Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh Box Score
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (22-9, 15-5) finished off the 2021-22 regular season with a 78-54 victory over Pittsburgh (11-20, 6-14) and secured the No. 2 seed in the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference tournament that begins next week at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The 15 victories are the most in Notre Dame’s program history for a conference regular season and the No. 2 seed marks the highest the team has earned since it joined the ACC in 2013-14. The double-bye means Notre Dame will not play until Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 against either NC State, Clemson or Virginia Tech.
It was a true team effort on Senior Day for the Irish, as five players scored in double figures led by Nate Laszewski with 17 points and nine rebounds. Senior Cormac Ryan threw in 15 points and shot five-for-seven from behind the arc and graduate student Paul Atkinson had 10 points and five assists.
Mouhamadou Gueye and John Hugley led Pittsburgh with 13 points each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish ball sharing was on point early in the contest as they built an 11-4 lead. Laszewski knocked in his first two three-point attempts of the game after Ryan opened up the contest with a corner three of his own.
A few rushed field goal attempts turned into a three-minutes scoreless streak for Notre Dame, but their defense limited Pittsburgh to hit just three of their first 15 shots. A Blake Wesley drive ended the scoreless streak and gave the Irish a 13-6 lead with 11:36 left in the half.
Notre Dame maintained its seven point lead through the midpoint of the first half, as Pittsburgh could not get much going offensively. With just under eight minutes left, the Panthers were 5-for-20 from the field (.250) while the Irish managed 7-for-12 (.583).
The lead grew to 22-10 after a Dane Goodwin baseline jumper, a defensive stop then Prentiss Hubb finding Ryan in the corner for another three pointer.
Another scoreless streak popped up for the Irish in the next stretch, but it wasn’t for lack of ball sharing and open shots. Several good looks refused to fall for Notre Dame as the lead fell back to 24-17 with 3:21 left.
Wesley pushed the Irish to a 10-point lead with seven straight points, four of them from the free throw line, as the teams went into the locker room with Notre Dame up 31-21. Notre Dame finished the first 20 minutes 5-for-11 from three point range while Pittsburgh could manage just 1-for-15.
Notre Dame flashed its high level passing to open the second half, connecting on the first seven shots of the second period. Ryan hit two more three pointers and would start the game five-for-five from behind the arc to establish himself a new Notre Dame single-game high for three pointers.
The lead built to as many as 24 in the second half Notre Dame continued to find open shooters against the Pittsburgh zone. The Irish carved up Pittsburgh with 21 team assists and eventually piled up 47 points in the second half and 14 three pointers in the contest.
NOTES
Senior Robby Carmody, who has not seen action in a game since December of 2019, was able to appear in the final six seconds of the game • Carmody has been sidelined over the past three years by different injuries and is still not cleared for full basketball participation • as it was Senior Day, Notre Dame started five seniors with Prentiss Hubb, Dane Goodwin, Cormac Ryan, Paul Atkinson Jr. and Nate Laszewski all starting together for the first time since the first six games of the season • the Irish rolled up 47 points in the second half, the most since posting 49 against Chaminade back on Nov. 23, 2021 • Notre Dame finished 14-for-24 from three-point range in the game, the 15th time the team has made 10-or-more three pointers in a single game, the Irish are 14-1 in those contests • with 21 team assists, Notre Dame matches the TAMU-CC and Georgia Tech home game for the most this season.
UP NEXT
As the No. 2 seed in the 2022 ACC Tournament, the Irish will play Thursday, March 10, at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Clemson and NC State will play in the first round, then face No. 7 seed Virginia Tech in the second round. The winner of that game will face the Irish in the quarterfinals.