Irish Can't Finish In 75-68 Loss To Wake Forest
The win streak against Wake Forest is broken. Notre Dame had won the last five meetings between the two schools and never lost to the Demon Deacons inside the Purcell Pavilion.
After a hot first half shooting the basketball and showing extreme hustle and grit throughout, the last five minutes of the game defined Notre Dame’s 75-68 loss to Wake Forest on Tuesday night. The Irish went without a field goal for the last five minutes of regulation which helped the Demon Deacons take control down the stretch.
“Give Wake Forest credit,” stated Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. “They made some really key buckets and athletic plays around the basket – second shot stuff. You figure you’re going to score tonight the way the game started but we kind of hit the wall a little bit. We had some great looks at key times we couldn’t make. You get what you deserve.”
Notre Dame dropped to 13-13 on the season and 3-10 in the ACC. Wake Forest improved to 10-15 on the season and 3-10 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons recorded their first ACC road win on Tuesday.
Down 66-57 with 5:54 left in regulation after Tony Johnson converted two of his three free throw attempts after Dane Goodwin committed a foul, Notre Dame began to scratch back into the game. On back-to-back possession, the Irish scored on a layup by Gibbs and a corner three-pointer by John Mooney. This sparked a 9-0 run to tie the game at 66-66 with 2:52 left to go.
Unfortunately, on Wake Forest’s next possession freshman Jaylen Hoard muscled his way into the paint for a bucket. Moments later trying to counter Hoard’s bucket, Prentiss Hubb set up the Irish offense. As the shot clock ticked down, Hubb took it into own hands and penetrated the paint after a beautiful cross-over, although as he rose to the rim, he was contested by Wake Forest's seven-footer Olivier Sarr who sent the ball flying into one of his teammates hands. On the other end, Sarr hit a jumper to give his team four-point lead, 70-66.
“Sometimes you get it to one possession and in the vibe we’re in – it might as well be 12 points,” explained Brey. “The last possession is hard to get over. It’s close but it’s not as close as one possession psychologically for us. That’s where we aren’t as confidence because we haven’t had success.”
Notre Dame shot 45 percent from the field (23-51) and 31 percent from three (8-26). The Irish were also outrebounded 11 to six on the offensive glass which deemed significant down the stretch.
Wake Forest shot 49 percent from the field (26-53) and 44 percent from three ({8-18).
“We’re going to keep trying,” Brey said. “The reality is we are kind of who we are right now. I thought Prentiss really battled and our other young guys struggled. Wake Forest has some athletic ability and some individuals.
Despite the loss, Notre Dame leaned its junior captains Gibbs and Mooney. Gibbs scored a game-high 23 points, which is also a season-high. The junior scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half. Mooney came up one rebound shy of his 17th double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. He scored 13 of his points in the second half.
Brandon Childress did it all for Wake Forest. He scored 20 points, added seven rebounds and eight assists. Sarr also added 14 points and five rebounds.
After a miss by Goodwin out of a Notre Dame timeout with 20 seconds left in the first half, Chaundee Brown grabbed the defensive rebound and proceeded to heave a full court shot. Juwan Durham got called for the foul with 1.1 seconds left in the first half, Brown walked to the free throw line for three attempts. The Wake Forest sophomore guard converted two of three from the line. This concluded a 6-0 to end the first half by the Demon Deacons to pull them within one going into halftime, 36-35.
The Demon Deacons had control for the first seven minutes of the first half until Gibbs took control. The junior scored 13 straight points for the Irish to keep Notre Dame in contention. Freshman Hubb pulled the Irish within one, 19-18 with 12:46 left in the first half with a three and put with ahead with a floater 25 seconds later to give the Irish their first lead of the game. A couple back and forth lead changes happened, but for the last night minutes of the first half Notre Dame held the lead. At one point they extended the lead to a game-high seven points, 36-29 with 3:36 to go after a Mooney three-pointer.
Notre Dame shot 52 percent from the field (14-27) and 40 percent from three (6-15) in the first half. Gibbs led the way with a game-high 17 first-half points on 6-7 shooting.
Wake Forest shot 54 percent from the field (14-26) and 45 percent from three (5-11). Childress and Brown led the way for the Demon Deacons with nine and eight points respectively.
