Quick Recap: Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Defeats Georgia Tech 80 to 72

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team won their 2nd game in a row today, defeating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 80 to 72 at Purcell Pavilion and improving to 13-8 on the season and 4-6 in ACC play.

The game was a back-and-forth affair with plenty of lead changes and ties for much of the match-up, as these two teams picked up where they left off after a very close 4-point game they played in Atlanta just a couple weeks ago.

However, in the final 12 minutes or so, the Irish began to pull away, helped out by being in the bonus for more than half of the second half, and by star forward John Mooney being able to score essentially at will.

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Mooney led the Irish on the day with 28 points while also adding 10 rebounds in another of his typical double-double performances. Other key contributors included T.J. Gibbs (19 points) and Dane Goodwin (14 points, 5 rebounds), and a surprisingly great offensive game turned in by Rex Pflueger, who’s usually known more for his defense and intangibles than his scoring. Pflueger had 13 points and 3 assists on the day and shot 3-for-3 from the field.

The Irish shot 47% from the field overall and 38% from long range, and also went 23-of-28 from the charity stripe. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, shot 41% from the field, 22% from deep, and convincingly out-rebounded the Irish 42 to 32, although that did not end up making enough of a difference.

The Yellow Jackets were led in scoring by Jose Alvarado, who scored 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting while also contributing 6 rebounds. Alvarado did a nice job stepping into the lead scoring role with the season leader in scoring for the team, Michael Devoe, out for this game.

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Moses Wright (17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists) and James Banks III (13 points, 10 rebounds) had nice games for the Yellow Jackets as well, and Jordan Usher chipped in 8 points and 4 rebounds as well.

The Fighting Irish will look to make it a 3-game winning streak on Wednesday night when they host the Pittsburgh Panthers at 6:30 PM ET.