Irish hit from long range as Tigers lose for third time in five days

Hall put together another big effort, but the Irish offense was hard to stop. (Photo: Dawson Powers / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Feb 12 21:01:19 GMT-05:00 2022

CLEMSON – Notre Dame hit from long range early and often and coasted to a 76-61 victory over Clemson Saturday night in Littlejohn Coliseum.

PJ Hall put together another strong effort, scoring 19 to lead the Tigers. Naz Bohannon added 12 and Nick Honor 10 as the other Tigers in double digits. Blake Wesley scored 18 in the first half and scored a season-high 21 for the Irish, while Dane Goodwin added 20.

Notre Dame hit 13-of-24 shots from 3-point range, a season-high for an opponent against Clemson. Overall, the Irish shot 29-55 (52.7 percent) from the field. Clemson was just 5-18 from 3-point range (27.8 percent) and 26-61 from the field overall (42.6 percent). The Tigers shot just five free throws, making four.

The Tigers were without the services of two starters against the Irish. Hunter Tyson is out indefinitely with a broken clavicle and David Collins served a one game suspension after undercutting Duke’s Wendell Moore, Jr., in the Blue Devils’ victory at Clemson Thursday night. Collins will be eligible to play Tuesday night at Florida State.

Clemson lost its fourth game in a row, third game in five days, and eighth out of the last ten. The Tigers were also playing their fourth game in eight days. Notre Dame has won 14 out of 16 games overall. Clemson falls to 12-13 overall and 4-10 in the ACC while Notre Dame improves to 18-7 overall and 11-3 in ACC play.

Notre Dame jumped out to a quick 7-5 lead, but Wesley fueled a 10-0 run that made it 17-5, and after the Tigers pulled to within 11 at 22-11 on a layup by Naz Bohannon, it looked the Tigers might be able to crawl back into the game. But Wesley was on fire, scoring 18 of the first 25 points for the Irish.

Wesley nailed a long 3-pointer at the 10:16 mark that gave Notre Dame its biggest lead of the half at 28-11, forcing head coach Brad Brownell to call a timeout. The Irish were able to keep that working margin and led 38-28 at intermission.

In the second half, the Tigers wouldn’t go away, and three different times pulled to within single digits. Hall made an old-fashioned 3-point play at the 8:25 mark to pull the Tigers to within seven at 57-50. Each time the Tigers made a run, however, Dane Goodwin of the Irish would kill the momentum with a huge bucket.

Wesley’s 3-pointer was a big part of an 8-0 run after Hall’s big play, putting the Irish back up by 15 at 65-50. But Chase Hunter drilled a long 3-pointer that made it 65-53 with just under seven minutes to play, and Brownell called a timeout to set up a final run. Clemson made a defensive stop coming out of the timeout, and Hall hit a right-handed jump hook that made it 65-55, but Notre Dame went on a 7-0 run as the Tigers failed to hit from close range. When Paul Atkinson got loose inside for a bucket, the Irish were back up by 17 at 72-55.

Bohannon ended that run with a layup that made it 72-57, and the Tigers called another timeout with 3:09 to play.

The Tigers return to action next Tuesday, traveling to Tallahassee to take on Florida St. at 7 pm (ACC Network).

Notre Dame gets the win on the road, outscoring the Tigers 76-61 ?? @ndmbb @GEICO | #GoIrish pic.twitter.com/OTT4fOumdl
— ACC Digital Network (@theACCDN) February 13, 2022