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Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Wrap up the Season With One More Close Loss

By Chase Eyrich

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 15: Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battles for a rebound against Nate Laszewski #14 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half of the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 15, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 15: Grady Eifert #24 of the Purdue Boilermakers battles for a rebound against Nate Laszewski #14 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first half of the Crossroads Classic at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 15, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame basketball wrapped up its regular season in similar fashion, falling to Pittsburgh 56-53 in the regular season finale.

For Mike Brey’s Notre Dame basketball team, the story practically wrote itself.

In the final game of the regular season, the Irish would fight. They would have their struggles, but they would be able to position themselves to ultimately have a chance at winning the game.

It was a chance that Notre Dame wouldn’t be able to capitalize on.

Pittsburgh hadn’t won a game in almost two months before their senior day. With the Irish making the trip to Pittsburgh riding six losses in a row, their streak would be the one to continue.

Starting three-of-four from beyond the arc, Nate Laszewski looked like he was going to put this team on his back. He almost did.

The freshman finished with 23 points, making some huge plays down the stretch to give the Irish a shot. Scoring 12 in a row late in the game, Laszewski looked like the player Irish fans hoped for coming into this season.

His effort was needed, as John Mooney’s offensive game was never found.

The walking double-double did pitch in 11 rebounds. His shooting, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Mooney finished with four points on one-of-11 shooting on the afternoon.

The only other player to score double digits for Notre Dame was Dane Goodwin with 10 points.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was balanced. For a team that scored only 56 points, it was impressive to see where the scoring came from. Every Panther that recorded a minute of play also recorded at least two points.

Trey McGowens led the Panthers with 16 points while shooting 60 percent from the field. However, his biggest play was made on the other side of the court, where he stripped Mooney with 16 seconds left.

Just like so many games before, Notre Dame saw a chance to win the game taken right out of their hands.

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Notre Dame will finish the regular season 13-18 overall and 3-15 in the ACC heading into the ACC Tournament next Tuesday.