Notre Dame Drops Must-Win to Florida State: Key Stats from Loss

Things started slowly for Notre Dame on Saturday, falling behind Florida State by as many as 18, but rallying to take the lead with just under three minutes to play.

However, it wasn't meant to be for the Fighting Irish as it was ultimately outplayed by just enough down the stretch to give Florida State an 82-79 victory in South Bend.

As a result, Notre Dame falls to 11-13 overall and just 2-9 in ACC play. With seven conference games remaining, this one especially stung Notre Dame's chances to make the ACC tournament, as the bottom three teams from the conference don't qualify for it, and Notre Dame is currently tied for 17th in the conference with Pittsburgh.

Here are five quick numbers that told the story of Notre Dame's latest home loss to Florida State.

0-6 at the Free Throw Line

Boy, there is being a bad free-throw shooter and then there is being awful. God bless Carson Towt but his 0-6 showing at the line, with two of those coming in the final seconds, was key in Notre Dame's loss. It's nothing new for Towt, who has never shot better than 51.2% from the line in a given season, but that liability came to play a difference Saturday.

Aside from Towt, Notre Dame shot 15-18 from the line as a team.

Turnovers Prove Costly

It's the story of the season but not having Markus Burton to handle the ball has been a dread for Notre Dame. That was evident again on Saturday as the Irish turned the ball over 12 times to the just five Florida State gave away. Add it up and that meant for a 14-7 advantage for Florida State in the points off turnovers battle.

Playing from Behind

Starting slow and having to expend all sorts of energy to get back in the game certainly didn't help Notre Dame. The Irish trailed 17-2 to start and by as many as 18 points and spent 94% of the game trailing the Seminoles. Credit for being in position to even have a chance of stealing one at the end, but plenty was done early in this one to cost Notre Dame from having a much better chance.

11-Straight from Certa

I've been negative enough, I suppose. Let's at least end it on a positive tonight. When Notre Dame needed offense in the second half, Cole Certa delivered, hitting three-straight threes and making a layup to score 11-straight points for the Irish, bringing the score from being down eight to down just three at the end of that run.

Next Up for Notre Dame:

Notre Dame will return to action on Tuesday night in Dallas as it travels to take on SMU (16-7, 5-5).