Three things we know after Notre Dame’s 68-61 loss to Florida State

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish dropped to 3-12 in ACC play on Monday night with a 68-61 loss to the Florida State Seminoles. We didn’t learn a whole lot that was different from what we already know — but let’s take a few minutes to chat about it.

FINALLY (AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER)

I’ve been hammering it around for weeks now that both Juwan Durham and John Mooney should be in the starting lineup, and that’s exactly what we got against the Noles. Unfortunately though, it was a rather weak showing from Durham during his 24 minutes of action. He scored 2 points, pulled down 4 rebounds, and had 2 blocks.

That isn’t a good stat line, but I still believe that the Irish will be better served with that type of lineup moving forward.

THE APRENTISS

We keep talking about the youth of this team and how the future still looks bright with the talent that the Irish have with their freshmen. The thing is though... only Prentiss Hubb has provided any kind of consistent play from the youngsters.

Hubb has had his issues at times this year, as it should be expected, but it’s plays like this one that show the awesome potential that will still reside in South Bend for the next few years:

GROUNDED DROUGHT

Quite simply... Notre Dame has played in a handful of these type of games this year and far more often than not, they have ended up with the loss. Why? Well ridiculously long scoring droughts towards the end of the game, and getting beat on the glass.

The Irish did it again against the Noles as they went scoreless for over 5 minutes late in the game. Add to the fact that they almost refused to box out for a rebound, and it was a recipe for another close loss.

The rebounding was especially poor, and indicative of impending doom. The Irish were outrebounded 40-26.

MOVING FORWARD

It doesn’t get any easier for the Irish as they go on the road again on Sunday to take on the Louisville Cardinals.