How Notre Dame’s self-belief has become clear as Irish enter final week of regular season
There’s one through line in Notre Dame’s late-game, white-knuckler mojo this season.
It’s not a player who shoulders the weight. It’s not a defense that puts on the clamps or an offense that outlasts the opponent’s. Notre Dame has closed out wins with all of those methods at some point this year, but not every time. What has been present throughout, though?
Belief.
“This group believes they’re going to figure out a way to win,” head coach Mike Brey said.
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Along with a more reliable defense, a freshman who’s an NBA prospect, a steady interior scorer and a revamped staff, that’s a new development around Rolfs Hall and one directly responsible for Notre Dame’s projected NCAA tournament inclusion. Brey touts his strong roster “fabric” that doesn’t tear when it’s stretched. And it sure has been stretched.
Notre Dame is 9-4 in games decided by two or fewer possessions this season. Some of those wins saw comfortable leads dwindle. There have been three-possession final scores that featured tense final minutes, most recently Wednesday’s 79-69 win over Syracuse. Most of the time, though, Notre Dame has an answer. How it answers has differed by the game.
Wednesday, Notre Dame sealed the win by out-rebounding Syracuse 5-1 following Prentiss Hubb’s shot clock-beating three-pointer with 3:34 left. Paul Atkinson Jr. grabbed an offensive rebound and a defensive board in the final 62 seconds and was fouled on both. The Orange mustered only three offensive rebounds all game.
One week earlier, the Irish simply outscored Boston College in a 99-95 overtime win, aided by living at the foul line. They wrapped up a 63-57 win over Louisville Feb. 9 by holding the Cardinals scoreless for the nearly six minutes after falling behind by a point with 6:14 left.
Three tight games, three different methods of sealing wins.
“It’s a special group that way,” Brey said. “They can really smell it when you’re getting loose balls in the second half.”
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Notre Dame’s next opponent, Georgia Tech, pushed the Irish to overtime Jan. 8. The Irish wrapped that one up with a little bit of everything. They sent the game to overtime with some clutch shots by Dane Goodwin and Blake Wesley in the final two minutes of regulation. Then they held the Yellow Jackets to one basket in the first four minutes of overtime, allowing zero offensive rebounds.
Georgia Tech (11-17, 4-13 ACC) doesn’t have much going for it these days, sitting in a last-place tie with N.C. State. It ranks last in the ACC in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. In conference games, it holds bottom-five rankings in turnover rate, offensive rebounding, three-point accuracy, two-point accuracy and two-point defense.
Brey, though, won’t let his team forget their scare in Atlanta. It serves as a lesson that anyone can be a threat on a given night. And it’s one of their better examples of belief.
Notre Dame (20-8, 13-4 ACC) vs. Georgia Tech (11-17, 4-13)
When: Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion
TV: ACC Network
Radio: Notre Dame basketball radio network
Series history: Notre Dame leads 13-12
Last meeting: Notre Dame won 72-68 in overtime on Jan. 8 in Atlanta
KenPom projection: Notre Dame 73, Georgia Tech 62
Leading scorers:
• Notre Dame: Blake Wesley (14.7 ppg), guard Dane Goodwin (14.6 ppg)
• Georgia Tech: guard Michael Devoe (18.5 ppg), forward Jordan Usher (14.3 ppg)
Other notes:
• Notre Dame can clinch a double bye in the ACC tournament with a win.
• Atkinson didn’t start in the first meeting against Georgia Tech, but made his first eight shots and finished with 16 points. He wore out a Yellow Jackets frontcourt that was missing primary center Rodney Howard, who has since returned to the lineup.
• Devoe ranks third in the ACC in scoring and was 10th in 2020-21. He and Usher combined for 36 points in the first game against Notre Dame this year.
• Georgia Tech mixes man and zone defense and threw a lot of the latter at Notre Dame in January. The Yellow Jackets are aggressive in playing help defense, leading to a high opponent assist rate (58.5 percent, 332nd nationally). Notre Dame is 82nd in assist rate (54.9 percent) this year. Most recently, the Irish assisted on 76 percent of their baskets against Syracuse’s zone.
• Atkinson leads the ACC with a 57.6 field goal percentage.
