Notre Dame Tabs First Home ACC Win Of The Season Against Wake Forest
With less than 10 seconds to go against Wake Forest, Notre Dame senior guard TJ Gibbs shook hands and celebrated with forwards John Mooney and Nate Laszewski. The trio had combined for 61 of Notre Dame's 90 points.
Outside of their individual performances, there was another aspect of the game to commemorate: The Fighting Irish men's basketball team was about to win its first home ACC game of the season with a 90-80 victory over the Demon Deacons (9-11; 2-8).
At the half, a victory seemed in doubt with Notre Dame trailing 41-36 and shooting 35.5 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc, but the real reason for the deficit was Wake Forest senior guard Brandon Childress. He was 6-8 in the first half with 16 points and three assists.
Notre Dame came out of the tunnel at half time with a mission to shut Childress down and did exactly that, holding him scoreless for the first 13 minutes. He finished the game with 24 points, but most of his scoring in the second half scoring came with the outcome practically decided.
"Nate [Laszewski] did a good job of pushing him out on the ball screens, and that helped distort them offensively," Gibbs said.
According to head coach Mike Brey, Laszewski was the team's best post defender of the night.
Where the sophomore really shined was on the offensive end of the court, where he went 6-8 from the field and 3-5 from three-point land. He finished the night with 18 points, a season-high.
"We've seen Prentiss [Hubb] and we've seen Dane [Goodwin] look like, 'here they come.' I thought tonight was that night for Nate," Brey said. "He hunted his shot."
Gibbs led Notre Dame offensively with 23 points, the most he's scored since he dropped 23 at home against Wake Forest last season.
Mooney also got back to his productive ways, with his 16th double-double of the season in 19 games. He did so with 13 boards and 19 points but went an inefficient 6-15 from the field. Sophomore guard Dane Goodwin put together another solid performance with 14 points on 6-11 shooting.
Not every regular contributor player well. Sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb struggled throughout most of the contest, taking several contested and off-balance three-pointers while also missing a handful of erratic layups, one of which didn't look as if it hit the rim. His first point didn't come until 7:30 left in the game, and he finished with 5 points on 1-11 shooting, three assists, three steals and two turnovers.
"Sometimes you just get a guy out to jump-start him," Brey said. "He probably is coming back to earth a little, because he had been on a run on the road. He's been really electric on the road. We'll see if we can get him to do that [at home]."
Ultimately, this was a big win for Notre Dame (12-8, 3-6 ACC), as they had lost four out of their last five games, including their last two by a combined three points.
This Notre Dame's third home conference win of 13 games over the last two seasons. The team's most recent ACC win in Purcell Pavilion had been against Georgia Tech on Feb. 10, 2019.
Mooney Gets His Groove Back
Mooney was second in the nation in rebound per game heading into the contest against Wake Forest with a 13.4 average.
Only twice this season had he failed to grab at least 10 boards, which happened most recently against No. 5 Florida State on Saturday when Mooney was held to a season-low five rebounds.
But against Wake Forest on Wednesday night, Mooney matched his total against the Seminoles on the offensive glass alone, snagging five offensive rebounds
Mooney finished the contest with a total of 13 rebounds, including several down the stretch in a competitive and physical game.
Both Teams Get it Done at the Free Throw Line
Notre Dame fouled Wake Forest an uncharacteristic 16 times, well above their average of 12.3 per game, which led the country coming into the game.
This led to 21 free throws from the Demon Deacons. They made 17, shooting 81 percent.
The good news is that Notre Dame exceeded Wake Forest in terms of free throws attempted, made and percentage.
The Fighting Irish went 22-25 from the charity stripe, making them at an 88 percent clip.
Coming into the game, Notre Dame was shooting just 71.8 percent from the free throw line, No. 126 in the country.
This is the third time this season the Fighting Irish have made 22 free throws in a game, which is the season-high.
Up Next
Notre Dame continues its three-game home-stand Saturday against Georgia Tech (noon, EST).
The Yellow Jackets are one of Notre Dame’s two permanent home-and-home ACC opponents, meaning these two teams play twice each league season.
The Irish are 8-5 since that annual home-and-home conference arrangement began in 2013-14.
Saturday will mark the second meeting between these two teams already this season.
"When you're in this league, and you're where we are now in January and February, you're living day-to-day," Brey said. "Let's see if we can sweep Georiga Tech, that will be a challenge, and win another on at home."
Irish sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb scored a career high 25 points, Jan. 15, in the first game to help the Irish secure a 78-74 win in Atlanta.
Interestingly, Notre Dame has won only seven of its last 29 ACC games, and three of those have come against Georgia Tech.
These two teams played three times last season, splitting the two regular-season matchups before the Irish claimed victory in an opening-round ACC Tournament tilt.
The all-time series is tied 11-11.
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