Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: Irish win tale of two halves

The Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team won a tale of two halves on Saturday, narrowly defeating the Kentucky Wildcats on the road.

Nate Laszewski got the Notre Dame Men’s Basketball team grooving early against the Kentucky Wildcats in a game that helped them move their record to 2-2 on the season. The junior forward, who is off to a terrific start this season, scored 17 points before halftime, as the Irish took control of the game early on.

Kentucky came into this game sporting a 1-3 record, their worst start over the first four games in nearly 20 years. Still, this is Kentucky, a team loaded with five-star recruits, so the Irish knew they would need every bit of a team effort to come away with the victory on the road.

In what was truly a tale of two halves, the Wildcats saw the Irish dominance in the first half, and raised them in the second, nearly coming away with an unbelievable victory.

Showed toughness down the stretch

Like most teams loaded with talent will do, the Wildcats did not go away, as they erased the huge halftime deficit to pull within one with under one minute left in the game. An Olivier Sarr jumper made the score 64-63 with 0:41 seconds to go, and with the ball back in their hands, the Irish nearly gave the game away.

Prentiss Hubb, who took the game over in the second half, gave the Irish fans a scare late, but when the smoke cleared, Notre Dame picked up a huge game in a tough early-season schedule. Hubb finished with 18 points to go along with Laszewski’s 21, as the two juniors were the only members of the Irish to finish with double-digits in points scored.

Incredibly, Hubb finished with only one assist.

The Irish had the perfect ingredients to beat Kentucky on Saturday, as they used their veteran leadership to control the youth of the Wildcats. With No. 10 Duke on the horizon, the Irish now have the confidence going into their ACC opener to perhaps put together another stellar victory in a few days.