In the Big East any road win is a good win, regardless of how ugly it might be. Ugly is the best way to describe Notre Dame’s 55-42 victory over Seton Hall, but it was a much needed victory for the Irish.
Notre Dame (13-8 / 5-3) came into tonight’s matchup against Seton Hall (15-5 / 4-4) looking to fight back into the mix for the team’s third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. Heading into their weekend matchup against undefeated and top ranked Syracuse the Irish’s tourney hopes were on life support.
After whipping the Orange at home, ending their 20-game winning streak, Notre Dame’s tourney hopes began to breathe new life. To keep their tourney hopes alive the Irish desperately needed a road over Seton Hall, a team that has been tough to beat on its home court of late. The Pirates entered the night undefeated at home on the season, having won its last 12 home contests dating back to last season.
Both teams were ice cold early in the game as the Pirates missed their first seven shots and the Irish began the game shooting just 1-of-10 from the field. Amazingly, the two teams entered the first official TV timeout tied at 0-0. It was just 4-2 in Seton Hall’s favor at the under twelve minute timeout.
Notre Dame began to heat up as the half came to a close, but it took some time.
Down 11-7 with 7:27 left in the half, sophomore point guard Eric Atkins picked off a Jordan Theodore pass and took it the distance for a deuce. That steal and score started a 9-0 Irish run, which Atkins finished with a triple to give the Irish a 16-11 lead with 5:15 remaining in the half.
The two teams continued to struggle to put the ball in the basket for the remainder of the half as the Irish took a 19-18 lead into the break.
The scoring struggles continued out of the intermission as Notre Dame led 23-19 with 16:45 left in the game.
Irish guard Alex Dragicevich drilled a triple that started a run that Seton Hall would never recover from. Notre Dame scored on six consecutive possessions, with a layup and free throw from Dragicevich giving the Irish a 38-25 lead.
Theodore tried to keep Seton Hall in the game, hitting back-to-back jumpers to cut the Irish lead to nine. Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant hit four free throws and Dragicevich nailed another three pointer to push the Notre Dame lead back up to 45-29.
Seton Hall’s uncharacteristically poor shooting prevented the Pirates from getting any closer than ten points. Notre Dame put the game away from the free throw line, hitting 24-of-32 of its free throw attempts.
Kevin Willard’s club struggled to shoot in every aspect. The Pirates shot just 26.3-percent from the field and hit just two of its 14 shots from behind the arc. Seton Hall also struggled from the free throw line, hitting just 10-of-19 from the charity stripe.
Notre Dame rebounded somewhat from its early game struggles from the field, shooting 44.4-percent from the field after starting the game off shooting just 1-of-10. Notre Dame’s improved shooting and 24 made free throws allowed it to pull of the big win.
With the win the Irish are now 13-8 on the season and 5-3 in conference play, tying them for fourth in the conference. Seton Hall drops to 15-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play. Notre Dame handed the Pirates their third consecutive loss and first home loss of the season.
Grant led the Irish with 15 points thanks largely to ten made free throws. The sophomore made up for his poor shooting night with solid perimeter defense. Grant also chipped in five rebounds and four assists. Atkins chipped in 14 points and harassed Theodore all game long.
Theodore came into the game scoring 16.3 points, 7.5 assists, and a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. Thanks largely to Atkins’ suffocating perimeter defense Theodore was held to just 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Theodore committed five turnovers and dished out just one assist.
Irish junior Jack Cooley continued his strong play by adding 13 points and 11 rebounds, dominating Seton Hall big man Herb Pope. Pope came into the game averaging 16.7 points and 10.5 rebounds, but Cooley held him to five points and seven rebounds on 2-of-16 shooting. Pope had more fouls against Cooley than he had points.
Dragicevich added nine points off the bench, outscoring the entire Seton Hall bench.
Seton Hall hosts No. 25 Louisville on Saturday night as it looks to end its mid-season slide.
Notre Dame travels to No. 19 Connecticut for a Sunday afternoon battle. The Huskies beat the Irish 67-53 two weeks ago, ending Notre Dame’s 29-game home win streak.
