Notre Dame Goes Winless On The Road In 2022-23 With 87-64 Loss To Clemson
The momentum from Wednesday’s upset over Pitt was short-lived for Notre Dame (11-20, 3-17) as Clemson (22-9, 14-6) ended a three-game losing streak to the Irish by cruising 87-64 on Saturday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Notre Dame arrived in South Carolina on Saturday morning as the team flight was delayed on Friday due to South Bend weather and the Irish looked like they never got off the plane in Mike Brey’s final regular season game in the blue and gold.
Brey’s team did accomplish something on the road trip as Notre Dame went winless on the road for an entire season. Yes, Notre Dame did not win a game away from Purcell Pavilion in non-conference or ACC play. It’s a feat that hasn’t happened since the 1921-22 season.
The Tigers started senior night by taking a commanding 20-3 lead with 13:02 left in the first half and it didn’t get much better from there.
“This team has gotten off to good starts,” Clemson head coach Brad Brownell stated. “Our passing and shooting was elite at the beginning of the game and we made a bunch of shots. We built a good lead, but then did a nice job of holding it. That's easy to do in college basketball. You play a team like Notre Dame, who has so much three-point firepower.”
In fact, it would get worse as Clemson took a 48-29 lead into halftime as the Tigers shot 53 percent from the field, which include hitting 8-of-15 shots from three-point range. Notre Dame was also out-rebounded 24-12 and the Tigers dished out assists on 17 made field goals.
The second half wouldn’t be much better for the Irish as Clemson outscored Notre Dame 39-35 in the final 20 minutes, but the Tigers also took the air out of the ball with 6:02 left holding a lead of 78-51.
Clemson would have five players end up in double figures led by Ian Schieffelin and Hunter Tyson scoring 16 points each. Tyson also chipped in 13 rebounds for a double-double in his final home game to help Clemson out-rebound Notre Dame 37-23 for the game.
Fifth-year senior Cormac Ryan continued his scoring streak as he hit double-digits for the 10th time in 12 games with a game-high 19 points, but it also took 18 shots to get there. Ryan finished 7-for-18 from the field, including just 2-for-10 from deep.
Perhaps the lone bright spot for Brey’s team was the play of junior forward Matt Zona. The New Jersey native played 19 minutes and scored a career-high 10 points while also pulling down five boards.
Notre Dame finished the night shooting 34 percent from the floor (and three) while hitting 12-of-18 free throws (67 percent) and never holding a lead.
Brey did not do postgame media.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will be the No. 14 seed in the ACC Tournament. The Irish will open tourney play on Tuesday at 7:00 PM ET as Notre Dame will face No. 11 Virginia Tech. Notre Dame fell to the Hokies 93-87 at home on February 11th.
Tuesday, March 7
First Round
2 p.m. – No. 12 Florida State vs. No. 13 Georgia Tech (ACC Network)
4:30 p.m. – No. 10 Boston College vs. No. 15 Louisville (ACC Network)
7 p.m. – No. 11 Virginia Tech vs. No. 14 Notre Dame (ACC Network)
Wednesday, March 8
Second Round
Noon – No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 9 Wake Forest (ESPN)
2:30 p.m. – No. 5 Pitt vs. Florida State-Georgia Tech winner (ESPN)
7 p.m. – No. 7 North Carolina vs. Boston College-Louisville winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)
9:30 p.m. – No. 6 NC State vs. Virginia Tech-Notre Dame winner (ESPN2/ESPNU)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Park View Omni-Wick Half-Zip Top
