CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad (8-7, 0-4) led for the first 37:19 of the game but couldn’t exercise its current ACC demons, as Boston College (8-6, 2-1) closed on a 17-4 run to take it 70-63. The Irish, which have been in all four ACC contests, have now lost three of them (Syracuse, Florida State and Boston College) by a small combined margin of just nine points.
Dane Goodwin, who has achieved great success against the Eagles over the last two years, continued that trend tonight with 16 points. He has now scored 83 points in his last five games against BC, averaging 16.6 points in that span. Goodwin battled an illness and still scored 15 of his points in the first half and finished 6-of-12 overall and 3-of-5 from three. Furthermore, Goodwin has now scored 42 points over the last three games.
Freshman JJ Starling got back on track with a co-team-high 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting and a 3-for-6 clip from three. Graduate guard Cormac Ryan scored nine points in the second half to finish with 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.
How It Happened
It was the Dane and JJ show in the first half as the duo scored 27 of the team’s 38 first half points. Goodwin poured in 15 on 6-of-7 shooting, which included a perfect 3-for-3 start from three. Meanwhile, Starling notched 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including a pair of threes.
Notre Dame started 4-for-4 from the field to jump out to a 10-2 lead three minutes into the game. However, a subsequent 1-of-7 shooting stretch allowed Boston College to creep back into striking distance.
Goodwin was in double figures by the 10:24 mark while Starling got there at 4:22. Boston College kept it close with a hot shooting stretch to end the half, connecting on eight of their last nine.
The Irish led 38-34 at the midway point. ND shot 15-of-31 (48 percent) compared to BC’s 15-of-25 (60 percent). Also important to note, the Irish didn’t turn the ball over until 5:06 remaining in the half and only recorded two turnovers in the first.
Wertz connected on back-to-back three-pointers to open the second half, giving the Irish a double-digit lead at 44-34. The Eagles responded with a 6-0 run as the Irish offense stalled momentarily with no field goals for a six-minute stretch. Yet, the ND offense collected five BC fouls in a span of a minute and in turn caused a near four-minute Eagles scoring drought.
Ryan got the offense back on a track with a good cut to the basket and that was followed by a big Hammond three-pointer which ultimately gave the Irish a 50-43 lead at the 9:44 media.
Yet, Boston College chipped away and tied it at 52-all with 5:49 remaining. Then, Starling answered in a major way on the offensive end, connecting on a three. Next possession down, Ryan answered with a huge three, halting the Eagles momentum momentarily, up 58-53.
The Eagles cut it back to one, and that’s when Ryan answered the call again, driving to the basket for a reverse layup and a 61-58 lead.
Yet, Boston College wouldn’t go away and at 1:43 they claimed their first lead of the game at 62-61. Notre Dame went 0-3 on its next three possessions and the Eagles closed the game on a 17-4 scoring spree.
Up Next
The Fighting Irish will make a trip to Chapel Hill to challenge North Carolina in a Saturday morning showdown. Tip will be at 11:30 a.m. ET on ESPN2.
— ND –