2/6/2018 basketball Edit

Irish Break Out Of Offensive Slump In 96-85 Win Over Boston College

Corey Bodden • InsideNDSports

Staff Writer

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Behind 22 first-half points from sophomore guard TJ Gibbs, Notre Dame (14-10, 4-7) broke out of a month-long offensive funk and took down Boston College (14-10, 4-7) 96-85 Tuesday night in South Bend.

The Irish shot over 50 percent in a game and put up its highest point-total since an 88-58 win over NC State on Jan. 3. Notre Dame snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win.

Here is a half-by-half recap of the Irish win.

FIRST HALF

Both teams started off hot from the field combining to go 9-of-12 during the opening 4:12 of play.

Irish senior big man Martinas Geben got the scoring rolling with a jump hook on the team’s first possession. Boston College guard Jordan Chatman answered with a three-pointer to give Boston College its first lead.

The teams traded baskets on the next couple of possessions with Boston College taking a 7-6 lead with 17:56 left after a bucket from guard Jerome Robinson. Notre Dame senior point guard Matt Farrell knocked down a three-point basket to give Notre Dame the lead again at 9-7.

On the next Irish offensive possession, Farrell faked a pull-up three-pointer and found Geben under the basket for a dunk. Notre Dame took a 11-9 advantage into the under-16 media timeout (15:48).

Boston College tied the game at 11 after the break and that’s when Gibbs took over offensively for a stretch of over 3:30. Gibbs connected on four-straight three-point attempts to give the Irish a 23-14 lead with 11:44 remaining in the half. Robinson hit a three-pointer in the process to tie the game at 14 before Gibbs hit the next three for a personal 9-0 run.

Geben hit two free throws to push the Irish run to 11-0 and give the team a 25-14 lead with 11:21 left. Robinson answered with two free throws of his own on the other end before Gibbs was fouled on a three-point attempt. The sophomore hit all three giving the Irish a 28-16 advantage with 10:52 left in the half.

After a 9-of-14 start from the field, Notre Dame hit 2-of-8 from the field over the next few minutes while Boston College went 4-of-9 including two three-pointers. Notre Dame had a 33-24 lead at the under-8 media timeout (6:21).

Gibbs hit another jumper to push his total to 17 points in the first half with the Irish up 35-26 with 5:38 left.

Robinson continued his hot start drilling another three-pointer as part of a 5-0 Boston College run to cut the Notre Dame lead to 35-31 with under five minutes to go. Gibbs however got a runner to fall to quiet the short Eagles run with the Irish leading 37-31 at the under-4 media timeout (3:23).

With 1:31 remaining, Boston College had closed the Irish lead to 39-36 after a three-pointer via Robinson forcing a timeout from Mike Brey. Notre Dame answered the run in dramatic fashion.

The Irish went on an 8-2 run over the final minute including a three-pointer from Gibbs at the buzzer to take a 47-38 lead into halftime.

Gibbs scored 22 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the half, which fell just five short of his career-high of 27 he set earlier in the season. Farrell had 10 points to round out the top scorers for the Irish.

Overall, Notre Dame shot 17-of-34 (50 percent) from the floor including 8-of-16 (50 percent) behind the arc while Boston College finished the half 14-of-29 (48.3 percent) and 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) on its three-point attempts.

Robinson scored 18 of his team’s 38 points in the half with no other scorers over six (forward Steffon Mitchell).

SECOND HALF

Notre Dame didn’t start off as hot from the field, but did build an 6-2 run over the first 3:35 of game action in the second to take a 53-40 lead. The run included two three-pointers from Farrell and sophomore forward John Mooney along with three free throws by Geben and guard Rex Pflueger.

The Irish lead was extended to 58-40 after free throws from Gibbs before Boston College reeled off a 10-5 run to slowly close the gap to 63-50 with 11:57 remaining.

Boston College continued to make runs and a personal 6-0 run by Robinson made it 68-63 Notre Dame with 7:53 left thanks to a 13-5 run by the group overall. Robinson’s run put him up to 34 points for the evening.

A pair of free throws from guard Jordan Chatham made it 70-68 Notre Dame with under seven minutes to play before the Irish responded with a 7-3 run after four points from Geben and a three-pointer via Farrell. Robinson hit another three-pointer to hit the 40-point total in the game.

After Robinson hit free throws to make it 77-73 Notre Dame with 4:31 left, the Irish got a big three-pointer from Farrell and a runner via Gibbs to extend the team’s lead to 82-73 heading into the under-4 media timeout (3:37).

Notre Dame caught fire offensively again out of the break and that proved too much for the Eagles to overcome. Along with the two baskets leading in the break, Notre Dame hit its next four shots as well which were a bucket and three-pointer from both Mooney and Pflueger.

The strong finish allowed Notre Dame to hold off Boston College and secure a 96-85 win to snap a seven-game losing streak.

For the first-time in eight games, Notre Dame shot over 40 percent from the field shooting 52.5 percent (31-of-59) for the game and 55.2 percent (16-of-29) on its three-point attempts. The Jan. 3 home matchup against NC State was the last time the Irish hit the 40 percent or better threshold.

Gibbs finished with a career-high 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He also added five rebounds and three assists to his team’s efforts. Farrell notched 19 points and seven assists to serve as the team’s second leading scoeer.

Both Geben and Mooney finished with 16 points each while Geben added 11 rebounds to secure his fourth double-double of the season. Pflueger bounced back with 13 points and six assists.

Boston College was seemingly a one-man shot at times with Robinson scoring 46 of the team’s 85 points. Guard Ky Bowman was the next highest scorer at 11 points. The Eagles shot 30-of-61 (49.2 percent) from the floor and 12-of-30 (40 percent) behind the arc, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Irish.