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Notre Dame Pulls Away In Second Half To Defeat Florida State 84-69

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Notre Dame (15-10, 5-7) reeled off a 32-17 run during the final 10 minutes to pull away from Florida State (17-8, 6-7) and take down the Seminoles 84-69 Saturday evening in South Bend.

Both senior point guard Matt Farrell (28) and junior guard Rex Pflueger (19) recorded career-highs in points to help the Irish to their second-straight victory.

Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's half-by-half recap of the Notre Dame win. The full box score can be FOUND HERE.

FIRST HALF

Notre Dame won the opening tip and didn’t waste any time scoring with Farrell drilling a three-pointer 10 seconds into the contest.

The Irish defense held on the other end which led to another triple on the other end this time from Pflueger to give Notre Dame an early 6-0 lead just 42 seconds into the game.

Notre Dame cooled off after the hot start missing its next five shots leading into the first media timeout (15:45). Florida State managed to connect one just one of four attempts to open the game trailing 7-2 at the break.

Both teams continued to struggle from the floor over the next few minutes with the Irish hitting just one of their next six attempts. The one basket came via a three-pointer from sophomore guard TJ Gibbs which followed a pair of free throws from senior big man Martinas Geben.

Florida State didn’t fare much better getting just one of four attempts to drop trailing the Irish 12-7 heading into the under-12 media timeout (11:58). Both teams were a combined 5-of-21 from the floor during the opening 8:02.

The Seminoles reeled off a quick 6-0 run out of the break to take a 13-12 lead behind three-pointers from forward Phil Cofer and guard P.J. Savoy. Pflueger connected on a three-pointer of his own on the other end to give the Irish the lead right back at 15-13 with 10:09 remaining.

Both teams traded baskets until the 8:06 mark giving the Irish a 20-19 lead. But, Notre Dame went on a 5-0 run before the next media timeout after Farrell found sophomore guard Nik Djogo streaking down the court for a dunk, and Farrell hit his third three-pointer of the half.

Notre Dame led 25-19 at the under-8 media timeout (6:53).

The Irish extended that run to 8-0 after a free throw from Pflueger and a crafty layup via Farrell to give the Irish a 28-19 advantage with 5:48 left in the half.

A three-pointer from Florida State guard C.J. Walker ended the Notre Dame run, but the Irish got the next four points to push their lead to 32-2 with 3:34 left.

Big man Christ Koumadje helped lead a 6-0 run for the Seminoles over the next minute-and-a-half to cut the Notre Dame lead to 32-28 with 2:03 remaining scoring four points.

Florida State again responded with a 5-0 run with four points coming from Cofer to make it 37-34 Notre Dame with under a minute to go. Farrell hit a big three with 29 seconds left to put Notre Dame up 40-37 heading into halftime.

Notre Dame hit 12-of-28 (42.9 percent) from the field including 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) behind the arc. Florida State connected on 12-of-26 (46.2 percent) overall and 5-of-13 (38.5 percent) on its three-point attempts.

Farrell led the Irish in scoring at 14 points with Pflueger adding 12 points and 5 rebounds. Gibbs added seven points to the team’s effort.

Savoy had 11 points to lead the Seminoles with Cofer notching seven points.

SECOND HALF

Both teams again struggled overall out of the game in the final 20 minutes going a combined 5-of-17 to open the half.

Notre Dame held a 45-40 advantage at the first media timeout (16:00) behind four points from Geben and a free throw via Pflueger. Florida State guard Terance Mann scored the first basket which was followed by a jumper from Walker and Cofer.

After a pair of free throws from Pflueger, the Seminoles went on a 6-2 run to get back within one possession at 49-47 with 12:07 left in the game.

But, Farrell again hit another big shot to swing momentum back into the Irish’s favor at 52-47 with 11:42 left. That score remained the same heading into the under-12 media timeout (11:17).

Through the first 8:43 of the second half, both teams were a combined 9-of-34 from the floor including 1-of-10 behind the arc.

Walker went on a personal 5-0 run for the Seminoles to tie the game at 52 apiece before Gibbs knocked down a tough jumper to give the Irish the lead right back at 54-52 with 9:54 remaining.

The two teams continued trading baskets over the next two minutes with the Irish getting buckets from Geben and Farrell while Koumadje and Mann connected on their own baskets to make it a 58-56 Irish lead with 7:49 left.

Gibbs was fouled on a three-point attempt before the break and hit all three out of the timeout to push the Irish lead up to 61-56.

Florida State guard Braian Angola got a layup to fall before Irish junior forward Elijah Burns hit a jumper with the clock winding down and Gibbs nailed a triple to push the lead to 66-58 with 5:37 left forcing a timeout by the Seminoles.

The Irish run was extended to 9-0 with two more free throws from Pflueger and a tough layup via Gibbs driving into traffic. The extension of the run put Notre Dame up 70-58 with 3:57 remaining.

Notre Dame continued to roll going on a 10-2 run after the under-4 media timeout to lead 80-60 with 1:30 left after a big three-pointer from Farrell. The senior also had two other buckets during the run.

The Irish would hold on for an 84-69 win over the Seminoles to grab their second-straight win.

Farrell finished with a career-high 28 points along with four rebounds and five assists. Pflueger also hit a career-high in points with 19 while contributing six rebounds and four assists. Gibbs scored 19 points as well. Geben notched 10 points and eight rebounds to round out the top scorers for the Irish.

Notre Dame finished the game 27-of-55 (49.1 percent) from the field including 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) behind the arc.

The Seminoles shot 26-of-64 (40.6 percent) overall and knocked down 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) attempts from the three-point line.

Walker led the team in points with 16 while Cofer added 12 and Savoy finished with 11.

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