Notre Dame Holds Off Pittsburgh In ACC Tournament Opener
Notre Dame led by double digits in the first half, but struggled offensively in the second half before holding on to beat Pittsburgh 67-64 in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.
The Irish shot 16.7 percent during the final 20 minutes of action while allowing the Panthers to connect on better than 50 percent of their attempts in the second half.
Notre Dame moves on to the second round to take on Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. Wednesday night.
Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's half-by-half recap of the Irish win over Pittsburgh.
FIRST HALF
Notre Dame got off to a hot start, taking an early 7-0 lead behind three-pointers from senior guard Matt Farrell and junior guard Rex Pflueger along with a free throw via senior forward Bonzie Colson.
The Panthers, however, got the game down to one possession at 8-7 Notre Dane after a bucket from forward Terrell Brown. Guard Jared Wilson-Frame scored five points in the process to help start the run.
Notre Dame held a 12-10 lead at the first media timeout (13:23).
Pflueger continued his strong start drilling another three-pointer which was followed by a layup from sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs to give Notre Dame a 17-12 advantage at the under-12 media timeout (11:25).
The Irish kept their strong start going offensively making three of their next five shots coming from Colson, Pflueger and big man Martinas Geben. Even with a 9-of-17 shooting effort to start, Notre Dame led 23-17 at the under-8 timeout.
Notre Dame’s lead continued to grow over the next couple of minutes with Farrell scoring four straight points for the Irish and then sophomore forward John Mooney had a follow dunk to give head coach Mike Brey’s team up 29-18 at the under-4 timeout.
The Notre Dame lead grew to as high as 16 points after a 9-2 Irish run behind four points from Colson and a three by Farrell to make it 36-20 with 1:44 remaining. Pittsburgh scored the final four points of the half to cut the lead to 36-24 heading into the break.
Farrell led all Irish scorers with 10 points in the half, while Colson and Pflueger each had nine points. Notre Dame shot 14 of 29 (48.3 percent) from the field and 4 of 8 (50.0 percent) from long range in the half.
Pittsburgh went 9 of 32 (28.1 percent) overall and 3 of 16 (18.8 percent) from behind the arc. Guard Marcus Carr had six points to lead Pittsburgh, while Wilson-Frame with five points.
SECOND HALF
Both teams played even during the opening minutes of the second half, with each scoring four points to keep the Irish edge at 12 points (40-28). Pflueger and Gibbs each notched two points apiece while Wilson-Frame and Brown did the same for Pittsburgh.
The Panthers started clawing into the Irish lead over the next several minutes, getting two buckets from Wilson-Frame and one each via Carr and Brown to make it 42-34 Notre Dame with 11:46 left. At that point, Notre Dame had not hit a field goal in almost eight minutes while missing 11 straight shots.
Notre Dame held a 48-39 lead with 9:41 remaining before the Panthers eventually cut it to a one-possession game with a 6-0 run fueled by three points from Carr and a three-pointer via guard Parker Stewart.
The Irish responded with a 4-0 run via Colson and Gibbs to make it 52-45 Irish at the under-8 timeout. Notre Dame shot 3 of 15 (20.0 percent) from the field up to the under-8 timeout.
But the Irish again put together a strong run behind six points from Farrell to extend the lead to 61-50 with 3:09 left. The Panthers wouldn’t go away, however, going on an 8-0 run fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Wilson-Frame to put his team down just 61-58 with 1:37 left.
A Carr three-pointer made it a two-point game (63-61) with 49 seconds remaining before Colson hit two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 22 seconds to go.
Notre Dame was able to hold on and defeat the Panthers 67-64 after Stewart hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. The Irish finished the second half 4 of 24 (16.7 percent) from the field and 1 of 11 (9.1 percent) from behind the arc to allow the Panthers to make it close.
Colson led all Notre Dame scorers with 19 points and added six rebounds. Farrell contributed 18 points and Pflueger put up 13 points. Gibbs finished with 11 to round out the main scoring for the team. Mooney and Geben each had nine rebounds.
Wilson-Frame and Carr finished with 18 points to pace the Panthers while Stewart added 14 points and five rebounds.
Pittsburgh shot 51.7 percent (15 of 29) in the second half to almost upset the Irish, and connected on 39.3 percent (24 of 61) for the game.
Notre Dame moves to the second round to face No. 7 seed Virginia Tech. The Hokies won the lone meeting between the two programs 80-75 in South Bend while the Irish were without Colson and Farrell.
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