Box Score Virginia at Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (14-6, 7-2) won its ninth consecutive home game, 69-65 over Virginia (12-9, 6-5) to stay perfect at Purcell Pavilion in 2021-22 on Saturday evening. The Irish utilized an efficient offense and timely defense to earn their third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference game.
It was a complete and balanced scoring effort by Notre Dame, led by 16 points each from Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin, while Paul Atkinson Jr. and Blake Wesley each scored 14. Virginia was led by Jayden Gardner with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame went to a zone defense early and it was effective at forcing Virginia into missing seven of their first nine shots. Playing a zone defense challenges defensive rebounding, however, and the Cavaliers took advantage by grabbing four of their misses and scoring six points.
Wesley matched Virginia by connecting on his first two three pointers of the game and extended his Notre Dame true freshman double digit scoring streak to 17 games with 10 points quickly in the first half.
Notre Dame earned a 19-12 lead, but Virginia answered with a 7-0 run to tie the game. Atkinson Jr. then started to assert himself in the lane with a turn around hook shot to end the run, then a reverse layup to put the Irish up four. Goodwin capped the run by hitting his first shot of the game – a top-of-the-key three pointer.
Atkinson Jr would go on to score 10 of Notre Dame points in the second part of the first half to give the Irish a 34-27 lead at the break. The Irish capped the first half by connecting on five of their final six shots.
Notre Dame extended the lead early in the second half on a Wesley steal, who then found Goodwin streaking down the court for a lay up. Prentiss Hubb followed with a nifty drive and the Irish were up 41-33. The lead then grew to 10 at 45-35 on a Laszewski three at the top of the key.
Virginia started to lose the Irish shooters through Notre Dame’s motion offense and Hubb and Wesley made them pay. Both Notre Dame guards drove into the lane and found Goodwin in one corner, then Laszewski in the other to put the Irish up 52-37.
The Cavaliers would not go quietly, as they answered with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to seven with around eight minutes left, but Atkinson Jr. found Laszewski wide open in the corner, he connected and the Irish took back some momentum with a 10-point lead.
The game of runs continued after that 10 point lead was posted, as Virginia cut the Irish lead to four at the three-minute mark. A clutch Atkinson Jr. hook shot stopped the momentum, then Goodwin pump faked a defender, watched him blow by and buried his fourth three pointer for the game to put the Irish up 62-53.
Never a team to quit, Virginia clamped on a full court press but the Irish held strong. One highlight included Goodwin chasing down a long pass and drawing a foul, then Hubb sealing the game with two free throws with 14 seconds remaining.
UP NEXT
The Irish conclude their three-game home stand against No. 9/7 Duke on ESPN’s Big Monday, February 1, 2022 (7 p.m. ET).
NOTES
The Irish improve to 10-0 this season when connecting on 10-or-more three point field goals • Wesley (17) and Goodwin (20) both extended their double-digit game scoring streaks, Wesley’s continue to add to his Notre Dame true freshman record • the win ended Virginia’s six-game win streak in the series and is the first for the Irish against the Cavaliers on either team’s home court (the other two wins in the series were at neutral sites) • after surrendering nine offensive rebounds in the first half, Notre Dame held Virginia to just two in the second 20 minutes.