Plenty of heart and even more heartbreak in latest Irish upset bid
Of course it didn’t go in.
Not this season. Not for this team.
For the final 3.9 seconds in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame once again brilliantly teased its remaining fan base. Same as against Duke and Virginia Tech and North Carolina State etc etc.
In a season of soul loss, the Irish added even more scar tissue as they fell 57-55 to 7th-placed Virginia (21-4, 13-3 for Atlantic Coast Conference first place).
At this point, it doesn’t even seem fair.
At 10-17 (2-14 ACC), Notre Dame is on track to produce outgoing results Mike Brey his worst season in 28 overall as head coach.
It just doesn’t feel like it.
Mainly because the competitor in this club keeps popping up for the opening tip.
But back to the last four seconds at the John Paul Jones Arena.
Point Guard Trey Wertz was fouled while crossing the 10 second line on ND’s last ball possession. He hit his first free throw to draw Notre Dame within 57-55, and Brey called a timeout to deliver the plan to Wertz.
“You got a good shot in you?” Brey asked him.
Wertz laughed and went back to the line, intentionally missing the second free throw, the ball bounced off the back of the rim and up the middle of the lane. A moshpit of hands rose and Notre Dame’s 6-foot-10 appeared Nate Laszweski got the biggest chunk of it to tip it back to Wertz, still near the free throw line. He turned it over again Dane Goodwinwho waited on the left wing, just past the 3-point line.
“I see (the shot) in the air and I’m like, ‘You know, don’t you think maybe we deserve this one…?'” Brey said of his thoughts at the time.
As his shot went off the rim, Goodwin ducked his head and endured his second narrow 3-point miss from that spot in the last 10 seconds of the game.
Of course, more was lost than in the last one or two attempts.
• The Irish faced a team that allowed 34.5% success from the 3-point line and finished 28th nationally. But ND was worse, going just 7 to 26 on 3-point attempts for 26.9% – 10% below his average – and hitting just four of his last 19 attempts. Overall it took them more than 3 than 2 – 26-25 – a few desperate hits as the shot clock ticked down.
• Notre Dame didn’t get his first offensive rebound until 2:30 p.m., at 6-9 Junior Matt Zone, who had six rebounds and, surprisingly, his first 3-pointer of the year in four tries. The Irish had just three offensive rebounds to Virginia’s seven.
• Both teams protect the ball well, with Notre Dame ranking first in the country with 8.8 turnovers per game. But the Irish could only get six from the cavaliers.
• Notre Dame shoots 45% from the field, up from 39% in the afternoon.
The Irish were in this game because they defended well – something they’re not known for – and kept the Cavs 37% from the field, including 29% (7 to 24) from the 3-point line.
“You know what’s great about that?” said a proud Brey of his club. “I told you that the other day. I said, ‘You know guys, we haven’t really been together that long. I’m a senior too.’ I said, “We have a couple of weeks together” — and I’ve coached some of them for five years — “and everybody’s watching how we handle things, how we come across in these games on national television.”
“I give our boys a lot of credit. These are our seniors. They persevered and competed. They’ve been heartbroken so many times and it’s my job to pick them up and talk about the North Carolina game on Wednesday (at 9pm EST at the Purcell Pavilion).
Brey turned down an opportunity to be recognized in front of the 14,230 crowd at the John Paul Jones Arena but accepted some Irish whiskey from the Virginia coach Tony Bennett and his staff.
In a game that featured eight lead changes and five draws, Brey probably thought more than once that he might break it up for a celebratory sip. Especially after his team found some traction late in the first half to bounce back from a nine-point deficit and go 29-25 by the break.
The Irish went on a 13-2 run that included the end of the first half and the start of the second to take a 34-33 lead with 15-34, with contributions across the board.
Laszewski finished with 18 points, some above his average, and eight rebounds, and Goodwin had a dozen points.
Mark Hammond finished on 10, including a hard high-pressure shot through contact in the lane to put the Irish 55-52 with 2:16 to go and two foul shots with 24.1s left to make it 55-54 .
But Kihei Clarka 5-10 student, who had four assists on Saturday to set the Cavaliers’ career record, had a great five-point finish over the final 7:41 to 15 overall. His final two came on free throws by 22.6 seconds play for a Virginia lead of 57-54.
“You have to give credit to Virginia,” Brey said. “You have the confidence to keep going and to finish. And Clark is hopefully the last time I see him. He’s the ultimate winner. I said, ‘You’re a big winner.’ I was just so impressed with his career.”
What remains consistent is Virginia’s intelligent, intense defense. It showed against two Irish newcomers who saw the intensity of it for the first time. Both remained goalless.
Guard JJ Starling, Averaging 12 points per game, he’s hit just two shots in his 14 minutes – he’s averaging 30 minutes a game – and forwards Ven Allen Lubin (6.5 points per game) averaging 17.7 minutes per game, played only seven and was 0-1 with zero rebounds.
VIRGINIA 57, NOTRE DAME 55: Box Score