Notre Dame Loses Another Heartbreaker
What could have been for Notre Dame in 2019-20.
Notre Dame has been competitive all season, battling game after game and coming oh so close to a number of huge victories. There can be no questioning the fight and heart of this team, but at the end of the day the Fighting Irish simply could not finish and make plays when it counted.
That was once again the case as the Irish fell 73-71 to #7 Florida State in a game the Irish led for all but 19 seconds.
Notre Dame falls to 18-12 on the season, and eight of those losses have been by five or fewer points. The Irish lost twice to the Seminoles by a combined three points.
The Fighting Irish seemed to be in control of the game, jumping out to a 42-35 halftime lead thanks to a brilliant first half from Prentiss Hubb and John Mooney, who combined for 35 points in the first stanza on 13-17 shooting.
Florida State closed the gap to four early in the second half before an Irish surge pushed the lead to 11. Notre Dame grabbed its biggest lead when Hubb drilled a triple to put the Irish up 61-48 with 10:04 left in the game.
The Irish offense, which had performed so well up to that point, went ice cold the remainder of the game. Notre Dame scored just two points in just under seven minutes as Florida State climbed all the way back to tie the game 63-63 with 3:20 left in the game.
Senior guard Rex Pflueger drilled a high arching triple to push the Irish back up, but Florida State tied it back up after MJ Walker knocked down three free throws. Hubb again put the Irish up, this time 71-68, but the Irish would not score a point in the final 1:13 of the game.
Florida State tied it up on a pair of Trent Forrest free throws, and Hubb missed a lay-up on the other end. Forrest missed a shot near the basket with five seconds left but he got his own miss and put it back for the lead. Hubb’s half court desperation heave hit the back of the rim but didn’t go in.
It was another crushing defeat for Notre Dame, who couldn’t get the ball to Mooney in the second half. Notre Dame’s leading scorer failed to score a point in the second half and took just four shots in the final twenty minutes. Mooney finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Hubb finished with 24 points but went just 2-6 in the second half. Sophomore wing Dane Goodwin chipped in with 16 points, but the rest of the Irish lineup scored just 15 points. Seniors TJ Gibbs and Pflueger combined for just eight points on 2-11 shooting.
Notre Dame finishes the regular season on Saturday at home against Virginia Tech.
