Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports
Notre Dame Cruises To Third Straight ACC Victory
Notre Dame (14-8 / 5-6) is finally heating up, earning its third straight win in conference play after cruising to an 80-72 victory over Pittsburgh (14-9 / 5-7).
The Irish lost four of five coming into its recent three-game home stand, with those losses coming by a combined 11 points. With three winnable games on the schedule the Irish needed a strong home stand before heading out for a three-game road trip, and the victory over Pittsburgh capped that off.
The veterans carried the Irish to its 80-72 victory over Georgia Tech on Saturday, and they sparked a strong early start against the Panthers, with seniors John Mooney, Juwan Durham, TJ Gibbs and Rex Pflueger all scoring as the Irish jumped out to an 11-4 lead.
Pittsburgh answered with a 15-2 run as the Irish struggled to make shots, going just 1-8 from the floor during that stretch. Gibbs got the Irish back on track with a triple, and Mooney followed up with a basket down low before Gibbs put the Irish back on top 20-19 with a jumper.
Notre Dame would never trail again. The Irish went on a 19-8 run of its own to pull ahead 32-26. Every attempt Pittsburgh made to close the lead was answered as the Irish took a 42-33 lead into the break after sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb knocked down a three at the buzzer.
Pittsburgh tried to claw back early in the second half, twice cutting the Irish lead to five points, but Hubb hit a shot and drew a foul, putting the Irish back up eight after knocking down the free throw. Notre Dame went up 10 after back-to-back fast break buckets from sophomore Dane Goodwin.
That was part of an 11-0 run that pushed the Irish lead to 60-44, but the Irish weren’t done. The lead climbed to 19 after a 20-8 Notre Dame run over eight minutes. Pittsburgh scored the final two baskets of the game, all in the final minute of the contest, which made the final score closer than how the game played out.
Mooney continued his brilliant season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, but Gibbs was the star of the night for the Irish. The veteran guard scored 21 points on just 13 shots, knocking down 5-8 from deep. It was Gibbs that seemed to come up with the shots to end every Pittsburgh comeback attempt. Gibbs big night helped overcome his backcourt mates struggling, as Hubb and Pflueger combined to go just 4-14 from the field and 4-14 from three-point territory.
Notre Dame had four scorers in double figures, with sophomore Nate Laszweksi and Durham both scoring 11 points. Laszewski also grabbed six rebounds while Durham blocked three shots.
The Irish shot 46-percent from the floor and knocked down 10 triples in the victory, which helped overcome an uncharacteristicly high number of turnovers (12).
Notre Dame next plays on Sunday at Clemson. The Tigers are just 11-10 on the season but do own victories Duke, Syracuse and North Carolina.
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Visit our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/IrishBreakdown/
