Notre Dame hands Duke its third consecutive loss; Blue Devils drop below .500
Notre Dame shot its way to a win Tuesday that left Duke with its first losing record in February in 26 years.
Behind Cormac Ryan’s 28 points, the Irish hit 55.2 percent of their shots with 11 3-pointers to beat the Blue Devils, 93-89, in ACC basketball at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke (7-8, 5-6 ACC) lost its third game in a row to fall below .500 in February for the first time since the 1994-95 season. It’s also the first time this century the Blue Devils have had a losing record at any time. The last time was when the Blue Devils started the 1999-2000 season with two losses before winning their next 18 games in a row.
“There are times in our program where you learn to appreciate the winning that has come at such a high level,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And how tough losing is. We as a program need to keep learning that and keep appreciating what it takes to win.”
The Blue Devils led by as many as 15 points in the first half and held a 60-51 lead with 17:59 to play but could not hold off the hot-shooting Irish.
Notre Dame (8-10, 5-7 ACC) led 87-85 after Wendell Moore, who led Duke with 24 points, scored with 1:43 to play. Duke regained possession with 1:12 to play when Irish guard Prentiss Hubb missed a shot. But Duke freshman guard Jeremy Roach was called for an offensive foul with 1:06 left.
With the shot clock running down, Hubb nailed a 30-foot 3-pointer with 37 seconds to play that gave the Irish a 90-85 lead. Hubb scored 15 points for Notre Dame.
Roach finished with 16 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 52.2% and finished with 12 turnovers.
“In these losses, there are one or two possessions,” Krzyzewski said. “We haven’t won those possessions.
Here are the earlier updates from the game:
Second half update: Irish climb back to lead
After trailing by as many as 15 points in the first half and nine points in the second half, Notre Dame led Duke 74-73 with 7:56 to play.
Cormac Ryan scored a career-best 27 points to lead the Irish while Wendell Moore led Duke with 18 points.
Notre Dame shot 53.3% to take the lead, including nine of 22 on 3-pointers.
Duke led 60-51 before a 12-2 Notre Dame run gave the Irish their first lead of the game at 63-62 with 14:28 to play. The lead then changed hands 10 times over the next six minutes.
Halftime update: Duke leads behind Wendell Moore
Sophomore Wendell Moore continued his strong play of late in the first half for Duke on Tuesday as he scored 16 points to give the Blue Devils a 50-45 halftime lead.
The Blue Devils led by as many as 15 points in the first half as they appeared ready to blow the Irish out. But reserve guard Cormac Ryan shot Notre Dame back into the game. Ryan scored 21 points in the first half, hitting eight of 11 shots, including 2 of 3 on 3-pointers.
Duke shot 56.3% in the first half, making 7 of 11 3-pointers. Duke’s turnovers allowed Notre Dame to stage its comeback. The Blue Devils had just one turnover while building their early 23-8 lead. But Duke finished the half with eight turnovers and Notre Dame scored 10 points off those miscues.
Notre Dame shot 53.3% in the first half, hitting 4 of 11 3-pointers, while committing just four turnovers.
First half update: Duke rolls to big lead
A team slowed by poor starts far too often this season, Duke started the game shooting red-hot to lead by as many as 15 points and lead 37-27 with 6:26 to play in the first half.
The Blue Devils hit 8 of their first 11 shots while only turning the ball over once over the game’s first seven minutes to lead 23-8.
Wendell Moore scored 11 points to lead Duke
Pregame update
Duke will start Tuesday’s afternoon game without Jalen Johnson in the starting lineup for the second game in a row. The 6-9 freshman forward, a preseason all-ACC pick, is not among today’s starting five. Instead, sophomores Matthew Hurt and Wendell Moore are starting along with freshmen Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward and Mark Williams.
This story was originally published February 9, 2021 at 4:33 PM.