Three Up, Three Down: Notre Dame Vs. Miami
The Irish closed out Miami using a 10-1 in the final three minutes to defeat the Hurricanes 67-62. Take a look at some of the highs and lows from the back-and-forth contest.
Three Up
Steve Vasturia — Is the senior guard officially named “Big Shot Steve”? For the fourth straight game, Vasturia hit a clutch shot to propel the Irish to victory with tonight’s being a layup to put the Irish up three with less than 10 seconds left.
The run for Vasturia started in Pittsburgh with a big three to defeat the Panthers by one, and then he hit an off-balance runner in the lane against Louisville to clinch the upset of the then-No. 9 Cardinals. He followed it up a couple nights later with another big three to put the Irish up two over Clemson and complete the comeback and continued the streak against Miami.
Vasturia finished the game with 10 points, six rebounds and six assists to help give the Irish a 4-0 start in ACC play.
Second Half Play — Like the Clemson game, Notre Dame didn’t play particularly well in the first half against the Hurricanes and had to mount a comeback in the second half. Notre Dame was down 61-57 with 2:53 left before going on a 10-1 run to finish the game. Throughout the first half, the Irish would start hot and then play just well enough in the second half to pull off the victory. Not the past two games. The Irish have shown they can play ahead and from behind.
Defense — The Notre Dame defense has picked it up in ACC play, with the Irish holding three of their four opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field (Clemson, which shot close to 50 percent, is the outlier). It is becoming more clear the Irish have improved on the defensive end and it wasn’t just a one-time thing. Inside scoring is still a problem for Mike Brey and company, but they are contesting shots and still making it difficult to score elsewhere to make up for it. Notre Dame now doesn’t have to rely on its offensive prowess to win tough games.
Three Down
Three-Point Shooting — It wasn’t pretty on the offensive end for the Irish against Miami. Notre Dame made just 5 of 20 (25.0 percent) from deep. The three-pointer is a staple of the Irish offense and will need to improve heading into contests against Virginia Tech and Florida State.
Rebounding — Miami was a force on the glass tonight, out-rebounding the Irish 47-38. It has been a problem in ACC play for Notre Dame, with the Louisville game being the lone victory on the boards for the Irish. It is a problem. Notre Dame needs to find a way to rebound better as ACC play continues, but they have found a way to make it work so far. Can it continue?
Not Much Else — It is hard to find too much fault with this Irish team. They seldom do many things wrong or at least not enough to come up with three things all the time without being too nit-picky. Enjoy it Irish fans. This team is fun to watch even when they aren’t scoring efficiently.
Bottom Line
Notre Dame is now 15-2 overall and 4-0 in ACC play. At the beginning of the season, not many analysts, experts and beat writers would have predicted that given the question marks facing this team before play opened up. Notre Dame has everyone’s attention now and won’t be sneaking up on anyone. The next two games will be big. Splitting the road contests at Virginia Tech and Florida State should be considered a win for the program. Winning both? That will convert any nonbelievers around the country.
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