The Irish were simultaneously never REALLY in it but also hung around the entire game, but couldn’t score nearly enough to pull off the upset
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team fell below .500 on the year this afternoon, losing 67 to 59 to the Virginia Tech Hokies at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish are now 13-14 on the year and 3-11 in ACC play as their nightmare season continues. They continued their season-long struggle to make shots, making just 33% from the field in this one and an abysmal 23% (6-of-26) from three point range.
ND was led in scoring by T.J. Gibbs’ 18-point performance, and John Mooney (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Nate Laszewski (12 points) chipped in as well. The Irish forced 16 turnovers, but due to bad shooting and poor rebounding, were unable to capitalize much on any opportunities that afforded them.
The Hokies didn’t have a stellar day either, shooting uncharacteristically badly, percentage-wise. VT made 37% of their shots overall and made just 28% of their threes, which was surprising considering essentially everyone on their team can shoot the long ball pretty damn well. The Hokies did, however dominate the boards, out-rebounding Notre Dame 49-27.
Virginia Tech’s effort was spearheaded by Kerry Blackshear, who scored 22 points and snagged 14 rebounds on the day. Nickeil Alexander-Walker (12 points, 3 rebounds), Ahmed Hill (8 points, 4 rebounds), and Ty Outlaw (9 points, 6 rebounds) also had pretty solid days in support.
The Irish play next on Monday evening against the currently 16th-ranked Florida State Seminoles, who are 21-5 on the year and 9-4 in ACC play.
