Notre Dame Falls 62-57 to No. 1 Virginia
Notre Dame came up just short Saturday in its quest to take down No. 1 Virginia falling 62-57 to the Cavaliers on the road.
The Irish got double-doubles from forward Bonzie Colson and big man Martinas Geben, but it was not enough to overcome the Cavaliers in Charlottesville.
Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's half-by-half recap of the Notre Dame loss.
FIRST HALF
Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 5-1 lead thanks to a three-pointer from Colson and Geen with 18:15 left in the half.
Virginia quickly responded with a 7-0 run to take an 8-5 lead at the 16:42 mark behind baskets from big man Jack Salt and guard Devon Hall along with a three-pointer from guard Ty Jerome.
Geben secured another basket to keep the Irish within one (8-7) at the under-16 timeout.
Colson hit another three-pointer after the break to give the Irish the edge again at 10-7, but the Cavaliers caught fire on both ends. Virginia reeled off a 12-2 run over the next 3:29 to go up 20-12 at the under-12 timeout (11:31). Both guard De’Andre Hunter and Hall connected on a triple to help fuel the run.
Notre Dame was able to cut into the lead a bit over the next few minutes, but both teams went into a bit of an offensive funk leading into the under-8 media timeout (7:05). Virginia led 21-16 at that point, but the Cavaliers were on a scoreless streak of 4:26 while the Irish hadn’t scored a point in 2:30. Colson led the way for Notre Dame with 10 points and six rebounds.
Virginia again responded with a quick 7-2 run to take a double-digit lead (28-17) with 5:48 left after a dunk from Salt and three-pointer from Jerome. The Cavaliers leading scorer Kyle Guy however went down with an injury after colliding with Geben.
The Cavaliers led 30-22 with 2:51 remaining in the half.
Notre Dame continue to shrink Virginia’s lead during the closing minutes getting a pair of free throws from Gibbs and three points via Colson to make it 32-27 Virginia at the half.
Colson had 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Irish. Gibbs and guard Matt Farrell combined for two points in the half.
Overall, Notre Dame shot 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) from the field including 3-of-10 (30 percent) behind the arc. The Irish held Virginia to 11-of-27 (40.7 percent) shooting including 4-of-10 (40 percent) on its three-point attempts.
Hall scored nine points to serve as the team’s leading scorer in the first half with Jerome not far behind with eight points.
SECOND HALF
Farrell got into the scoring very early in the second half drilling a three-pointer on the first possession to make it 32-30 Virginia.
The Cavaliers made it a five-point game (37-32) after another three-pointer from Jerome, but back-to-back baskets from Geben and Colson made it 37-36 Virginia at the under-16 timeout.
Notre Dame tied for its largest lead of the game after a 5-0 run to take a 43-39 advantage behind a tough layup from Gibbs and a deep three-pointer via Farrell. Virginia though answered though and held a 45-44 lead at the under-12 media timeout after a thunderous dunk from Mamadi Diakite.
The Cavaliers led 47-44 after a short jumper from Diakite, but Gibbs answered on the other end to tie the game at 47. Jerome hit another bucket with 9:23 left to help Virginia go up 49-47 which remained the score until the 8:32 mark.
Virginia’s lead grew to 53-47 with four-straight points from Hall before the Irish went on a 7-2 run behind four points from Colson, a basket from Geben and free throw via Gibbs to make it 55-54 Virginia with 3: 27 to play.
Hall again made a clutch basket to give the Cavaliers to the 57-54 lead at the under-4 media timeout (2:41).
Virginia headed to the line after the break being in the bonus and forward Isaiah Wilkins made two clutch free throws to put his team up by two possessions (59-54) with 2:41 left.
Farrell provided a spark for the Irish on the following possession with a huge three-pointer to put Notre Dame down 59-57 with 2:26 left. But, it was the last basket the team made.
The Cavaliers held Notre Dame scores the final two-plus minutes including 0-of-4 from the floor to hold on and claim a 62-57 win over the Irish.
Colson finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, but it was not enough to lift Notre Dame over the nation’s top team. Geben also finished with a double-double going for 14 points and 10 rebounds. Farrell (9), Gibbs (8) and Rex Pflueger (2) rounded out the scorers for the Irish.
Notre Dame shot 19-of-53 from the floor (35.8 percent) and 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) on its three-point attempts. Virginia finished 21-of-50 (42.0 percent) on its field goal attempts while knocking down 5-of-11 (45.5 percent) behind the arc.
Hall led all Virginia scorers with 17 points with Jerome notching 13 and Hunter collecting 10 points.
With the loss, Notre Dame claimed the No. 10 seed in the ACC Tournament and will face No. 15 seed Pittsburgh on Tuesday afternoon.
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