Eagles Clip Irish 73-72
Notre Dame finally dug itself a hole from which it could not climb out.
Boston College supplied shovels from behind the arc.
The Eagles, losers of three in a row and four of five entering Saturday’s Atlantic Coast Conference tilt before 7,117 inside Purcell Pavilion, hit 10 of their first 19 3-point attempts and constructed as much as a 12-point lead in a 73-72 wire-to-wire win against the Irish (6-3, 0-2 ACC).
Notre Dame, playing its first game without sophomore bench-spark Robby Carmody, lost for the season with a torn ACL in his left leg, had T.J. Gibbs at the free-throw line with 2.9 seconds left and a chance to tie the game.
An 89-percent shooter at the line on the season and 81.2 percent for his career, Gibbs missed the first one, made the second and Boston College missed its subsequent one-and-one free throw. The Irish’s desperation shot for the win from sophomore reserve guard Dane Goodwin near midcourt was an airball as time expired.
BC led for 38 minutes, 38 seconds, withstood the Irish’s closing 13-3 run and the game was tied only once --- on both teams’ opening buckets at 2 apiece. The Eagles notched their first ACC road win since Jan. 26 at Wake Forest.
The defeat both spoiled the Irish’s perfect 6-0 start at home and a superlative effort from senior John Mooney. The 6-foot-9, 245-pounder tallied a game-high 18 rebounds and 16 points --- the fifth time in his career to post at least 15 and 15. Gibbs also bounced back from his worst game of the season with a season-best and team-high 21 points, including 7-for-8 at the stripe.
“They put it on us in the first half, I think they were up by 10 at the break (38-28),” Mooney, who posted his third-straight double-double and sixth of the season, said. “We fought back; I thought we made plays down the stretch and gave ourselves a chance.”
Boston College (5-5, 2-0), which had not topped 28 points in a half since a November 20 win against Eastern Washington, blistered Notre Dame’s defense through the game’s opening half.
The Eagles hit 12 of their first 16 shots from the floor, including 5-for-8 on 3-pointers. Freshman guard Jay Heath and Derryck Thornton fueled the torrid start as the duo combined for 22 first-half points on 9-for-12 shooting. The duo finished with 35 points.
BC built as much as a 12-point lead late in the first half, and it led for a whopping 18 minutes, 39 seconds. The game never was tied, and Notre Dame, which had averaged just 9.5 turnovers per game during its 6-2 start, committed 11 handouts in the half and finished with 15.
“I thought the team that deserved to win, won,” said Irish coach Mike Brey, “but God, I felt like we played the first half feeling sorry for ourselves.
“I think it was my worst week as a coach here at Notre Dame. Absolutely my worst week. I didn’t do a very good job preparing us for Maryland, even during the game.”
The Irish didn’t have a single player with a positive plus-minus rating at the half and continued their absolutely dreadful shooting, having connected on just 29 of 91 shots since opening tip in Wednesday’s loss at Maryland through the halftime.
The Irish, who do not leave the state of Indiana for a game until a January 4 trip to Syracuse, host Detroit Mercy Tuesday night at 7 (ACC Network).
