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Observations: Notre Dame stumbles in ACC opener against Boston College

It’s hard to find a less inspiring start to conference play.

Notre Dame never led in a 73-57 loss to Boston College Friday in its ACC opener. The Eagles, with a first-year coach and a roster comprised largely of mid-major up-transfers, were picked to finished last in the 15-team ACC. They ran the Irish (3-4, 0-1 ACC) off the Conte Forum floor and handed them their third straight defeat.

Boston College scored the game’s first seven points, led 37-27 at halftime and rattled off a 15-2 run to begin the second half. By the end of that spurt, Notre Dame looked spent. The Irish trailed by as many as 23 points.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball guard Blake Wesley
Blake Wesley made his first career start Friday at Boston College. (Michael Allio/AP)

Guard Prentiss Hubb led Notre Dame with 15 points. Freshman guard Blake Wesley had 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting in his first career start. He replaced Hubb in the lineup. Notre Dame shot 38.2 percent (21-of-55), had 13 assists and 11 turnovers.

Here are three observations from the game.

BOX SCORE

1. Rebounding problems arise

Notre Dame entered the game ranked 13th nationally in opponent offensive rebounding rate, at 20.6 percent. A weakness last year had looked like a strength through six games.

Not Friday.

Boston College rebounded 35 percent of its misses, including eight of 17 in the first half. The advantage on the boards helped the Eagles build their halftime lead and keep Notre Dame at arm’s length. The Irish’s first-shot defense in the first half was passable, but sometimes went to waste after allowing an offensive rebound.

All told, Boston College had 14 second-chance points, with 12 of them in the first half. Boston College forward James Karnik had 11 rebounds in the first half alone.

2. Another shooting clunker

In six games against Division I this year, Notre Dame has shot 33.3 percent or worse from deep four times. The Irish have not cleared 40 percent from deep since the season opener and have finished under 30 percent three times. Friday, they shot 28.6 percent (8-of-28).

Most of the looks weren’t poor. They just didn’t go in the basket nearly enough.

This is largely the same core of shooters that finished 46th in three-point accuracy last season (36.8 percent). Yes, there was some inconsistency in that number, but right now the Irish aren’t even finding any highs.

The Irish entered the game ranked 55th in three-point volume, with 44.6 percent of their shots coming from deep. For a team that generates this many rhythm threes, they’re not making nearly enough of them. Through seven games, they’re now shooting 32 percent on three-pointers.

3. Paint problems

Notre Dame was outscored in the paint, 32-20, a product of struggling to get the ball to forward Paul Atkinson Jr. and porous post defense against Boston College’s big men.

Boston College’s two primary centers, Karnik and seven-footer Quinten Post, combined for 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting. They went right at single coverage against forward Nate Laszewski, weren’t deterred by double teams and didn’t have much trouble establishing post position. They were simply bigger and stronger.

On the other end, they handled Atkinson, Laszewski and Elijah Taylor. A size mismatch combined with Boston College’s frequent denial of post entry passes were the keys. After 35 straight games in double figures, Atkinson has seven combined points in his last two outings.

Taylor earned non-garbage time minutes in the second straight game and appears to be the eighth man in the rotation.

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