The shorthanded, young Irish were no match on the road for the hot-shooting Hokies, starting off ACC play with a loss
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team fell on the road to the #10 Virginia Tech Hokies today in the ACC opener, dropping to 10-4 on the year and 0-1 in conference play with the 81 to 66 loss.
The Irish were led by T.J. Gibbs, who scored 19 points on 5-of-10 three point shooting and added 4 assists. DJ Harvey (16 points, 7 rebounds) and Nate Laszewski (14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from deep) helped out as well. John Mooney nearly had another double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. ND shot 41% from the field and 38% from deep in this one, and managed to make just 7 of 13 free throws at the line.
The Hokies, meanwhile, were led by a trio of guys, with Kerry Blackshear scoring 21 points (and snagging 7 rebounds), Nickeil Alexander-Walker putting up 17 points, and Ahmed Hill scoring 17 points (3-of-4 from deep) to go along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Ty Outlaw chipped in another 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from deep, as well. Virginia Tech shot 59% from the field and 59% from long range, continuing their fantastic shooting on the season.
The first half was a bit of a roller coaster for ND, as the Irish got down by as much as 13 late in the half before Prentiss Hubb, T.J. Gibbs, and Nate Laszewski led a nice little comeback to make it just 30-28 at the break.
In the second half, it was more of the same, with Virginia Tech jumping out to larger leads as the Irish scratched and clawed their way back into it, time and again, always staying somewhat within reach but never seeming to have control of the game or a true chance to win it.
In the final 7 minutes, the Hokies used an 11-1 run to get up 17, and despite a flurry of threes from the Irish to keep within striking distance, Virginia Tech ultimately closed it out strong, winning 81 to 66 and earning a hard-fought win in the ACC opener.
Notre Dame next plays on Saturday, 1/5, at home against the Syracuse Orange at 12 PM ET.
