Notre Dame Suffers Fourth Straight Loss Falling 67-58 To Clemson
Clemson (16-3, 5-2) started 7-of-7 from the field against Notre Dame (13-7, 3-4) Saturday evening, and that proved too much for the Irish to overcome on the road falling 67-58 to the Tigers.
Notre Dame did not lead for a single second in what was the team's fourth-straight loss overall and put the Irish under .500 in league play.
Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated's half-by-half recap of the Irish loss.
FIRST HALF
Clemson got off to a hot start getting a layup from forward Elijah Thomas and then a three-pointer via guard Marcquise Reed to take a quick 5-0 lead in the game’s first 1:16.
Notre Dame finally answered with a layup from big man Martinas Geben, but the Tigers followed right back with a three-pointer from guard Gabe DeVoe. Sophomore Irish guard TJ Gibbs got his own three to fall, but again Clemson countered with a three-pointer via Donte Grantham to extend the team’s lead to 11-5.
Baskets by Thomas and Reed pushed the lead to 15-5 before Irish junior guard Rex Pflueger hit a three-pointer. At the first media timeout (14:28), Clemson led 17-8 and made seven of its first eight attempts.
Both teams managed one basket over the next two-and-a-half minutes with Clemson leading 19-10 with 11:59 left in the half. Notre Dame was 4-of-12 from the field in the first eight minutes including 2-of-8 behind the arc.
An offensive funk hit both teams with the Irish going 1-of-10 from the field over the next four minutes, but Clemson was 0-for-3 keeping the Irish within striking distance. Clemson led 21-12 with 7:53 remaining.
Clemson guard David Skara got a quick layup after the break to put the Tigers up 11 (23-12). Irish sophomore forward John Mooney responded with a personal 8-0 run to cut the Clemson lead to 23-20 with under five minutes left in the half.
A layup from Gibbs made the Clemson lead 24-22 with 4:22 left while the Tigers continue to struggle. The group got a pair of free throws from DeVoe to take a 26-22 lead at the under-4 media timeout.
Gibbs got a runner to fall to again cut the lead to two points which was followed by a DeVoe layup. Geben nailed a jumper, but DeVoe continued his strong play hitting a three-pointer to give the Tigers a 31-26 advantage with 1:32 left.
Notre Dame then went on a 4-0 run via a pair of free throws from Gibbs and a jump-hook from Mooney with under 30 seconds left. But, Mooney committed a foul with three seconds left which allowed Shelton Mitchell to get in the stat sheet for the first time hitting free throws.
A last-second shot from Gibbs almost fell, but Clemson took a 33-30 lead heading into the break.
After starting 7-of-7 from the field, Clemson finished the half 11-of-24 (45.8 percent) behind 14 points from DeVoe. Notre Dame shot 12-of-31 (38.7 percent) from the field, but 4-of-15 (26.7) behind the arc.
Mooney led the way for the Irish with 10 points and four rebounds while Gibbs had nine. Senior point guard Matt Farrell went scoreless in the opening 20 minutes.
SECOND HALF
While Clemson did not come out as hot as the first half, Notre Dame struggled out of the gate allowing Clemson to jump out to a 40-32 lead with 15:46 remaining.
Grantham got the scoring started while Geben matched on the other end before the Tigers went on a 5-0 run forcing a timeout from the Irish. Grantham hit a three-pointer while freshman forward Aamir Simms hit a baseline jumper to fuel the run.
Notre Dame started the half 1-of-5 from the field while Clemson was 3-of-6.
The Irish finally got rolling hitting four of their next five shots including Farrell’s first basket which came via the three-point line. Gibbs, Austin Torres and Elijah Burns converted the other three baskets.
But, Thomas and Grantham connected on field goals while Reed hit a three-pointer to keep the Tigers in control at 47-41 going into the under-12 media timeout.
Farrell connected on an off-balance three-pointer which Geben followed with a jumper to cut the Tigers lead to 47-46 with 9:58 left. But, the Irish would go on a 2:09 scoreless streak which allowed Mitchell to go on a personal 5-0 run to give his team a 52-46 lead heading into the under-8 media timeout.
A jumper from Reed was sandwiched between buckets from Gibbs and Geben to put the Tigers up 54-50 with under five minutes to go. A layup from Mitchell made the score 56-50 Clemson with 4:47 left which remained the same until the under-4 media timeout (3:50).
Clemson hit a quick 5-0 run behind a layup from Mitchell and a big three from DeVoe to extend the lead to 59-50 with 3:18 left. The Irish responded with back-to-back threes from Gibbs and Mooney to cut deficit to 59-56 with 2:20 remaining.
But, Simms connected on his own three-pointer which wound up being the dagger for the Irish. Notre Dame went 1-of-5 over the final minutes while having to put the Tigers on the line. Clemson didn’t falter and took a 67-58 win over the Irish.
The loss pushed Notre Dame’s losing streak to four games while Clemson moved to 5-2 in league play.
Gibbs finished with a game-high 18 points while Mooney recorded a career-high 13 points. Geben finished one rebound shy of another double-double (10 points, 9 rebounds). Farrell and Pflueger combined for 11 points on 4-of-21 shooting and 3-of-16 behind the arc.
DeVoe finished with 17 points while Reed and Mitchell got 12 each and Grantham notched 11 to round out the top scorers for the Tigers.
Notre Dame shot 24-of-62 (38.7 percent) overall while Clemson hit 23-of-52 (44.2 percent).
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