QUICK RECAP: Notre Dame finally beats Virginia in ACC play, 69-65

Notre Dame finally beat the Virginia Cavaliers in regular season play with a shooters dandy in a 69-65 win that got crazy close in the final minutes. Nate Laszweski and Dane Goodwin both scored 16 points to lead the Irish, but got a lot of help from Blake Wesley and Paul Atkinson who scored 12 each as well.

And yet... it was Prentiss Hubb at the end to make sure this was a win.

The way the game started, the first half could have seen the Irish being blown out — but it also could have been flipped around as well. Notre Dame had no answer for Virginia’s dominance on the glass and their second chance points. The Hoos weren’t taking great shots, but they were able to get 14 second chance points off of 9 offensive rebounds. Virginia outrebounded Notre Dame 27-12 overall in the first half.

The Irish, however, shot 51% from the field which more than nullified any deficiency rebounding the basketball. Blake Wesley scored 10 early points, and Paul Atkinson held steady throughout the first half and put in 12 of his own to help the Irish go into halftime with a 34-27 lead.

Notre Dame started to pull away from Virginia about a quarter of the way into the second half, and great shooting helped them go up by 15. Nate Laszewski and Dane Goodwin continually dropped in three balls, and UVA went cold in half court sets. The 15 point lead didn’t last long though, and Virginia and Jayden Gardner chipped away to get within 4 with about 3 minutes left in the game.

Notre Dame went right back to the three ball with Laz and Goodwin. The Irish moved the ball around quite eloquently all night, and the ball movement created great looks for the shooters. It was a Goodwin three with around a minute left in the game that helped put the Irish up by “enough”, and the Irish hit their foul shots down the stretch. Notre Dame did have a lot of trouble inbounding the ball late, and UVA came close to making it a one possession game. Chaos reined supreme with about 11 seconds left as Laz tossed the ball down court up 65-62 for a racing Dane Goodwin that was fouled on the layup attempt. The senior guard knocked in both attempts to put the Irish up 5. Kihei Clark drained a long three to make it a two point game. Prentiss Hubb was fouled on the inbound and went to the foul line to drain both attempts.

The Irish held on to a 69-65 win to stay undefeated at home this year.

Notre Dame has now won 10 of their last 11 games and is ties with Duke for second in the ACC.