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Djogo Scores 21 Points To Lead Notre Dame Past Boston College, 79-73

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Notre Dame junior wing Nik Djogo went for a career-high 21 points to lead the Irish (12-10, 2-7) to a 79-73 road win over Boston College (11-9, 2-6)

Djogo scored 11 points in the opening seven minutes of the contest to help end Notre Dame's five-game losing streak.

Blue & Gold Illustrated recaps the contest below.

FIRST HALF

In his first start of the season, guard Nik Djogo came out firing.

The junior wing would score the first eight points for Notre Dame as the Irish built an early 8-3 lead over the Eagles. Djogo began with a layup and then following with back-to-back three-pointers for the hot start.

Boston College guard Ky Bowman scored his team’s first five points to close the gap to 8-5. A three-pointer from guard Prentiss Hubb and jumper via forward John Mooney put Notre Dame up 14-7 in the early stages.

The Eagles would get back on track with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 16-16 behind another three-pointer from Bowman and four points with Jared Hamilton. A layup from Irish guard TJ Gibbs gave Notre Dame an 18-16 advantage at the under-12 media timeout.

Both teams struggled on offense going scoreless over the next four minutes before Mooney hot a pair of free throws to make it 20-16 Notre Dame.

After the Eagles cut it to 20-19, Hubb connected on a layup and three-pointer to extend the Irish’s lead. A layup from big man Nik Popovic stopped the run, but Djogo and DJ Harvey hit back-to-back threes to give Notre Dame its biggest lead at 31-21 with under three minutes to play.

Jordan Chatman followed with a three-pointer of his own to give some momentum back to Boston College. Popovic and Bowman both got buckets inside to follow a layup from Hubb making it 33-28 Irish with under one minute to go.

Boston College collapse to Djogo on the wing and the junior was able to find guard Dane Goodwin in the corner for a three-pointer. But, Bowman hit a tough three-pointer from the top of the key for the half’s final points.

Notre Dame led 36-31 going into the break behind Djogo’s career-high 14 points. Hubb added 10 points.

The Irish shot 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the field and an even better 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) behind the arc.

SECOND HALF

Boston College came out firing in to open the second half making four of the team’s five attempts to tie the game at 39.

Popovic made the first two buckets for the Eagles while Mooney had a dunk and a free throw to counter for the Irish. But, mid-range jumper from Bowman and dunk by Hamilton in transition forced Brey to call a timeout with under 17 minutes to play in the half.

The Irish responded with a 4-0 run out of the break, but Boston College game right back to eventually tie the game at 45 behind back-to-back jumpers from Hamilton.

Djogo got back into the scoring action with another triple, but the Eagles eventually took their first lead since the early stages following a three-pointer from Chatman and a dunk via Bowman to make it 52-50 Boston College. Gibbs connected on a deep triple for a confidence boost, but Hamilton hit an off-balance jumper after getting an offensive rebound to help the Eagles take a 54-53 advantage into the under-12 media timeout.

A layup from Hubb kept the game tied going into the under-8 media timeout at 58 apiece.

Djogo made two free throws out of the break though, which was the start of a quick 6-1 run by the Irish to take a 64-59 lead. Goodwin and Gibbs both had layups during the run. The bucket from Gibbs was his 1,000-point of his career.

Boston College made another run though, which included Bowman throwing down a dunk over Irish big man Juwan Durham to cut the Notre Dame lead to 66-65 at the under-4 media timeout.

The Irish found Mooney out of the break on the wing for a three-pointer to make it 69-65 Irish with just over three minutes remaining. Hamilton continued his strong performance with a triple on the other end.

Moments later, Gibbs got into the lane and hit a tough runner to put the Irish back up three points at 71-68 with just over two minutes left.

Notre Dame forced a Boston College turnover defensively on the very next possession. With the shot clock winding down, the Irish found Djogo in the corner and the junior pump faked and got to the bucket for an easy layup and a 73-68 Irish lead with 1:23 left to force a Boston College timeout.

Hubb and Gibbs would hit two free throws each after missed Boston College shots to make it 77-68 with 30.2 seconds remaining. Popovic though got an offensive rebound and made the bucket while being fouled. Popovic would miss the free throw, but the Eagles got the offensive rebound and Bowman drilled a triple to make it 77-73 with 13.5 seconds left.

Gibbs would calmly hit two more free throws to close out the contest to help Notre Dame end their losing streak at five games.

Djogo led the Irish with 21 points and three rebounds, while Gibbs added 19 points to the efforts. Mooney compiled his eighth-straight double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Hubb went for 16 points and four assists to round out the top scorers for Notre Dame.

The Irish finished 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) from the field and 10-of-20 (50 percent) behind the arc. Boston College shot 46.3 percent (31-of-67) overall, but 30.4 percent (7-of-23) behind the arc.

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