Notre Dame Falls To Virginia, Continuing Struggles Against The Cavaliers
Notre Dame was looking for its first win versus a ranked opponent since 2017 as they welcomed the #23 Virginia Cavaliers into Purcell Pavilion, but the struggles against the Cavalier program continued, as the Fighting Irish fell 66-57.
Defense was the name of the game as neither team came close to the 50% mark from the field and combined for 13 turnovers and 6 steals. Notre Dame did all they could to stay in this game but was never able to make enough plays on the offensive end of the floor.
Head coach Mike Brey went with a four guard starting lineup again hoping that it would spark the offense for the Irish but they were only able to muster 24 first half points and 31% from the field. The positive is that they held Virginia to just 30 points.
Notre Dame struggled to put the ball in the hoop going two different stretches of 7:24 and 6:08 without a bucket.
The lone offensive bright spot for the Irish was forward Nate Laszewski, as the junior stretch four scored 14 points in each half to finish with a career-high 28 points.
Guard Trey Wertz, the transfer from Santa Clara, who had 27 points against Purdue last Saturday was only able to get one point on the board before he was taken to the locker room right before halftime with a sprained ankle. Wertz did not return.
The absence of Wertz allowed Brey to go with the combination of Laszewski and senior Juwan Durham, which proved to be a pretty solid one-two punch. The duo combined for 47 of the final 57 points for the Irish, who out-scored the Cavaliers 24-22 in the paint.
The problem is the play of the big men was not enough as guards Prentice Hubb, Cormac Ryan and Dane Goodwin combined for just nine points while shooting 3-20 from the field.
7-foot-1 senior forward Jay Huff was solid for Virginia, hitting 7-9 shots for 15 points while junior guard Kihei Clark had 19 for the visitors. Senior forward Sam Hauser chipped in 13 for the Cavaliers and had a huge bucket late as the Cavaliers pulled away..
Notre Dame is now 1-10 against the Cavaliers during Brey's tenure and 2-15 all-time.
Notre Dame will be back in action January 2 for a 2:00 start as they travel to the Panthers of Pittsburgh.
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