A few days after knocking off Syracuse for the first time in ACC play, the Notre Dame hoops team had aspirations of finally shaking the Virginia monkey off their back. Unfortunately, the Irish came out with their most sluggish performance of the season, falling by an unflattering scoreline of 71-54.

The contest was tense and rather ugly from the start, which played right into Virginia’s game plan of frustration. The Irish seemed immediately phased by the Cavs’ pack line defense, as they mostly swung the ball around the perimeter early rather than trying to drive through the famously impenetrable Tony Bennett defense. Despite not being able to run through their usual sets, the Irish were able to find a decent number of open looks from deep. They simply picked a horrible night to lose their 3-point stroke. Halfway through the first half, the Irish found themselves with a measly 8 points.

On a positive note, the Irish defense was able to feed off the energy from a raucous Purcell Pavilion crowd early, keeping the margin very manageable despite an anemic offensive output throughout the first half. A very deep Steve Vasturia 3 seemed to energize the offense, and then Bonzie Colson went to work. Colson was at his best in the latter half of the first half, creating contact, displaying incredible touch at the rim, and hitting 10-foot jumpers with ease.

The Irish went into halftime down just one point, which felt pretty fortunate considering their uncharacteristic struggles shooting. If they could go on any kind of mini-run to get the crowd going, the game still felt winnable.

It was not to be. Virginia continued to wind the clock in the second half, and London Perrantes made countless gut-punch plays to keep the Irish at arm’s length. The Irish simply couldn’t get any of their scorers going in the second half. V.J. Beachem continued his Jekyll/Hyde act, going 1-10 from the field and 0-5 from deep. Matt Farrell only managed 8 points, his lowest total in an ACC game. Even Bonzie cooled off, oddly going only 4-7 from the charity stripe.

A Virginia offensive rebound leading to a London Perrantes dagger 3 gave the Cavaliers a 62-51 lead going into the under-4 timeout, and that 11-point lead may as well have been 100 with the way the Irish were stymied on both ends of the floor. John Mooney and Elijah Burns ended up getting a couple minutes of time with the result all sewed up for Virginia.

 

 

OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES

 

The Irish have suffered some tough losses this year, but this one was unique in its frustrating nature. The Irish were extremely impressive in their ability to take double-digit leads against Villanova and Purdue. They hung right with ACC leaders Florida State in a difficult environment. In this one, however, the Irish really didn’t seem to bring anything close to their A-game. With the crowd just begging for the Irish to hit consecutive threes and apply some pressure, the Irish couldn’t find any of their usual offensive swagger.

While this loss will do nothing to dispel the narrative that Tony Bennett has Mike Brey’s number, the fact is that the Irish had enough good looks to win this game. In their home gym, the Irish shooters somehow managed to reverse the digits from their 71% performance at FSU, going only 17% from deep tonight. The nation’s best free throw shooting team also shot just 65% from the line.

Virginia’s ability to clog up the Irish passing lanes bothered them all night. The Cavaliers were deflecting balls out of play if not outright stealing them, causing the Irish to finish the game with a horrible 9:10 assist to turnover ratio.

Finally, the Irish were crushed on the boards, managing just 2 offensive boards in comparison to Virginia’s 10. This lack of second chance opportunities allowed Virginia to control the pace of the game even further, really putting the pressure on a misfiring Irish offense to make shots, as they would only get one per possession.

 

MOVING FORWARD

 

There’s no getting around it; this was a tough one for the Irish’s morale. Rather than creating a 2-game chasm between the top-3 and the rest of the ACC, this result mucks up the standings and harms the Irish’s early chances at a third consecutive double bye in the ACC Tournament.

If there’s any way to positively spin this one, the Irish have to believe that they won’t shoot this poorly again, especially on their own floor. However, this will go down as a great missed opportunity to knock off a team that the Irish can’t seem to figure out.

The Irish have a crucial 3-game stretch coming up, as they travel southeast again to face a surprisingly competitive Georgia Tech squad before facing Duke and UNC next week. A victory in Atlanta would be very big as the Irish seek to regain momentum before they attempt to continue their dominance over the Blue Devils.

As a final note, I would be perfectly content if this is the last game London Perrantes ever plays against the Irish. Just like how Trevor Cooney seemingly always hit back-breaking shots to crush Notre Dame’s spirit, Perrantes is always at his best against the Irish. Despite averaging less than 12 PPG heading into Tuesday’s contest, Perrantes seemed to score at will, hitting threes from as deep as the shamrock after milking the clock. His graduation can’t come soon enough.