SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad (9-8, 1-5) can take a big sigh of relief as they got the ACC monkey off its back with a hard-fought 73-72 overtime win over Georgia Tech (8-8, 1-5) on Tuesday night inside Purcell Pavilion. Down seven points with 2:20 to go in regulation, the Irish stormed back to tie it at 65-all and even had a chance to win it a the buzzer. Then fought punch-for-punch in overtime, as a last-second defensive stand sealed it.
got it done 👊#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/19H52tXhNK
— Notre Dame Men's Basketball (@NDmbb) January 11, 2023
Dane Goodwin was everywhere tonight with a team-high 19 points and a career-best 12 rebounds, marking the first double-double of the season and the fifth of his career. Goodwin connected on a pivotal three in overtime, his lone trey of the game. He shot 6-of-11 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the line.
Freshman JJ Starling shone bright with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. He had six of the team’s last 11 points in the second half. Nate Laszewski posted a solid stat line of 14 points and seven rebounds. He was also clutch from the free-throw line, knocking down two with 23 seconds left in overtime to give the Irish the go-ahead 73-72 score.
Cormac Ryan also finished in double figures with 11 points. Lastly, Trey Wertz had six points on two threes, but they both came in clutch time at the end of the game.
For the Glenn & Stacey Murphey Head Coach Mike Brey, he improved to 26-13 in overtime games at the helm of the Irish, and he’s now won five of the last six that have gone to overtime.
How It Happened
Georgia Tech used an early 7-0 run to jump out to a 9-2 advantage. Then Marcus Hammond connected on two threes, including a four-point play, in a span of 80 seconds, which tied it at 11-all. The Irish used that momentum to fire off a 14-2 scoring spree over a nearly four-minute span to garner a 16-11 lead.
Now both sides suffered a drought at some point in the half. The Yellow Jackets were kept off the scoreboard from 16:14-9:42; meanwhile, the Irish were held to no field goals from 12:55-4:59, tacking on some free throws along the way.
A Laszewski and-one off a dunk tied the game again at 3:01, this time at 25 apiece. Later, Ryan scored in the paint with 21 seconds left, then the defense came up big with a turnover. With 3.1 seconds left on the clock, Starling dribbled ¾ of the court to nail a buzzer-beating three at the top of the arc which gave the Irish a 30-29 halftime lead.
Five different Irish had points at the half with Hammond and Goodwin leading the way with seven points each. Goodwin was already close to a double-double with eight rebounds.
At 18:40 in the second half, the Irish began what was an 11-1 scoring run – Laszewski, Starling and Goodwin all had layups. Then Ryan nailed a three-pointer, picked up steal and connected on the fastbreak layup – pushing the Irish lead to 41-32.
Yet, Georgia Tech began to chip away and then connected on a barrage of treys, three in fact, in a span of two minutes, as the Yellow Jackets reclaimed the lead at 49-46.
Later down 51-46, Goodwin lifted ND with five straight points. Laszewski followed with a three at 7:44 and it was the home team back on top at 54-51. The see-saw continued as Georgia Tech responded with a 12-2 run which gave them a 63-56 lead at 3:36.
Fast forward to 2:31 on the clock and the Irish found themselves down 65-58. Notre Dame kept fighting as Starling scored five straight. Then Wertz converted a three in the corner and it’s tied at 65-all. Next, the Irish defense stood tall and forced a shot-clock violation, getting the ball back with a chance to win with 20 seconds left. Starling got the rock and drove the baseline but his layup rimmed out as the game went to overtime.
What was impressive with the Irish performance in overtime was that they took each Georgia Tech punch and dished one back. The Yellow Jackets scored first, then Goodwin responded with a three. Georgia Tech counters with a three, but then Wertz hits his second three of the game with 55.2 seconds left. Georgia Tech makes two free throws, but then Laszewski comes up clutch and goes to line and hits two.
With 23 seconds left, the Irish were up 73-72 and after a few scares, the defense prevailed for the overtime victory.
Up Next
The Fighting Irish look to build upon the win with a revenge matchup at Syracuse. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 14, airing live on ACC Network.
— ND –