Notre Dame Continues Slide with 76-58 Loss at NC State
The Irish were crushed in Raleigh (N.C.) on Saturday afternoon dropping a 76-58 decision to the NC State Wolfpack. The loss was the seventh straight for the Irish as they fell to 13-10 overall and 3-7 in ACC play. Shooting just 39 percent, the Irish fell behind early and never recovered.
Matt Farrell returned again from his ankle injury to lead the Irish with 16 points. The Wolfpack improved to 16-7 overall and 6-4 in league play and shot an even 50 percent for the game. Torin Dorn had a game-high 21 points to lead the Wolfpack.
"They are really playing well and we’re struggling like heck," stated Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. "You have to give NC State credit defensively. We couldn’t get anything going early in the game and then you’re digging out of a hole the whole time.
“They have a great vibe about them and we don’t. We’ll go back home and see if we can scratch out a win against Boston College. We could use one."
The Wolfpack crowd started to sense a win for their team as the lead extended to 30 points with about eight minutes left in the game. The Irish shooting percentage did improve a little, but it was definitely a case of too little too late.
The Wolfpack led 75-55 with about four minutes to play as Farrell caught fire from downtown, hitting three of them in about a two-minute span.
The Wolfpack won the rebounding edge, 38-26 and it was a big reason for the big first-half deficit for the Irish.
The Wolfpack came out of the locker room focused and took a 46-23 lead just three minutes into the half after five straight points by Braxton Beverly. A three-point play by Omer Yurtseven upped the lead to 26 as the Irish continued to struggle shooting the ball.
The Irish began to hit shots consistently but unfortunately so did the Wolfpack, so the score didn’t reflect the solid Irish play. The Wolfpack led 58-37 with 11:31 to go in the game. The lead ballooned to 25 midway thru the half, and the Irish seemingly began to just play for pride.
The Wolfpack had the lead the entire game as it seemed the game was over just a few minutes into the game.
The Wolfpack jumped out to a seven to nothing lead after a three-point play by Dorn. A quick layup by Abdul-Malik Abu made it nine nothing which forced an Irish timeout. The Irish got on the scoreboard after a nice put-back by Austin Torres. But the Irish opened the game cold once again and were unable to get close to the Wolfpack who led 15-9 with 11:40 to go in the half.
"What kills us is we’re getting some open looks early in the game and we can’t make them the last two games," said Brey. "Right now, we have to make some of those to have a chance."
Both teams began to struggle mightily from the field, especially the Irish, and they fell behind by double digits after Beverly canned back to back three-pointers. The Wolfpack upped the lead to 14 with under eight minutes to play before halftime.
With a field goal drought stretching to nearly six minutes, the Irish fell far behind unable to get any consistent offense. Rex Pflueger stopped the bleeding with a three-pointer which cut the lead to 28-13 with about five minutes remaining in the half.
The Irish trailed big, 37-21 at the half, shooting just 26 percent from the field. Farrell led the team with seven points after missing a few games with an ankle injury. The Wolfpack shot 50 percent in the first half and were led by Dorn who finished the half with a game-high 14 points.
Player of the Game: Dorn. The junior was a big part of the Wolfpack’s first-half success with 14 points and had a strong game overall.
Unsung Hero: Beverly. Thanks to his big shots in the first half, the Wolfpack got the crowd to its feet a few times in the half.
Up Next: The Irish return home on Tuesday night to take on the Boston College Eagles at 8 P.M.
