Notre Dame guards Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant kept shooting and shooting, and kept missing and missing.
For 37-plus minutes Atkins, Grant, and the rest of the Irish shooters struggled mightily from behind the arc, hitting just two of their first 18 three-point attempts. During the final 2:38 of the game the Irish were perfect from deep, nailing triples on three straight possessions as Notre Dame picked up a big 55-51 road win over West Virginia.
Atkins missed his first six three-point attempts before tying the game at 45-45 after the Irish had blown a 10-point second half lead. On the ensuing Irish possession Grant, who was 1-of-6 from behind the arc, knocked down a deep three-pointer to take back the lead. Scott Martin finished off the lightning fast 11-0 run with another triple to give Notre Dame a 51-45 lead with just 58 seconds left in the game.
Junior forward Jack Cooley iced the game from the free throw line, finishing off a monster night. Cooley outplayed West Virginia forward Kevin Jones, the leading contender for the Big East Player of the Year award.
Jones came into the night as the only player in the NCAA who ranked in the Top 10 nationally in both scoring and rebounding. Cooley finished the night with 21 points and 12 boards, seven of which came on the offensive end of the court. Jones was held to 14 points on 6-of-15 shooting, although he did finish the game with 12 boards.
Martin played Jones on the defensive end and did well, denying the entry pass into the post all night long. By extending Jones the Irish senior was able to keep Jones and the Mountaineer offense out of rhythm, and the West Virginia guards simply could not find him down low.
West Virginia freshman point guard Jabarie Hinds got the Mountaineers rolling early, scoring five quick points as the home team grabbed an early 8-4 lead. Notre Dame went to its big guys as Cooley and Martin scored on back-to-back Irish possessions to tie the game at eight apiece.
The two teams traded buckets as West Virginia big man Deniz Kilicli began what would be a huge night for him. He hit one of many ugly but effective left handed hook shots to give West Virginia a 12-10 lead, one of the few it would have on the night.
Grant hit back-to-back buckets, sparking a 9-0 Irish run that gave Notre Dame its first lead of the game. After starting the game 0-6 from behind the arc, Grant got the Irish on the board from deep with a triple from the top of the key to give Notre Dame a 15-12 lead.
Cooley followed with an impressive wraparound beating Kilicli, who turned the ball over on West Virginia’s next possession. Atkins ripped Kilicli and took the ball the distance, hitting the layup and giving Notre Dame its biggest lead at 19-12.
With West Virginia trailing, Mountaineer head coach Bob Huggins tried to get Jones going, and his senior big man hit a turnaround to end the Irish run. Kilicli answered with another hook as the Mountaineers tried to chip away at the Notre Dame lead.
Martin nailed a three-pointer to end the first half, just Notre Dame’s second of the half, as the Irish took a 26-16 lead into the break.
Notre Dame started quickly in the second half, building an early 30-18 lead.
Kilicli continued his big night, scoring eight points in just under four minutes as West Virginia cut Notre Dame’s lead to 32-28. Cooley answered for the Irish, scoring on a hard inside move, drawing a foul on Jones. Cooley made the free throw to push the Irish lead back to seven.
Hinds hit a fade away in Cooley’s face and made a tough runner in transition as West Virginia continued to battle back, cutting into the Notre Dame lead.
Notre Dame had built its lead up with excellent spacing, ball movement, and good shot selection on the offensive end. But when West Virginia cut the lead to 38-34 the Notre Dame offense started to lose focus. Notre Dame started dribbling too much and shooting too early, allowing West Virginia to get back in the game.
With Notre Dame on its heels the Mountaineers went to their star, and Jones hit a turnaround over Martin to tie the game at 38-38, the first of the second half. Cooley answered with a put-back but Jones snuck outside for a huge triple to give West Virginia 41-40 lead on its next possession.
Grant’s struggles continued and another missed triple allowed West Virginia to build on its lead. Kilicli took Cooley off the dribble as the Mountaineers grabbed a 43-40 lead. The West Virginia crowd went nuts and Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was forced to call a timeout to slow down the Mountaineer charge.
After two Grant free throws, Kilicli again took Cooley to the hole for another deuce, putting the West Virginia lead back to three.
That is when the Irish shooters took over.
Atkins finally got Notre Dame back on track with a triple from the right wing to tie the game at 45-45. Grant came away with a big steal of West Virginia guard Darryl Bryant, which he followed up with a deep three-pointer from the right win to put Notre Dame back in front.
Huggins took a quick timeout in an attempt to get the Mountaineers back on track, but to no avail.
Bryant missed a tough layup attempt and Cooley came down with the big rebound. On Notre Dame’s ensuing possession Martin nailed a three-pointer to push the lead back to six. Notre Dame used those triples as part of an 11-0 run that put the game away.
Cooley made 4-of-6 from the free throw line to ice the game away as the Irish picked up another huge Big East Conference win.
Kilicli continued his strong play of late, finishing the night with 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting. He scored 22 points in his last game against Providence. Hinds had one of the best nights of his young career, scoring 18 points and grabbing four rebounds.
Bryant came into the game averaging 17.6 points per game but was held scoreless by Notre Dame’s strong perimeter defense. Bryant finished the game 0-6 from the floor but did hand out eight assists.
Cooley led the Irish with 21 points and 12 rebounds. His strong interior play helped the Irish often beat West Virginia at its own game. West Virginia came into the night second in the conference in rebounding margin, but with Cooley’s help the Irish were only out-boarded by two.
Martin came up big for the Irish, scoring 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 2-of-3 from behind the arc. His strong interior defense of Jones and clutch shooting was instrumental in the Notre Dame victory.
Grant shot just 4-of-17 from the field, one of the worst shooting nights of his career. He was 2-of-7 from behind the arc but when the game was on the line Grant came up huge. His triple with 1:52 left in the game gave the Irish a lead it would not relinquish.
With the loss West Virginia drops to 16-9 on the season and 6-6 in conference play. The loss also drops them to eighth in the conference standings. They face No. 23 Louisville on Saturday night in a must-win game.
Notre Dame improves to an impressive 16-8 on the season. After a Jan. 4 loss to Cincinnati the Irish were just 9-6 on the season. Since that loss Brey’s club has gone 7-2 and is now in third place in the league at 8-3, only a half-game behind second place Marquette.
Notre Dame returns to South Bend for a two-game home-stand that will go a long way towards determining its postseason destination. The Irish have two winnable home games against 11-12 DePaul on Saturday night and 12-12 Rutgers next Wednesday. Those are two games Notre Dame must win if it wants to continue its late season surge, which has put it on the cusp of another NCAA tourney berth.
Notre Dame and West Virginia play again on Feb. 22 at the Joyce Center.
