Irish Find Magic In Brooklyn With Dramatic Comeback Win Over Virginia Tech
Notre Dame (20-13) fell behind by 21 points to Virginia Tech (21-11) in the second half before roaring back to capture a dramatic 71-65 win in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
Head coach Mike Brey’s group caught fire on both ends of the court during the final 10 minutes of the game to close the gap and eventually pull off the shocker. Notre Dame advances to face No. 2 seed Duke tomorrow evening.
Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated’s recap of the Irish win.
FIRST HALF
Notre Dame came out trigger happy behind the arc, attempting six three-pointers in the first 4:19 of game action with guards Matt Farrell and T.J. Gibbs each making one.
The Irish started 2 of 7 from the floor while the Hokies went 2 of 5, making it an 8-8 game at the under-16 timeout. Hokies guard Justin Robinson started strong with six early points.
Junior guard Rex Pflueger and Gibbs combined for a quick 5-0 run to regain the lead for the Irish at 13-8 before Virginia Tech went on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to take a 23-17 edge with 8:23 left in the half.
Virginia Tech forward Chris Clarke went on a personal 5-0 run during that stretch while Bibbs and guard Ahmed Hill contributed a three-pointer apiece. The Hokies were 8 of 16 from the floor at the time while Notre Dame was just 6 of 18.
Back-to-back baskets from Robinson extended the lead to 27-17 before a fast-break layup from Farrell ended what was a 16-2 Virginia Tech run. The Hokies led 27-19 at the under-4 timeout (3:57).
Notre Dame continued to struggle the rest of the half and trailed 34-21 heading into the break. The Irish shot 25.0 percent (8 of 32) in the half, which followed their second performance against Pittsburgh (16.7 percent). Forward Bonzie Colson was 1 of 10 from the floor in the half while Gibbs was the team’s leading scorer at six points. The Irish also hit just 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) from behind the arc.
Virginia Tech was led by 10 points from Robinson, nine points from Clarke and eight points from Bibbs. The team collectively shot 13 of 28 (46.4 percent) from the field and 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) on their three-point attempts.
SECOND HALF
The Hokies opened the half with a quick 4-0 run, getting another bucket from Gibbs and a basket from guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker to take a 38-21 lead with less than 18:30 remaining.
It didn’t get much better for the Irish, who made just two of their first seven attempts in the half while continuing to allow Virginia Tech to score at will. Forward Kerry Blackshear scored five of the next seven points for the Hokies to five his team it’s largest lead at 45-26 at the under-16 media timeout. Virginia Tech hit five of its first six shots of the half.
Blackshear scored again out of the timeout to give the Hokies their largest lead at 21 points. Notre Dame slowly cut into the lead over the next several minutes getting a three-pointer from Farrell, four points via Martinas Geben and a layup from Pflueger. Blackshear and forward P.J. Horne each had tip-ins for the Hokies during that stretch.
Virginia Tech led 51-35 at the under-12 timeout (11:59).
The Irish started to see some three-pointers fall, getting back-to-back treys from Colson and Farrell to cut the lead to 54-43 with 9:55 remaining — the closest the game had been in the second half up to that point.
Gibbs kept the run going with a three-pointer of his own to make it 54-46 Virginia Tech with just more than nine minutes to play. With eight minutes to go, Irish senior big man Austin Torres forced a charge which eventually resulted in Clarke for the Hokies getting a technical after he pushed Farrell, who took the ball from Clarke after the play.
Notre Dame scored the next four points, all coming from the free throw line, to cut it to two-possession game (54-50) with 7:45 remaining.
A pair of free throws from Robinson put the Hokies back up seven at 59-52 before Pflueger drilled a triple with 6:27 remaining to make it 59-55 Hokies. Both teams struggled offensively over the next three-plus minutes with that score remaining the same at the under-4 timeout (3:39).
Pflueger got a layup to go with 2:49 left to make it a one possession game at 59-57.
With the shot clock winding down and just more than two minutes to play, Colson banked in a three to give the Irish their first lead since a 15-13 edge with 12 minutes to play in the first half.
Notre Dame’s defense did not let up, holding the Hokies scoreless over the next minute and a half while Colson, Farrell and Gibbs each hit a pair of free throws to stretch the Irish lead to 66-59 with 35.2 seconds left.
Virginia Tech hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, but Notre Dame continued to make their free throws to not allow the Hokies to make a late comeback.
The Irish held on to win 71-65 to move one step closer to a NCAA Tournament bid. It was an epic comeback for Notre Dame after trailing by 21 points with 15 minutes to play. The Irish shot 57.1 percent (12 of 21) during the final 20 minutes to complete the comeback.
Farrell led Notre Dame with 22 points while Pflueger contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. Gibbs (13) and Colson (12) combined for 25 points to round out the main scorers for Brey’s group.
Overall, Notre Dame shot 20 of 53 (37.7 percent) from the floor and 10 of 29 (34.5 percent) from behind the arc, thanks to a 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) effort from long range in the second half.
Virginia Tech hit just two of its final 12 field goal attempts to finish 25 of 60 (41.7 percent) from the floor and was just 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) from behind the arc. Robinson and Bibbs each scored 15 points while Clarke had 12 points. Blackshear added nine points and eight rebounds.
The Irish move on to the third round to face No. 2 seed Duke Thursday evening looking for another huge win.
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