Irish Fall To Hokies
Notre Dame (13-8) dropped its fifth straight to drop to 3-5 in ACC play, with an 80-75 loss to Virginia Tech (15-6) on Saturday night at the Purcell Pavilion in South Bend.
Despite a career night from Irish guard TJ Gibbs, who dropped 27 points and dished out five assists, consistency from behind the arc from the Hokies throughout made it difficult for Notre Dame to complete a late comeback.
The Irish shot only 39 percent from the field, which made it tough to keep pace with the Hokies, who shot 51 percent from the field and 56 percent from three, but offensive rebounding and second- chance points to go along with Gibbs’ big night helped the Irish keep it close.
Notre Dame forward John Mooney recorded a double-double, chipping in 15 points and 11 rebounds (3 offensive) and Martin Geben added 10 points and 9 rebounds (5 offensive). The two big men were a big reason why the Irish kept it close.
Virginia Tech moved to 4-4 in ACC play with the win. Justin Bibbs paced the Hokies with 20 points, hitting 4-for-4 from distance. As a team, the Hokies drilled 14 three-pointers.
Notre Dame pulled within a bucket a few times in the final minutes of the game, but with under a minute and a half left in the game, the Hokies pulled away when Virginia Tech’s Chris Clarke got a burst of energy, tipping in his own miss to extend the lead to 76-72. Then moments later, getting fouled after a defensive rebound and chipping in the two free throws from the stripe. After a steal by the Hokies, Clarke sealed the win with less than 20 seconds left with a break-a-way dunk to finish a 6-0 Hokie run. This sealed the close win and halted the Irish furious comeback.
Late in the second half, Virginia Tech went cold from the field and Gibbs and the Irish took advantage of the Hokies’ slump. Adding to their earlier 11-2 run, and with 5:41 left in regulation, Gibbs hit a three-pointer to extend Notre Dame’s run to 18-6 and within three points of the Hokies, 68-65. Gibbs had 10 of his game-high 27-points during this run, scoring all 10 straight in an effort to get the Irish back into the game.
After a Bibbs three-pointer, Mooney chipped in a pair which began a huge run for the Irish. With 11:57 in the game, Notre Dame cut into the Hokies lead with 11-2 run. This made it 64-58 and the Irish were right in the mix and were pressing on the door to take the lead from Virginia Tech.
To start the second half, the Hokies didn’t waste any time and got to the free-throw line. Kerry Blackshear hit a pair to get Virginia Tech on the board first. Geben ran the floor and hit a jumper to get the Irish their first points of the second half less than 20 seconds later. At the 14:30 mark Bibbs for Virginia Tech had nine points in the first five and a half minutes of the second half.
The Irish started the game punch for punch with the Hokies getting on the board first with a pair at the line from Mooney. The Hokies followed the free throws with a three by Ahmed Hill, but bouncing back on the next possession Gibbs helped the Irish re-take the lead with a three-pointer of his own. The Irish and the Hokies went shot for shot until Virginia Tech’s guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit a deep three-pointer to give the Hokies an 11-9 lead and sparked an 11-0 run.
Starting with 15:47 win the first half, the Hokies opened the game up with an 11-0 run, Rex Pflueger ended the run with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 19-12. The Hokies quickly bounced back and got a lay-up a couple possessions later. This was followed by a Nik Djogo three-pointer to make it 21-15.
Again, the Hokies quickly bounced back after the Djogo three-pointer and hit a three-pointer of their own and extended their lead to nine with 10:34 to go in the first half, 24-15. Just under a minute later, Pflueger hit his second three-pointer of the half to make it a 24-18 game half-way through the first-half.
In final 10 minutes of play in the first half, the game began to slow down on the offensive end, both teams began to cash in at the free-throw line. For the rest of the half Notre Dame and Virginia Tech matched each other offensively and the Hokies went into halftime leading 34-27. Fortunately, the Irish went into the half with momentum after Gibbs hit a halfcourt shot to get the Irish fans roaring as they ran into the locker room.
Gibbs led all Irish scorers with eight at the half. Mooney made presence felt in the paint coming close to a first-half double-double with seven points and eight rebounds. The Irish shot 26.7 percent from the field in the first-half, but had eight offensive rebounds and is helping the Irish stay in the game in the first half. Virginia Tech shot 44.8 from the field in the first half and was 7-for-15 from 3.
