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Observations: Notre Dame Falls Short Against No. 23 Virginia

Notre Dame pushed a ranked team, once again. But not quite hard enough to make it topple, once again.

The Irish lost to No. 23 Virginia 66-57 Wednesday night, dropping to 0-2 in the ACC and 3-5 overall despite a career-high 28 points from forward Nate Laszewski. It was their 25th straight loss against a ranked team.

Here are some observations and notes from the game.

BOX SCORE

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball junior forward Nate Laszewski
Junior forward Nate Laszewski’s career-high 28 points weren't enough to lift the Irish' to a win. (ACC)

• Guard Trey Wertz suffered a left ankle sprain late in the first half and did not return. He landed awkwardly when trying to dribble out of a trap and was on the ground for a couple minutes. He put no weight on it as he was helped off the floor.

• Notre Dame finds itself in a familiar, sour spot. It weathered an early swoon, got back up and stayed in the game against a tough opponent. But it couldn’t do enough to take a lead or finish the game. Virginia made shots when it needed to and put together enough stops. Notre Dame finished with a few less of each. The cycle continues in a predictable manner.

• This was the game where Laszewski displayed the offensive ceiling many think he has. The mismatches against opposing fours and fives he creates. The shooting range. The feel and off-the-dribble ability. All of it was on display. Laszewski was 8-for-11 from the floor, 4-for-7 from 3 and attempted 10 free throws.

• Next to him, forward Juwan Durham put forth his most impressive game of the season, with 19 points. He passed out of doubles and traps, with one assist, but that number isn’t indicative of his effectiveness as a passer. He found a couple shooters who simply missed clean looks. His most impressive bucket was an and-1 dunk where he faked a dribble-handoff to Hubb, got defender Jay Huff to commit on the fake and drove from the wing for a dunk.

• Much of Durham’s damage came as a roller after setting a screen and drawing fouls in the paint. He had taken 12 free throws all season, but attempted seven Wednesday. Guard Prentiss Hubb found him four times for easy baskets and had another pass to him that led to free throws.

• That’s about all Hubb did, though. Virginia’s defense is built around walling off dribble-drives with aggressive help and double-teaming. The Cavaliers did limit dribble-drives enough to win, but their aggressive ball-screen traps and hedges suffocated Notre Dame’s guards and led to the ball sticking on the perimeter too often. Wertz and Hubb had a couple instances each where they rifled passes to Durham before the defense recovered, but were largely held in check as scorers.

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• Wertz scored one point and had one assist before his injury. Hubb ended with eight assists, but only four points. Guard Cormac Ryan was scoreless. Ryan and Hubb each fired off a comfortable 3-pointer in the final five minutes that rolled around and out. Ryan’s would have tied the score 54-54 with 4:44 left. Those three plus guard Dane Goodwin combined for 10 points on 3-for-22 shooting.

• Notre Dame’s defensive plan was to help and pack the paint to avoid dribble drives. With the exception of wings Sam Hauser and Trey Murphy III, the Irish were willing to let Virginia shoot open 3s. Lower-volume, less-threatening shooters Casey Morsell, Kihei Clark, Reece Beekman, Justin McKoy and Jay Huff accepted the challenge and went 4-for-12 from deep. Not a great percentage, but enough to provide a couple key boosts.

• Clark’s ball-handling and distribution was a second-half difference maker. Notre Dame had trouble keeping him in front. When he sensed help, he didn’t panic and passed. He had 14 of his 19 points and four of his five assists after halftime.

• Saturday’s game at Pitt is still on the schedule, but the status of it is fluid with the Panthers’ Tuesday game at Duke called off due to COVID-19 issues within their program. A positive test was identified Monday morning, 10 days after coach Jeff Capel’s own positive result. The status may not be determined until Friday.

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