Notre Dame ends regular season with lopsided loss to Clemson
The way Notre Dame filled Littlejohn Coliseum with a soundtrack of clanks and allowed Clemson to counter with swishes in the opening minutes Saturday night, one wondered if the Irish actually stepped off the team plane. They did, indeed, disembark in South Carolina. But not until weather in South Bend kept them on the tarmac for a few extra hours and in town an extra night.
Notre Dame players and coaches spent four hours crammed in their seats on the runway at South Bend International Airport Friday afternoon, hoping to escape south amid a snowstorm that dumped about 4 inches on the area that day. Two de-icing attempts failed, though, and enough was enough. They deplaned, returned to campus and flew out the next morning 11 hours before tipoff.
That kind of travel schedule will make anyone sluggish. And, whew, did Notre Dame look the part.
It can point to a reason why. But that doesn’t make what unfolded any less startling three days after a stirring win in Mike Brey’s final home game and the party after it.
Notre Dame lost to Clemson 87-64 Saturday in a game it never led and trailed by double-digits for the final 34 minutes. They made one of their first 11 shots. On the other end, Clemson sailed in five 3-pointers in the first seven minutes. The fifth put Notre Dame (11-20, 3-17 ACC) in a 17-point hole.
Right then and there, it was clear a regular season littered with almost-had-it losses would not end with a close contest. Which, for a campaign that has produced the lowest-rated Notre Dame defense in the KenPom era (No. 261), is a fitting conclusion too. The end to it all could be as soon as Tuesday, when the No. 14 seed Irish play No. 11 Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament.
Guard Cormac Ryan led Notre Dame with 19 points. Junior forward Matt Zona set career highs with 10 points and 19 minutes. The latter was his most since playing 18 in a Jan. 2, 2021 game at North Carolina. Freshman guard JJ Starling missed his third straight game due to knee soreness.
Clemson (22-9, 14-6) scored on its first possession when guard Brevin Galloway poured in the first of his three 3-pointers. The Tigers made nine of their first 13 field goals. Notre Dame didn’t make its second basket until one minute after Clemson drilled its fifth 3. An immediate pantsing. The kind the ACC has usually reserved for Louisville this year.
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Clemson’s lead swelled to 19, then 20, then 22. It settled at 48-29 at halftime when forward Nate Laszewski made a short jumper with 25 seconds left. A 1:51 field goal drought to end the half was the only reason Clemson didn’t hang half a hundred on the Irish.
If there was an avenue back for Notre Dame, it was hoping Clemson fell into the all-to-familiar trap of easing up with a big lead. The Irish have been guilty of that. They’ve nearly caught an opponent in it too.
Not this time. Galloway, offering up some symmetry, drained a 3 on the first possession of the second half. Notre Dame answered with five straight points, trimming its deficit to 17, but that run was only a flicker. Clemson scored six of the next nine, returning its advantage to 20 points for the next seven minutes.
The Irish shot 34.4 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from 3. Clemson, meanwhile, shot 50.8 percent overall and 44.4 percent on 3-pointers.
