devils made sure Notre Dame didn’t think a comeback was a possibility, extending the lead to 19 within five minutes. Notre Dame simply could not make enough shots, or make enough stops on the defensive end, to stay in the game.

Duke used a balanced attack to put Notre Dame, with seven different Blue Devils scoring as they pulled away.

Notre Dame could not buy a bucket in the second half, going just 4-21 from the field as Duke extended its lead to 74-44.

The Irish big men battled, with John Mooney scoring 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds, and senior forward Juwan Durham scored a career-high 21 points. The two bigs combined to go 18-29 from the floor, but the rest of the Irish offense struggled.

Starting guard TJ Gibbs, Prentiss Hubb and Rex Pflueger combined to make just 2-of-20 shots. Notre Dame’s bench wasn’t much better, going just 3-14 from the floor. Hubb had just six points to go with five turnovers.

Duke center Vernon Carey Jr. led the Blue Devils with 21 points and sophomore guard Tre Jones was an effective 9-13 from the floor while scoring 19 points to go with six assists. The Blue Devil bench scored 29 points.

Notre Dame falls to 15-10 on the season and 6-8 in conference play. The Irish return home for a Monday contest against North Carolina. The Tar Heels are just 10-14 on the season and 3-10 in league play.