SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The four minutes to start the second half were the difference maker on Tuesday night inside Purcell Pavilion as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-7, 1-3) fell 81-69 to the (RV) Miami Hurricanes (15-2, 4-0). The game was tied at 39-all at the half, but the Hurricanes surged out of the gates and started the second half on a 13-1 scoring run.
Costly turnovers and allowing Miami to penetrate inside set the Irish back on Tuesday. Notre Dame committed 18 turnovers in the game in which Miami converted into 19 points. The Hurricanes also produced 40 points in the paint.
“Most of our turnovers are coming from decisions in the paint. That’s the one thing you miss with Markus (Burton) was his ability to get by people and cause help,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We’ve got to keep working. We can learn from aggressive mistakes.”
Notre Dame did rebound well against one of the nation’s best rebounding teams. Miami entered the contest ranked 11th in the nation in rebound margin, but the Blue and Gold won the battle of the boards, 35-28. Logan Imes tied his career high of eight rebounds.
Jalen Haralson led the Irish in scoring once again with 18 points on 6-13 shooting. He now has 14 straight games with double-digit points.
Sir Mohammed produced his second-highest scoring output of the season with 15 points on 6-8 shooting. He now has three double-digit scoring performances on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame kept Miami off the board until the 16:00 minute mark, and then the Hurricanes quickly tied the game at 6-all.
The next eight minutes the Miami offense barely missed. The Hurricanes converted 12-15 from the field in this timespan to earn a 29-23 Hurricane lead.
Notre Dame had several key players step up in the first half. First, Sir Mohammed recorded nine straight points for the Irish from 12:03-8:11 to cut the deficit to 20-25, as the sophomore attacked the rim.
Next, Cole Certa’s back-to-back treys got the Irish within one possession at 26-29.
Soon after, freshman Ryder Frost got the Irish on their feet – after three straight offensive rebounds, the Irish converted on a huge Frost three, followed by another Frost three out of the timeout to bring ND within one at 34-35.
After seven straight points from Frost, a jumper from Mohammed tied it up at 37-all with 55 seconds remaining.
With under 10 seconds on the clock, Miami capitalized on an Irish turnover to take the lead 39-37, but a quick coast-to-coast finish at the rim from Imes would make it an even ballgame at 39-all heading into halftime.
Miami shot 15-30 (.500) in the first half compared to Notre Dame’s 12-28 (.429). The Irish dominated the boards in the first half, outrebounding the Hurricanes 23-14.
Mohammed led all scorers at the half with 11 points, followed by Haralson with eight points. It was almost a tale of two halves within the first half – the Irish committed eight turnovers over the first 12 minutes but limited it to two over the final eight when they went on their run.
The Hurricanes started the second half on a 15-3 scoring run, shooting 7-9 from the field and forcing four ND turnovers. Notre Dame’s first field goal in the second half didn’t arrive until 15:14 via Jalen Haralson. By 11:44, the Irish faced a double-digit deficit, down 46-56.
The Irish tried to rally halfway through the second as a Brady Koehler three and a Carson Towt putback slam cut the deficit to seven points with 9:11 remaining.
The Hurricanes responded with five straight free throws to make it a 10-point ballgame, extending their lead by as much as 13 down the stretch at 71-58 with 4:08 left.
Back-to-back layups from Towt and Certa cut the deficit to single digits, and while the two squads traded baskets, a Shrewsberry trey and a jumper from Haralson cut it to as low as 8 points with 1:15 on the clock. Miami would go on to outscore the Irish 6-2 in the closing minute to take home the 81-69 road win.
Notre Dame ultimately shot 47.2 percent from the field compared to Miami’s 50.0 percent.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame embarks on a two-game road swing, starting with a Saturday matinee at Virginia Tech. It’ll be a sold-out matchup on Jan. 17, which tips off at Noon ET on ACC Network.
– ND –