SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad (8-6, 0-3) had a great opportunity on Friday afternoon at home against a ranked opponent but succumbed 76-65 to the No. 14/16 Miami Hurricanes (13-1, 4-0). The Fighting Irish were up one at the half and only trailed 51-49 with 12 minutes remaining, but just couldn’t get over the hump.
Turnovers hindered the Irish as ND coughed the ball up a season-high 17 times. Miami converted them into 25 points – nearly a third of their total. The Hurricanes also scored 42 of their 76 points in the paint.
Notre Dame shot 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) from the field compared to Miami’s 29-of-57 (50.9 percent). Hurricanes just took the rebounding battle, 32-31.
Notre Dame guard Marcus Hammond tallied 10 points in the second half to finish with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting, marking his second straight game in double figures. Trey Wertz finished with a team-high 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep.
Cormac Ryan grabbed a season-high eight rebounds and dished out a season-high five assists to go with his eight points. Dane Goodwin notched 14 points, his second straight in double figures, shooting 7-of-11 from the floor. Lastly, Nate Laszewski almost secured a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
How It Happened
Miami started hot, recording a stretch in which they converted 9-of-11 from the field. It was mainly due to Nijel Pack, who averaged 11.2 ppg entering the game, but made his first five from the field, including three treys, to secure 13 points in the first 10 minutes.
Down 25-16, Coach Brey called a timeout and that’s when the game started to turn. Laszewski got things going with an and-one and then Wertz followed with a three.
Notre Dame ultimately tallied an 11-1 run to garner its first lead of the game at 27-26 at the 4:20 mark. The Irish defense dug in and did not allow a Hurricanes field goal for a six-minute stretch. In fact, Miami recorded only one field goal after 9:25 on the clock.
Laszewski, Ryan and Goodwin combined for a 7-0 run from 1:49-0:49 as Notre Dame ultimately claimed a 34-33 halftime lead.
It was a very balanced stat sheet at the half with all seven Irish players with points. Goodwin and Wertz led with eight points each and Laszewski was on double-double watch with six points and eight boards.
Miami found its offensive rhythm in the locker room for they jumped out to a 14-4 start in the second half, building a 47-38 lead. Hammond tried to rally the Irish with a three and shortly after a four-point play, cutting the deficit to two at 51-49 with 12:12 on the clock.
Miami’s Nijel Pack then hit a three-pointer which kicked off a 9-0 Hurricanes run over the next 1:34, pushing the lead to double-digits at 60-49. Next, Hammond ended the drought with another three-point play at 8:04.
Miami ultimately hit seven straight from the field to garner a 68-54 advantage at 5:59. Laszewski and Ryan each converted from deep, followed by a Wertz jumper that slashed it to 70-62 with 2:30 remaining, but it was too late for the rally as Miami took home the 76-65 final.
Up Next
The Fighting Irish will search for that first ACC win when they travel to Boston College on Tuesday, Jan. 3. That game airs at 7 pm ET on ACC Network.
— ND –