Notre Dame nearly pulls off shocker at Duke
No one is going to give Notre Dame any moral victories this season, especially when the season has been such a disaster. But all things considered, its game against Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium is as close as they’ll get to one this season.
With Mike Krzyzewski on hand to watch former assistant Mike Brey’s final game in Durham, the Irish put up way more of a fight than anyone expected. Still, the result was the same as the Blue Devils won, 68-64.
The Irish (10-16, 2-13) fell behind by as much as 14 in the second half, but the Blue Devils (18-8, 9-6) let them hang around. They cut the deficit to four a couple of times before JJ Starling hit some big shots to get the team even closer. A 3-pointer with 1:27 left got them within two, and he put them within one on a layup with 35.5 seconds to go. That was as good as it got as Mark Mitchell subsequently hit a corner 3 with 10.8 seconds left to put the Blue Devils up four and essentially ice the contest.
While the Irish did still have a chance, it was a slim, and it quickly became nonexistent. Ven-Allen Lubin converted a layup with 3.9 seconds left to bring the deficit back to two. Forced to foul, Cormac Ryan sent Tyrese Proctor to the free-throw line. Proctor sank both free throws to erase any remaining doubt.
A surprising theme to this game was only a few double-digit scorers. Future NBA player Kyle Filipowski was the lone such player for the Blue Devils with 22 points. Dane Goodwin, coming off the bench for the first time this season, had a season-high 25 points on an astounding 11-of-13 shooting. Lubin’s layup in the final seconds brought his scoring total to 10.
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