Observations: Notre Dame comes back to pick off No. 10 Kentucky, 66-62

Notre Dame needed that one.

The Irish snapped a three-game skid with a 66-62 win over No. 10 Kentucky Saturday evening, notching their second victory over the Wildcats in as many seasons. Freshman guard Blake Wesley’s jumper with 12 seconds left gave them the lead. They’re 4-4 on the season and 0-1 in the ACC. Kentucky dropped to 7-2.

Wesley and guard Dane Goodwin led Notre Dame with 14 points each. Notre Dame shot 46.4 percent from the floor and averaged 1.08 points per possession. The Irish led for just 7:59.

Here are three observations from the game.

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Notre Dame’s energy and commitment to defense did a 180-degree pivot from eight days earlier, when Boston College ran the Irish off the floor in a 73-57 loss Dec. 3. Saturday, there was a clear sense of pride – the kind of pride they preached had been developed this offseason.

The Irish held Kentucky to 1.02 points per possession and 2-for-19 on three-pointers. They contained the Wildcats’ guards all evening. Kentucky’s four main guards – Sahvir Wheeler, TyTy Washington Jr., Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz, combined for 23 points on 8-of-27 shooting. Kentucky missed its first 13 three-point tries.

Cormac Ryan had the primary assignment on Washington, a projected first-round draft pick. Washington had five assists, but he’s a dynamic scorer who never found a groove in that area. He totaled six points on 3-of-7 shooting. Ryan was in his face all evening, including on the final possession when Washington missed a layup.

Notre Dame’s strategy on Wheeler, a 5-10 point guard who averages 8.4 assists per game, was to sag off him and crowd him when he drove. The Irish dared the career 26 percent three-point shooter to take long ones. He shot two, one of which and hit the backboard.

The Irish’s interior defense was less successful, as evidenced by Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe’s 25-point day. He was 11-of-14 from the field. Notre Dame forward Nate Laszewski, though, deserves some props for playing him tough in the final minute and forcing a missed hook shot that set up Wesley’s jumper.

The realistic goal when defending Tshiebwe is to contain, not shut down. He’s a 6-9, 255-pound smokestack who entered the day averaging a nation-best 15.4 rebounds per game and a team-leading 15.3 points.

Notre Dame accomplished it – even with his monster scoring day. Tshiebwe didn’t even reach half his average on the glass. Notre Dame limited him to seven rebounds, with three on offense. That was enough to prevent him from taking over like he did in nearly all of Kentucky’s first eight games.

Still, Tshiebwe handled Notre Dame’s single coverage in the paint with ease and even faced up for a pair of first-half jumpers. He defeated or passed out of most double teams.

On defense, he had two blocks, three steals and handled Notre Dame forwards Paul Atkinson Jr. and Laszewski well. He twice picked off entry passes intended for Atkinson in the post.

All told, this was another strong defensive rebounding game for Notre Dame. The Irish began it ranked 33rd nationally in opponent offensive rebounding rate, at 22.5 percent. Kentucky rebounded just 16.7 percent of its misses (5-of-30), with non-Tshiebwe players contributing only two of those. The Wildcats entered the game first in offensive rebounding rate.

The second half brought the long-awaited arrival of a senior-heavy team that plays like one.

Notre Dame’s rotation is Wesley and six seniors. Most of the seniors have played together since 2018-19. They ought to know each other’s strengths weaknesses and intricacies. Too often this year, though, they looked stilted and disjoined – much like that rough 2018-19 season.

But it the final 20 minutes Saturday, there was clear flow. Notre Dame shot 50 percent and turned the ball over just three times in that span. They played off each other well.

Their plan of attack was clear: Get in high pick-and-rolls, go downhill and create off the dribble. Kentucky often sent two defenders with the ball against the pick-and-roll. The Irish’s guards, in turn, defeated it by finding the roller for easy layups or kicking out for threes. Nine of their 14 second-half baskets were assisted.

One sign of their cohesion: Goodwin twice made a layup where he beat his defender with a back-cut and a teammate instantly saw him. The timing on the cuts was precise. So were the passes to him.

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