Notre Dame (13-13, 3-10) was held without a field goal for the final five minutes to allow Wake Forest (10-15, 3-10) to pull off a 75-68 victory Tuesday night in South Bend.
The Irish were held without a field goal for the final five minutes to allow the Demon Deacons to pick up their first true road win of the season.
Blue & Gold Illustrated recaps the contest half-by-half.
FIRST HALF
Both teams came out of the gates firing offensively.
Wake Forest got the scoring going with the first five points behind a jumper from big man Olivier Sarr and guard Brandon Childress. Guard Prentiss Hubb got the first points for the Irish with a layup.
Guard TJ Gibbs would score the next 13 points for the Irish, including three three-pointers, to keep the Irish within striking distance as Wake Forest had an answer for every Notre Dame basket as well.
At one point, both teams combined for four-straight three-point buckets to make it 15-13 Demon Deacons in the early stages.
After former five-star prospect Jaylen Hoard hit a jumper in the paint, Gibbs got out in transition and flushed it home for the dunk to make it 17-15 Wake Forest wit 14:04 left in the opening half.
Hubb drilled the team’s fourth three-pointer of the game before the under-16 media timeout occurred (12:48) to put the Irish down just one at 19-18. Hubb would come back out of the break with a paint bucket to give Notre Dame its first lead of the contest.
Big man Juwan Durham would follow on the next possession with a paint score and the foul to extend the Irish lead to 22-19 at the under-12 media timeout (11:48).
Gibbs with get his 14th and 15th points using a spin move at the free throw line finishing off balance to put the Irish up 24-22 with 9:35 left in the half. Childress responded with another three-pointer to give Wake Forest the lead again (25-24).
A 4-0 run by the Irish, including a dunk from Durham off a nice feed from Hubb, gave Notre Dame a 28-25 advantage at the under-8 media timeout (7:52). Going into the break, Notre Dame had hit 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from the field.
Both teams continued to be efficient from the field over the next few minutes with Hoard getting a bucket to fall to get Wake Forest back within one possession. But, Gibbs came up with an offensive rebound on the other end and found DJ Harvey open at the top of the arc for a three-pointer.
After a two-minute scoreless stretch for both teams following a dunk from Sarr, Durham record his second dunk of the contest coming off an assist from Mooney, who would follow it up on the next offensive possession with a triple. Notre Dame led 36-29 at the under-4 media timeout (3:36).
Mooney’s bucket was the last point for the Irish in the half as Wake Forest finished with a 7-0 run.
Guard Chaundee Brown would hit a two-pointer with 1:13 left to make it 36-33 Notre Dame. The Irish had an opportunity to extend their lead with the final shot of the half, but guard Dane Goodwin couldn’t connect. Brown would get the rebound and attempted to throw up a prayer from the opposite three-point line, but Durham fouled Brown to send him to the line.
Brown would make 2-of-3 to make it 36-35 Notre Dame at the break.
Gibbs led all scorers with 17 points as the Irish hit 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from the field and 6-of-15 (40 percent) behind the arc. Wake Forest countered with a 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) effort overall and 6-of-12 (50 percent) on three-point attempts.
SECOND HALF
Sarr again started the scoring in the second half with a jumper to give Wake Forest an early lead. The Demon Deacons would eventually go up 40-38 after a free throw from Sarr. But, Notre Dame followed with a three-pointer from Hubb that rolled in and a tough layup from Harvey to put Notre Dame up 43-40.
Sarr would follow with a layup on the other end to put the Irish up just 43-42 at the under-16 media timeout (15:56).
A dunk via Mooney and jumper from Gibbs would put the Irish up 47-43 before Wake Forest would get a layup from forward Isaiah Mucius and a three-pointer via guard Sharone Wright Jr. to tie the game at 48-all with 11:25 remaining.
A 1-of-7 stretch from the field for the Irish would allow Wake Forest to eventually take a 57-53 lead after a 5-0 run fueled by another three-pointer from Childress and layup from Wright forcing an Irish timeout with 8:45 remaining.
The Wake Forest lead would eventually get to nine points after another triple from Childress and a pair of free throws from Torry Johnson to make it 66-57 with 5:45 left.
Notre Dame finally found a little bit of a rhythm offensively with Gibbs getting a bucket on the following possession to start what would turn into a 7-0 run before the under-4 media timeout. Mooney would follow Gibbs’ bucket with a triple on the very next possession. Gibbs would hit a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 66-64 Wake Forest at the under-4 timeout (3:52).
One free throw each from forward Nate Laszewski and Hubb would tie the game at 66-all with 2:56 left.
Hoard got back into the scoring column with a quick layup on the other end to give his team the lead. The Demon Deacons forced a couple of stops defensively and turned it into a bucket from Sarr to hold a 70-66 advantage with one minute to play.
A pair of free throws from Harvey kept the Irish within one possession at 71-68 with 26 seconds left, but Wake Forest was able to hit their free throws to hang on for the 75-68 win.
Notre Dame shot 37.5 percent in the second half to finish at 45.1 percent (23-of-51) for the game. The Irish did not hit a field goal for the final five minutes of the contest.
Gibbs led all scorers with 23 points while Mooney finished one rebound shy of a double-double (16 points and nine rebounds). Hubb added 11 points and nine assists.
Wake Forest shot 49.1 percent for the game (26-of-53) and 8-of-18 (44.4 percent) behind the arc.
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