Notre Dame Upsets #11 Florida State To End Regular Season
The 2020-21 season certainly didn't go the way Notre Dame wanted it to, but the Fighting Irish ended the regular season with the program's biggest win in years, beating #11 Florida State 83-73. It was a convincing win for Notre Dame, and it was a great final game on their home court.
Notre Dame's win was thorough, and the Irish led from start to finish. Unlike past games, the Irish would not relent on this big lead, using a balanced scoring attack to throttle the Seminoles.
Point guard Prentiss Hubb kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer, and from that point on Florida State never tied or led in the game. Hubb finished the game with 22 points, surpassing 1,000 points for his career, but he went just 6-17 from the floor and turned the ball over six times.
Playing in his final home game, senior captain Nikola Djogo provided Notre Dame with its first run of the game. He scored seven straight points for the Irish, and that was followed by a triple from Cormac Ryan, which gave the Irish its first double-digit lead of the game. Ryan hit another triple on the next possession to finish a 13-2 run that Florida State could never recover from.
Hubb had 13 points at the break, but Notre Dame had five players with at least six points in the first twenty minutes. Notre Dame attacked the rim aggressively, which opened up opportunities outside and got the Irish to the free throw line. Notre Dame went 7-18 from deep in the first half and knocked down 12-14 free throws as the Irish led 47-31 at the break.
Florida State scored the first seven points of the second half to make it a 47-38 game, but the Irish would not give up its lead in this game. Hubb went right to the rim on the next possession, beating Sardaar Charles for a left-handed layup. It was the basket that put Hubb over the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Florida State tried to hang around, but Notre Dame answered them basket for basket over the next three minutes. Florida State tried to make another late run, and a Scottie Barnes basket made it a 70-64 game with 4:51 left in the game.
Ryan answered with a runner off the glass that stopped the quick Seminole run. Anthony Polite tried to take Dane Goodwin baseline on the next possession but Goodwin beat him to the spot and forced a travel. On the ensuing possession Hubb again went down the left side of the lane for another basket, this time beating MJ Walker.
Notre Dame went scoreless on six straight possessions, which allowed the Seminoles to make it 74-70 game, but Hubb once again went to the rim, this time driving down the right side before going up-and-under, laying it up on the left side.
The Irish made seven free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Goodwin scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the game. Juwan Durham had nine points and nine boards, and Djogo, Nate Laszewski and Ryan all finished with 11 points.
The win marked the first time since 2017 that Notre Dame beat a ranked opponent.
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