TALLAHASSEE – With six seconds remaining on the clock down one, the Notre Dame men’s basketball team (7-5, 0-2) had a great opportunity to earn its first-ever win inside the Donald L Tucker Center vs. Florida State (4-10, 2-1). The pass to an open and sprinting Cormac Ryan was thrown just a tad too long as the Seminoles escaped with a 73-72 win.
The Fighting Irish were on a 6-0 run with two big defensive stands in the final minute before the final play of the game.
Freshman JJ Starling was solely responsible for said six points in the final two minutes, giving the Irish a chance to win at the buzzer. He finished with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, which included two treys. It marked his fourth straight game in double figures (tying a season best) and his second-highest scoring output of the season.
Cormac Ryan continued to deliver offensively with 17 points, marking his fifth double-digit scoring performance over the last six games. He’s scored 97 points in said six-game stretch, averaging 16.2 ppg. From deep, he’s 21-of-34 over the last six games as well. In addition, Ryan tied his season-high in rebounds with six.
Nate Laszewski finished in double figures with 12 points and now has 52 points over the last three games. Trey Wertz rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points. Lastly, Laszewski, Wertz and Ven-Allen Lubin all reeled in six boards apiece.
How It Happened
Notre Dame trailed FSU early, down 10-3 after the Seminoles started 4-of-5 from the field. However, what transpired next could arguably be Notre Dame’s best offensive stretch of the season, connecting on nine straight from the field to fire off a 24-8 run.
The best part about the scoring run was the balance of it, as five different Irish supplied buckets. The main hot hand, Ryan, had 10 points by the 11:38 mark. Meanwhile, a Marcus Hammond three capped the shooting spree with the Irish up 27-18.
In a tale of two halves within the same first half, the Irish then went three for its next 15 from the field, allowing Florida State to rally back and reclaim the lead at 36-35.
Ven-Allen Lubin did shine during this stretch though with four offensive rebounds and two putbacks for four points.
The Irish did regain their composure in the final minutes, and after driving layups from Laszewski and Starling, they went into halftime up 39-38. Important to note, the Irish were 7-0 when leading at the half entering into tonight’s contest.
At the midway point, Ryan led with 12 points, followed by seven points each from Starling and Wertz. Irish shot 15-of-29 from the field (52%) compared to 14-of-32 (44%) from the Seminoles. The rebound count was level at 16 apiece.
Florida State outscored Notre Dame 18-10 to start the second half, building a 56-49 advantage, and did so behind four three-point plays. Though the Irish trailed, they kept pace with three-pointers from Starling, Laszewski and Ryan. A driving layup from Hammond capped a stretch in which the Irish made 4-of-5 from the field and only trailed 59-57 at 11:15.
Next, the Noles took advantage of an Irish two-minute scoring drought to build its largest lead of the game, up eight at 65-57. Wertz proceeded to end the drought and then Starling garnered the steal and finished on the other end, prompting a FSU timeout as the deficit was cut to 65-61 at 8:29. ND then didn’t register a field goal for the next 3:30 to then trail by seven until Lubin powered his way to the basket for the layup, making it 71-66 Noles.
Fast forward to 1:03 remaining and Starling just capped a stretch of making four straight points to cut it to one possession at 73-70.
The Irish needed a big defensive stand and they got it via a Laszewski block. Starling picked up the rebound and drove it to the basket, making it a one-point game. The Irish defense then delivered again, forcing a FSU shot-clock violation. The catch with that – only 6.5 seconds remained on the clock.
Out of the ND timeout, the Irish play was there for the taking but the pass to a streaking Ryan down the court was a tad too long. As a result, the Noles escaped with a 73-72 win.
Irish outshot the Seminoles, 51 percent to their 47 percent, and made more three-pointers as well, nine to seven. Total rebounds pretty much finished even, with a slight 29-28 nod to the Noles.
Up Next
The Fighting Irish will spend the holiday in South Bend, including a Christmas dinner over at Coach Brey’s house. The Irish will then resume play at home on Dec. 27 with Jacksonville at 7 pm ET on ACC Network.
— ND –