ATLANTA – Heading into tonight, Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey had waged battle with Georgia Tech 20 times over the years with 18 of those games being decided by single digits (12 were by five points or less). Tonight, in battle No. 21, it was no different.
Tied at 68-all with under 40 seconds left, the Fighting Irish (10-14, 2-11) had an opportunity to go ahead but couldn’t convert. Down on the other end, Georgia Tech (9-15, 2-12) converted a tip-in with a second left to escape with the 70-68 victory.
The game featured 11 lead changes and 13 ties as each half was decided by one point. The Irish had their opportunities with under two minutes left but missed all four field goals in that remaining time.
Fresh off from injury and into the starting lineup, freshman Ven-Allen Lubin shined with a season high 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, plus seven rebounds. Lubin, could have gone off for more but was limited to 22 minutes of game action due to being in foul trouble.
Nate Lazewski led the team in scoring with 16 points and has scored at least 16 in each of the last three games. Also scoring in double figures: Dane Goodwin with 14 points, Cormac Ryan with 13 points and Marcus Hammond with 10 points aka all five starters. Goodwin continued to attack the glass as well with a co-team-high seven rebounds.
How It Happened
Lubin in his first collegiate start was effective early – going 3-for-3 from the field for six points plus one block in the first 10 minutes. Unfortunately for the Irish, he picked up three fouls in the same time frame as well and sat the rest of the half on the bench.
The half was a typical back-and-forth Georgia Tech/Notre Dame battle, featuring seven lead changes and five ties. The Yellow Jackets led for nearly 13 minutes in the half but never had a lead greater than seven.
From 8:31 to 5:19, the Irish connected on five straight from the field (from four different scorers) to claim the lead at 27-24. Georgia Tech answered immediately with back-to-back threes to go back up 27-30 at the 3:28 media.
Later, down 29-36 after a Georgia Tech 6-0 run, it was time for the Notre Dame response: back-to-back threes from Hammond and Laszewski.
Fast forward again and Laszewski delivers in the paint right before the buzzer to make it a one-point deficit at the half, 37-38. Laszewski led at the midway point with nine points, followed by eight from Hammond and seven from Goodwin.
Lubin, back in the lineup to start the second half, picked up right where he left off, scoring seven of the team’s first 11 points, tying the game at 48-all at 13:15. Lubin was 6-for-6 from the field for 13 points when he picked up foul No. 4 at 11:39.
With 9:45 remaining, Hammond kicked off what would be an Irish 10-0 scoring run with contributions from Ryan, Laszewski and Goodwin as well, pushing ND up six at 60-54.
However, Goodwin’s three at 7:59 would be ND’s last field goal until 2:44. With the Irish only scoring occasionally from the free-throw line, Georgia Tech rallied and eventually reclaimed the lead at 64-65 with 3:33 left. The Yellow Jackets took the lead after being fouled on a three-point shot and on the next possession down they added to the lead on an and-one.
Laszewski ended the field goal drought at 2:44 and was later followed by two free throws from Ryan, tying the game at 68-all with under two minutes remaining. Fast forward to 41 seconds left and the game is still tied coming out of an Irish timeout and Notre Dame’s ball.
Laszewksi had a good look just inside the free-throw line but just missed. Georgia Tech then had a chance for the win coming out of a timeout with 5.3 seconds on the clock. GT’s Sturdivant drove to the basket and missed a fadeaway jumper but Terry was right there for the putback with a second left for the buzzer-beating win.
Up Next
Three home games remain on the dock for the Irish and they’ll check another one off the list on Saturday in yet another matinee inside Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame will host Virginia Tech on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. ET on RSN.
— ND –