Rolling On, ND Beats Pitt, Sweeps Three-Game Homestand
Mike Brey admitted to some self-serving damage control and unsolicited marketing from earlier this season when he suggested this might be the best defensive team he has fielded during his 20 years as the Irish head coach.
Brey hinted at the notion while his team was struggling to even reach 70 points, oftentimes in non-conference games.
“That was a sales job,” Brey admitted with a laugh earlier this week, two days after his team scored 80 points for the fourth straight game in an eight-point win over Georgia Tech.
The good times, and the great offense, were showcased again Wednesday when the Irish extended their winning streak to three games with a relatively uneventful 80-72 victory over Pittsburgh at Purcell Pavilion — a game that Notre Dame led by 19 points in the second half.
“Eighty! Eighty!” Brey celebrated afterward of his scoring total. “As long as there is 80 on the board, it’s a good night.”
Led by 21 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting from senior guard T.J. Gibbs, the Irish put four players in double figures.
And now with 10 straight games scoring in double figures, Gibbs is playing the best basketball of his career, and has become one primary reason for this team’s scoring surge.
“I don’t want to say too much, I don’t want to jinx us,” Gibbs said of the offensive outburst. “We found something that’s working. I think we are turning a corner now.”
Notre Dame (14-8, 5-6 ACC) handling Pitt (14-9, 5-7) completes a three-game home-stand sweep for the Irish, a good way to prepare for a difficult three-game stretch on the road up next.
“Great win and a great home-stand, and we’re within shouting distance,” Brey said of his team back in some very early conversation for an NCAA berth after a 1-4 ACC start.
Senior Irish forward John Mooney recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds for his 18th double-double this season.
Sophomore forward Nate Laszewski and senior forward Juwan Durham each added 11 points.
Pittsburgh used a 12-0 run in the first half to build a 19-13 lead, then it was lights out.
Notre Dame responded with a 9-0 run of their own that eventually swelled to 29-14 and gave the Irish a 42-33 lead at the break that was never seriously threatened in the second half.
A Record Roll
With 80 more points posted against Pittsburgh, the Irish have now scored at least 75 points in six straight games — winning four of those.
An 82.3 scoring average in those six games has lifted Notre Dame to No. 2 in the ACC in offense, trailing only Duke.
Somewhat under the radar, five straight games scoring at least 80 points is the longest such streak Brey’s teams have ever posted in ACC play.
Patience Pays
Part of Notre Dame’s scoring surge has stemmed from a stronger commitment from Brey to play a four-guard lineup.
The lineup tweak has meant more minutes for sophomore guard Nate Goodwin and fewer for Durham.
In fact, until hitting for 11 points against Pittsburgh, Durham had reached double figures only one other time during this eight-game, small-ball revolution.
“I was very proud of Juwan tonight,” Brey said Wednesday. “We’ve been going away from him, and down-shifting, and having pretty good success. I thought he responded and gave us pretty good stuff.”
Durham admitted that having his minutes drastically cut wasn’t always easy to accept, but a team-first approach kept his attitude right.
“I was just trying to stay positive the whole time,” Durham said. “Of course, I had my down days but I didn’t let that overshadow the big picture.”
Up Next: A relatively new and rather nondescript series that includes only seven meetings to date, the Irish play Sunday at Clemson (11-10, 5-6) inside Littlejohn Coliseum (6 p.m, EST) for the first of three straight road games for Notre Dame
In a stretch that could be considered the toughest on the Irish ACC schedule, two days after playing at Clemson, the Irish play at reigning national champion Virginia, and four days after that, Notre Dame gets its shot at No. 7 Duke in Durham, N.C.
“I know it’s the toughest stretch we’ve probably ever played in the history of our program,” Brey said. “But it’s opportunity.”
Like so many ACC teams, Clemson’s season has been full of ups and downs.
On the upside, Clemson handed Duke one of its two league losses in a 79-72 home win over the Blue Devils in January.
On the downside, Yale stole a road win over Clemson in December, 54-45, at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Notre Dame has won five of the seven games in a series that dates back only to 2013-14 when the Irish joined the ACC.
After losing the first five games to Notre Dame, Clemson has won the previous two, including a 64-62 win at Purcell Pavilion last season in the only meeting between these two in 2018-19.
The Irish are 2-1 all-time at Littlejohn Coliseum.
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