Notre Dame basketball: Ice-cold Irish fall hard to No. 9 Duke
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame basketball team suffered their first home loss of the season on Monday night, falling to No. 9 Duke inside Purcell Pavilion.
The Notre Dame basketball team went into their game on Monday night on a high, winners of 10 of their last 11 games, and undefeated at home inside Purcell Pavilion. However, their opponent in this one was a top-10 team in Duke, a team bidding farewell to their legendary coach this season, and one that was red-hot as well.
In the end, Notre Dame struggled to score in the first half, leading to a big Duke halftime lead, and one the Irish were unable to chip away at.
With that said, here are three takeaways from the loss.
Notre Dame basketball: Ice-cold Irish fall hard to No. 9 Duke
No. 1: Irish can’t buy a bucket
Through the first 20 minutes of this game, the Irish just could not but a bucket, struggling from inside, but also at the rim. With the game close early on, there were numerous misses on putbacks and layups, leading to the Blue Devils building what felt like an insurmountable halftime lead.
In that first half, Notre Dame mustered only 14 points, a far cry from how dominant this offense has been, especially at home and in ACC play. This was a game that would have likely propelled them into the top-25, but they ended up on the wrong end of a double-digit loss.
No. 2: Duke’s length too much
One thing was clear in this game, and that was Duke’s length is going to be a problem for this Irish team down the road. Whether it was getting outrebounded, or just unable to get up a shot, Notre Dame looked smaller in this one, leading to some bad shot selections as the shot clock winded down.
They are going to have to figure out a way to play bigger the next time around, whether that is more screens, or moving better without the ball. Duke just has better athletes than Notre Dame does, but that does not mean they should have dominated the way they did Monday night.
No. 3: Three-point struggles
Going back to the issues shooting the ball, the Irish did not only struggle at the rim, but they were downright atrocious behind the three-point line. All season long this has been a strength for the Notre Dame basketball team, but the Blue Devils made it a point to run them off the three-point line, and it worked, as Notre Dame did not have a single three-pointer in the first half.
This game was a rude awakening for Notre Dame basketball, but there is no time to hang their head, as they take on the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Miami is currently No. 1 in the ACC heading into that matchup, and on the road, the Irish are going to have to play at a much higher level than they did in this one.