Notre Dame Basketball: Djogo leads balanced attack in win over Boston College

A struggling Notre Dame basketball team came in to Saturday’s game as losers of five straight and seven of their last eight. Nikola Djogo had something to say about that.

On Saturday, Nikola Djogo got his first start of the season for the Notre Dame basketball team and had an immediate impact. Djogo opened the game with a layup off a nice passed from TJ Gibbs and followed it up with back to back three-pointers to score his team’s first 8 points. In the first half, Djogo surpassed his career high at Notre Dame, dropping 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-of-4 behind the three-point arc.

Defensively, the Irish played their patented 2-3 zone and generally had the Eagles stymied for most of the first half.

Late in the half, however, the Eagles found an offensive rhythm.

With Juwan Durham battling early foul trouble and John Mooney needing a rest, Notre Dame went with a small lineup that featured DJ Harvey as the tallest man on the floor for the Irish.  Freshmen Nate Laszewski and Chris Doherty took turns as the center of the 2-3 zone. Boston College was able to take advantage of Notre Dame’s lack of experience in the center of the zone. The Eagles scored in the paint on two straight possessions before hitting a three-pointer to close their scoring for the half.

Notre Dame closed the half on a Dane Goodwin three-pointer to give the Irish some space heading into the break.

In the second half, the Eagles used a quick 8-3 run to start the second half, tying the game at 39. From there, the Irish and the Eagles traded baskets through the early part of the second half.

Through the latter part of the second half, TJ Gibbs came alive for the Irish.

After the Eagles took a 52-50 lead, Gibbs went to work at a time when it felt like the game was starting to swing in the direction of the Eagles. On Notre Dame’s next possession, Gibbs made a deep three-pointer to put the Irish up 53-52. Two possessions later, Gibbs made a tough fall-away basket in the lane to tie the game at 56. Finally, with a Boston College big switched on him, Gibbs converted on a nice drive the basket after a pretty spin move in the lane. He tallied his 1000th career point on the play.

But Notre Dame needed some last-minute heroics to put Boston College away.

Up 69-68 with just under two minutes to play, Gibbs found himself with the ball just inside mid-court with the shot clock winding down. Gibbs drove left, crossed right, and hit a clutch floater in the lane. On Notre Dame’s next offensive possession, the Irish found Djogo in the left corner off of great ball movement. The nifty lefty sliced to the basket and laid the ball in to put the Irish up 73-68.

Boston College would get no closer, as the Irish closed out the game by a final score of 79-73.

Djogo finshed the game with 21 points for the Irish, while Gibbs was next in scoring with 19 on the day, while Prentiss Hubb and John Mooney added 16 and 15 respectively for the well-balanced Irish.

It was, without a doubt, Notre Dame’s most well-rounded performance in recent memory and gave the Irish confidence in their ability to close games down the stretch, which is an area in which they have struggled this season.

The win snapped a 5-game losing streak for the Irish and improved their record to 12-10 on the season and 2-7 in ACC play. The Irish travel to South Florida for a date with the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday.