SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team built a 14-point lead in the first half against Virginia Tech on Saturday, but another cold shooting stint down the final stretch cost the Fighting Irish (10-13, 4-8) another game, falling 63-65 to the Hokies (11-13, 6-7).
It marks the third straight loss in which the Irish had a double-digit lead. The Irish shot 50.0 percent in the first half and just 28.6 percent in the second. However, Notre Dame did go 16-16 from the free-throw line which marked the third-best perfect free-throw shooting day in program history.
Sophomore guard Markus Burton continues to put up First Team All-ACC numbers, recording his 10th game with 20 or more points this season with 23 on Saturday. It’s his eighth of 20+ since returning on January 4. Burton shot 8-18, went 6-6 from the free-throw line and recorded three steals.
Tae Davis recorded his 19th game in double figures with 18 points on 6-10 shooting, plus 4-4 from the stripe. Davis also reeled in a team high eight rebounds. Kebba Njie followed next with eight poins and seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Leading 6-4 at the 16:00 mark, back-to-back layups from Davis started another Irish run as Notre Dame put up 12 straight points with scoring from Burton, Mohammad, Konstantynovskyi, and Sundra. The Irish extended their lead to 18-4 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
Almost all of Notre Dame’s offense at this point came in the paint – 16 points to be exact. Defensively, they caused the Hokies to go on a six-minute scoring drought.
Virginia Tech battled back by firing off an 8-10 shooting stretch, ultimately cutting the Irish lead to one possession at 25-23.
Yet Burton and Davis finished the half strong as the duo combined to score the team’s final 15 points. In fact, Burton scored 10 of his 14 first half points in the final 6:58. With that said, the Irish seized a 33-26 halftime advantage.
A Burton three-pointer at 13:36 gave the Irish a 42-32 lead but a cut to the sophomore’s eye took him out of the game for five minutes. The Hokies then rallied to cut their deficit to 48-43. At this point, Burton checked back in and got over 20 points in the game with 8:57 left, 50-43 Irish.
The Hokies took advantage of a four minute Notre Dame field goal drought to cut it all the way down to one point at 52-51. Burton answered the call at 4:24 with a mid-range jumper.
Yet, momentum seemed to be on the Hokies side as they took their first lead since 2-0 with 3:04 remaining – now 54-55.
The Irish struggled to score, finishing 3-for-11 in the final minutes when they needed it most. Put in must-foul situations as Notre Dame needed to regain possession, the Hokies knocked seven free throws to close it out. A Davis trey and a final layup from Cole Certa brought it to the final score of 63-65.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 12 as they head to Boston College to take on the Eagles for the second time this season. Tip is set for 9:00 p.m.
– ND –