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Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Fail to put it Together and Fall to Wake

By Chase Eyrich

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 16: Braxton Key #2 of the Virginia Cavaliers blocks a shot by John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on February 16, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - FEBRUARY 16: Braxton Key #2 of the Virginia Cavaliers blocks a shot by John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half during a game at John Paul Jones Arena on February 16, 2019 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Ryan M. Kelly/Getty Images) /
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John Mooney arrived late to the party Tuesday night and it proved to be detrimental as the Notre Dame basketball team fell 75-68 to Wake Forest.

Things recently have seemed to be clicking for Notre Dame. While the results haven’t quite reflected it, the Irish have been trending in the right direction. With the fast start for both the Irish and Demon Deacons at the beginning of the game, it looked like neither of these teams have remotely gone through the struggles that they have this season.

Offensively, neither team has had a lot to hang their hats on this season. Once the ball tipped, the struggles were forgotten. Both teams started a combined 15-of-22 for the field.

For Notre Dame, it wasn’t John Mooney who was making things exciting. Instead, it was Temple Gibbs who has been forgetting his struggles of this season for the last few games.

Gibbs started out six-of-six with 17 points in the first half and single-handedly made things interesting form the start. His counterpart, Mooney, was almost nonexistent in the first half going one-of-five for three points after 20 minutes of play.

Juwan Durham did what he could during Mooney’s struggles, but overall this wasn’t a game that fit his strengths. Still, the big man rounded up six points.

It wasn’t until the second half with the scoring became scarcer and Mooney was forced to become more aggressive that his game began to click. He was able to end the game with 16-points and one rebound shy of a double-double.

Mooney’s late game heroics were too late. There were opportunities down the stretch, but Notre Dame failed to make them work.

It was another case of Notre Dame struggling with their age. Wake Forest found a 5-0 run that dictated the end of the game. The young team saw themselves failing to find stops on the defensive end and it dictated their mentality on the other end of the court.

Next. Notre Dame Hoops: The Irish Are Right Where They Should Be. dark

The Irish failed to hit a field goal in the final five minutes of the game and have hit the .500 mark at 13-13 for the season.