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The Notre Dame Fighting Irish came into Monday night’s game against the Duke Blue Devils in a major funk. Not much changed as the Irish couldn’t keep up with the Blue Devils. Duke might have the best talent in all of college basketball and an undermanned Notre Dame team would of had to play a perfect game just to keep it close. The final score was 88-66.
The bright spot of the first half was John Mooney. He was 4-5 from behind the arc, collecting 14 points just in the first half. Notre Dame scored 34 points to try and stay on pace with Duke’s 42. The Irish needed someone else to step up but nobody could deliver. Irish players not named Mooney were 0-9 from three point land in the first half.
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The second half saw Duke pull away. Duke is extremely talented but TJ Gibbs held his own. With the injuries to Farrell and Colson, TJ Gibbs has continued to show growth in his sophomore season. Notre Dame fought hard. The effort and teamwork is there. They are just offensively challenged with their top scorers out. Running into Duke who leads the nation in scoring is not what the doctor ordered. Duke absolutely caught fire and ND could not overcome it.
Notre Dame now falls to 13-9 and 3-6 in the ACC.