Jan. 20, 2018
Notre Dame at Clemson Box Score
By Robby Hamman
CLEMSON, S.C. — Notre Dame (13-7, 3-4 ACC) hung around all afternoon at Clemson (16-3, 5-2 ACC) but was unable to hit the key shot that would give it the lead, as the Irish fell to the Tigers by a final score of 67-58 on Saturday afternoon.
The sophomores supplied the majority of the points for the Irish, as T.J. Gibbs led the team with 18 points and John Mooney added a career-high 13 points. Senior Martinas Geben also finished in double figures with 10 points in the road contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame found itself in an early hole, trailing the Tigers 21-10 due to Clemson connecting on its first seven shots of the game. The Irish found their bearings and cut the host’s lead to just one point at 31-30 with 29 seconds left in the half before Clemson scored the final bucket to take a 33-30 advantage into the half. Mooney gave Notre Dame a huge lift off the bench in the first, scoring 10 points in 11 minutes of action.
Clemson came out of the intermission and pushed its lead back up to eight points at 42-34. Notre Dame kept fighting and trimmed the advantage to one point at 47-46 with 10 minutes left in regulation. However, that is as close as the Irish would get the rest of the way, as Clemson went on to win by a final of 67-58.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Mooney had his best game in an Irish uniform at Clemson, scoring a career-high 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor. The sophomore did a lot of his damage from beyond the arc, knocking down a career-best three shots from distance. Mooney also grabbed seven rebounds and added a block in 23 minutes of play.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE NIGHT
The Irish continued their recent trend of crashing the glass and outrebounding the opposition. Notre Dame pulled down 38 boards compared to Clemson’s 32. Geben led the Irish with nine rebounds and Mooney added seven.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- Notre Dame has now grabbed more rebounds than the opposition in six of its seven ACC games this season.
- Mooney’s 13-point performance marks the second time this season that he has finished with 10-plus points.
- For the 11th time this season Geben finished in double figures in the scoring column, finishing with 10 points against the Tigers.
- With 18 points, Gibbs finished with 10-plus points for the 15th time this season and eighth consecutive game.
- Farrell finished with a team-high six assists against the Tigers and has a combined 14 assists over his last two games.
- With Bonzie Colson and D.J. Harvey out with injuries, the Irish have used six different starting lineups through their first seven ACC contests.
UP NEXT
The Irish have a week off before hosting Virginia Tech for a primetime showdown at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 27 inside Purcell Pavilion. The game will air live on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app.
— ND —
Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration, and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.