Notre Dame Falls To Virginia In Overtime

The Irish missed several opportunities to come away with the upset but ultimately fell short.

Notre Dame (15-9 / 6-7) missed a golden opportunity to climb up the ACC standings, but the Irish ultimately fell 50-49 in overtime against the Virginia Cavaliers (16-7 / 8-5). With the loss the Notre Dame tournament resume took a big hit.

It was a close game throughout, with neither team leading by more than five points. There were eight lead changes in the sloppy first half, which saw the two teams combine to shoot just 37-percent from the floor in the opening half.

Notre Dame knocked down five triples in the first half while the Cavaliers made just one, which was the difference as the Irish took a 26-22 lead into halftime after TJ Gibbs hit a three-pointer from the corner before the clock expired.

The offense sputtered to start the second half but the Irish were able to hold onto the lead for over ten minutes. Virginia forward Jay Huff fueled a 10-0 Cavalier run with a three-pointer that tied the game at 38-38 at the 9:52 mark.

After two missed three-pointers from John Mooney and an Irish turnover, Huff put the Cavaliers up for the first time since it was 10-7 in the first half. Huff ended the run with another triple to give Virginia a 43-38 lead, which was its largest of the game.

Virginia seemed to take control as the Irish offense continued to struggle to find and make open shots, but a Gibbs steal and a transition layup from Prentiss Hubb got the Irish back on track.

Notre Dame held Virginia scoreless for more than six minutes late in the half as it built a 47-45 lead, but two missed three-pointers in the final minute allowed Virginia big man Mamadi Diakite to tie the game with 0:27 left in regulation by hitting a jumper in front of Mooney.

The poor offense for both teams continued in overtime.

Virginia was able to win the game without making a single basket in overtime. The Cavaliers made three free throws while Notre Dame went just 1-6 from the floor in overtime, and Mooney missed two free throws as the Irish fell short.

Notre Dame went 6-26 from deep in the loss, missing a number of open shots but also rushing a number of deep attempts. Virginia went just 5-20, but the Cavaliers went 7-11 from the line while Notre Dame went just 3-7.

Diakite led all scorers with 20 points. He was the only Virginia player to reach double figures.

Mooney finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds but went just 4-14 from the field and missed all five of his three-point attempts. Gibbs was off all night, making just 2-11 shots to finish with six points. Senior Rex Pflueger failed to score a point, going 0-5 from the floor. Hubb finished with 12 points, four assists and three steals.

Notre Dame heads to #7 Duke (21-3) for a 4:00 PM (Eastern) contest on Saturday.