Chestnut Hill, MA – In a contest between ACC foes, Boston College and Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish eventually prevailed 62-61 in a close-fought contest. The Eagles jumped out to a 7 point lead at the end of the first half, behind the likes of Steffon Mitchell and Derryck Thorton who combined for 18 in the first half. Rex Pflueger banked in a 40-footer to close the half, which cut the lead for the Irish. Power Forward John Mooney, carried his team offensively putting up 17 in the first 20 minutes. Mooney continued to dominate in the second, but so did Thornton as teams exchanged buckets. After a Jay Heath pull-up jumper to give the Eagles a one-point advantage, Prentiss Hubb drove the lane and kicked to Gibbs on the block for the game-winning shot with 0.01 seconds left.
The Irish shot poorly from three-point land going 7/27. I asked Coach Mike Brey what happened to the Irish of Sunday’s game, whose team could hardly miss in that game. His reply “I got to credit to their D, and I thought in the second half when we were making the comeback, we had great looks we didn’t make, and I can’t tell our guys not to shoot it” He also talked about how they looked to John Mooney for offense describing the potential big man as “fabulous in the post.”
This loss would’ve essentially killed the minuscule hopes the Irish originally had to earn an at large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Instead, the Irish will travel down South to Winston Salem to play against the Demon Deacons, who are fresh off a win against Duke. For the Eagles, they get the weekend off and will host Syracuse next Tuesday.
Bracketology Effect: Boston College remains firmly out of the field, and Notre Dame is going to sneak into our Next Five Out, giving them a slight chance to sneak into the field.
Betting Effect: Covered: BC +5, Under 143