Brey's Seven Man Army Falls 88-66 at Cameron Indoor
The Irish were dominated in the second half on Monday night, resulting in an 88-66 loss to the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium, which including a monster 18-0 run in the second half.
The Irish fell to 13-9, their sixth straight ACC and overall loss as they fell to 3-6 in ACC play. The Blue Devils improved to 19-3 and 7-3 in ACC.
"We hung for about 28 minutes but they eventually wore us down," stated Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. "They’re so gifted offensively. That run was amazing.
“I’m proud of our group. We’re trying, scratching and clawing. They were really good tonight. That offensive run in the second half kind of broke our back.”
The Irish shot just 36 percent for the game and were led by T.J. Gibbs who had a game-high 22 points which was tied with Duke’s Gary Trent Jr. who also had 22. The Blue Devils shot 50 percent from the field and 55 percent in the second half.
A steal and dunk from Grayson Allen sent the Duke crowd into a frenzy and put the exclamation point on a 7-0 run to take a 65-52 lead. Another bucket from Allen, this time from downtown gave the Blue Devils a 14-point lead, their largest of the game.
"The floodgates opened and they wore us down," stated Brey. "They’re gifted."
John Mooney fouled out with about nine minutes left which was a massive blow to an already depleted offense.
A three-pointer by Trent Jr. seemingly put the game on ice as the lead ballooned to 18 with about eight minutes to go and Coach Brey was forced to take another timeout. Eighteen straight points by the Blue Devils essentially put the game away with roughly four minutes remaining.
The Blue Devils shot 60 percent from three-point range which helped them build their second-half lead.
Rex Pflueger opened the half with a contested three-pointer to cut the Duke lead to five as the Irish looked to get closer. An alley-oop dunk by Marvin Bagley and a three-point play by Trevon Duval got the lead back to double digits for the Blue Devils. Another three by Bagley gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the game and forced the Irish into a timeout.
Gibbs finally stopped the bleeding with a pull-up three-pointer, but Duval came right back with a bucket of his own. The Irish got the lead back to eight after a few Blue Devil turnovers. Despite the Blue Devils getting a few second-chance opportunities, the Irish remained in the game. The Duke lead was nine, 61-52 with under twelve minutes to play.
“They were great," Brey said of Gibbs and Mooney. "For John Mooney in this atmosphere, he’s really growing as a player. TJ doing his thing again. All seven of these guys, they’re doing everything we ask them to do."
The Irish were dominated on the boards especially in the second half and were out-rebounded by a 43-27 count for the game.
The Irish stayed with the Blue Devils early in the game despite the crowd being alive from the start. A tip-in from Nikola Djogo made it nine to seven in favor of the Blue Devils as the Irish were very strong early on the boards. The Blue Devils led 11-7 with 15:51 to play in the first half.
The Irish continued to have success especially defensively, winning a few vital loose balls to keep them in the game. A three by Allen gave the Blue Devils their largest lead of the game at 17-9 as the Irish began to go cold from the field. Mooney stopped a 10-0 Duke run with a corner three-pointer to cut the lead to seven.
At the midway point of the half, the Blue Devils led 23-20 as the Irish caught a little fire from the field. Back to back hoops by the Blue Devils got the crowd rocking again as they started to get more consistent shooting. The Blue Devils led 33-25 with 6:51 remaining in the half.
Trent Jr. continued his strong first half with his fourth three-pointer to get the Duke lead back up to seven. The Irish continued to struggle offensively, going nearly three minutes without a made field goal. The Irish trailed 39-30 with 3:45 to go before half.
The Blue Devils led 42-34 at halftime, shooting over 45 percent but finishing the half just one of seven. Trent Jr. was the Blue Devils leading scorer with 14. The Irish shot just over 30 percent and were led by Mooney with 12 points on four made three-pointers.
Player of the Game: Mooney. The sophomore kept the Irish in the game in the first half with his lights out shooting. Look for him to get more opportunities to shoot in the next few games if Matt Farrell comes back.
Unsung Hero: Despite a poor shooting night, Gibbs finished with 22 points, including nine from the free throw line. After a 27 point outing against Virginia Tech, look for him to put up big numbers the rest of the season.
Up Next: The Irish travel to Raleigh on Saturday to take on the NC State Wolfpack at noon.
