The 'Polish Rifle' Lifts Notre Dame Basketball To Miracle Win
If Notre Dame wanted to entertain even the slimmest hopes of playing its way back into any kind of NCAA Tournament consideration, losing at home Monday to a North Carolina team that had lost five straight and 10 of its last 12 wouldn’t fit into the plan.
It took a while to find the necessary urgency -- and some good fortune -- but Irish sophomore forward Nate Laszewski capped a ferocious Notre Dame comeback with a game-winning three-pointer from near the top of the key with two seconds remaining for a thrilling 77-76 Notre Dame win.
“I just shot it with confidence,” Laszewski said afterward, downplaying the importance of the shot and the impressive comeback it finished off. “When I shot it, I thought it was good. It’s an awesome feeling."
Laszewski finished with 11 points and recorded his second critical buzzer-beater this season.
Laszewski’s three-pointer from the baseline against Toledo in November sent that game to overtime and set up a 64-62 Irish win.
Down to Carolina by 15 points with eight minutes left in the game, the exhausted Irish — who played four games in the last nine days, including three straight on the road — didn’t quit and finally found the scoring touch that was missing in consecutive losses at Virginia and at Duke.
In fact, until the final score, the Irish (16-10; 7-8 ACC) hadn’t led in this game since 38-35 early in the second half.
“I give our guys a lot of credit,” said Irish head coach Mike Brey. “I thought we looked flat out there, exhausted, and maybe we probably were after that stretch. And we found a little something to finish.”
They outscored the Tar Heals 13-3 in the last 4:13 of the game and held North Carolina (10-16; 3-12) to just one basket on its final seven possessions.
“I thought our defense was fabulous the last six or seven minutes,” Brey said. “And then we had a number of guys wanting to take big shots.”
Laszewski’s was obviously the biggest but without the second half work from guards T.J. Gibbs and Prentiss Hubb, no last-second heroics would’ve been possible.
Coming off of two consecutive games where Gibbs shot only 2-of-18 and scored six total points, Gibbs hit some critical three-pointers during an 11-point second half. He finished with 14 points.
For North Carolina, it had to feel like deja vu all over again. The Tar Heals have now lost six games this season when an opponent either hit a tying shot to send a game to overtime, or on a last-second game-winning shot in regulation.
Player of the Game: Even with the game-winning heroics provided by Laszewski, Hubb was the Notre Dame difference in this one, scoring 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half with eight assists.
Turning Point: Still down 73-64 with barely four minutes remaining in the game, Notre Dame got a couple of defensive stops and Gibbs nailed two three-pointers in 30 seconds to set up the game-winning push.
Sharing The Stage
About six or seven NBA scouts were in attendance, presumably most to watch North Carolina super freshman guard Cole Anthony, who is projected by many NBA Draft analysts as a top-10 pick.
The scouts may have come to evaluate Anthony — who was terrific with a game-high 23 points — but they also left the arena talking about Irish senior forward John Mooney, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds for his 21st double-double in 25 games this season.
Mooney continues his push to join Tim Duncan of Wake Forest and Blake Griffin of Oklahoma as the only three power-conference players in the last 23 years to average at least 15 points and 13 rebounds in a season.
State of the Union
Consecutive losses last week to Virginia and Duke dropped the Irish into a tie for ninth place in the ACC and in a very precarious place if it hopes to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for a third straight year.
This narrow escape over North Carolina affords Notre Dame perhaps a little room for error — like maybe one more regular-season loss. But losing to the Tar Heals would’ve ended any slim postseason hopes the Irish may still harbor.
The BPI and NCAA NET rankings still keep the Irish somewhat within striking distance with five games left in the regular season.
The 50-49 overtime loss Tuesday at Virginia remains a sour one.
Up Next: After playing four games in nine days, Notre Dame takes five days off before it returns to action Sunday (6 p.m.) for a home game against Miami (Fla.).
A series between two schools better known for their bitter football rivalry from the 1980s, these basketball programs also have some history, most of which coming from their time competing together in the Big East.
These two met 11 times as Big East members with Miami winning seven of those. They’ve played eight times as ACC members, with Miami winning five of those, including the previous two and four of the last five.
The Hurricanes beat the Irish, 62-47, in Coral Gables, Fla., last year, the only time these two teams played in 2018-19.
A series that includes 23 games and dates back to 1986, Miami narrowly leads 12-11.
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