Fighting Irish Today

A painful sense of déjà vu for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team, as the Fighting Irish (7-8, 1-3) squandered a late lead and fell 65-66 to NC State (9-6, 2-2) on the road Wednesday night. Notre Dame held an eight-point advantage in the second half and a four-point lead with just two minutes remaining, but couldn’t hold on. The Irish had a chance for a game-winning shot at the buzzer, but it fell short, marking their second consecutive one-point ACC loss.

The standout performance of the game came from junior forward Kebba Njie, who recorded his first career double-double. Njie finished with 10 points on 5-8 shooting and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds.

For the first time this season, all five Notre Dame starters reached double figures. Tae Davis contributed 14 points and a career-best six assists, shooting 5-10 from the field and 4-5 from the free-throw line. Markus Burton, making the start, added 15 points on 5-15 shooting, including 2-4 from three, and also dished out four assists. Braeden Shrewsberry posted 13 points on 5-12 shooting, including 3-10 from beyond the arc, while Matt Allocco chipped in 11 points (3-5 shooting, 3-4 from three) and seven rebounds.

Notre Dame finished the game shooting 43.6 percent from the field, compared to NC State’s 46.2 percent. The Irish outrebounded the Wolfpack 34-29.

HOW IT HAPPENED

NC State held its largest lead of the first half at 18-12 with 8:38 to play. While the Wolfpack relied heavily on the three-pointer, Notre Dame’s defense did well to pack the paint and limit easy opportunities. The Irish offense then began to heat up.

Tae Davis sparked a 10-0 run with a pair of layups, followed by back-to-back threes from Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry, giving Notre Dame a 22-21 lead with 5:25 left in the half. The Irish then exploded for an 11-0 run over the next three minutes, highlighted by a Kebba Njie dunk, a Julian Roper II drive, and scores from Davis and Shrewsberry, including another three.

By halftime, Notre Dame led 33-26. The Wolfpack, who started 7-17 from the floor, made only three of their last 11 attempts.

NC State came out strong in the second half, scoring the first four points to pull within a possession. But Notre Dame responded with an Allocco three and a Burton layup to extend the lead back to 38-30. The Wolfpack continued to chip away, cutting the deficit to 44-41 before Burton knocked down a clutch three. Njie also grabbed an important rebound and posted his double-double on the ensuing possession.

NC State’s Jayden Taylor kept the pressure on, hitting his third three of the half to make it 47-44, prompting a timeout by Notre Dame. By this point, Taylor had scored 12 points in the second half.

Out of the timeout, the Irish executed a play perfectly, with Roper finding Shrewsberry for an easy layup to push the lead to 49-44. But NC State responded, and with 7:40 remaining, Ben Middlebrooks hit a three to put the Wolfpack up 54-53.

The teams exchanged blows down the stretch. After a Davis and-one, Burton assisted on an Allocco three to give Notre Dame a 59-54 lead. But NC State kept coming, hitting a three of its own on the next possession.

With just under 2:30 left, Notre Dame held a 63-61 lead when Allocco knocked down two free throws to give the Irish a four-point advantage. Unfortunately, those would be Notre Dame’s last points of the game.

Middlebrooks converted a pair of free throws to cut the lead to two, and after a missed three by Burton, NC State’s Marcus Hill grabbed the rebound, raced down the court, and scored the go-ahead bucket. Notre Dame had one more chance, but Shrewsberry’s three-pointer missed, and the Wolfpack secured the rebound. NC State would hit one more free throw to take a 66-65 lead before the Irish had their final possession. Burton drove the lane but couldn’t connect on a contested step-back jumper as time expired.

UP NEXT

The Irish will stay in North Carolina for their next game, facing #4 Duke on Saturday at noon ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.