Notre Dame knocks down another old nemesis by beating Virginia; bring on Duke and a shot at first place

The instructions to Notre Dame guard Prentiss Hubb from teammate Dane Goodwin and coach Mike Brey were concise and direct.

Line them up. Knock them down.

Never mind that Hubb was shooting 63.9 percent on free throws this year, the lowest among Notre Dame’s seven rotation players. Never mind that he hadn’t toed the foul line all game Saturday against Virginia. Make two and end this thing, he was told. The request was rooted not only in need, but confidence in Hubb – which he does not lack himself.

“I’ve got ice in my veins,” Hubb said. “I’m going to make them shots when it counts. I’m not going to lie to you. It’s just being confident. I went up to the free throw line and wasn’t worried, hands weren’t wet or anything.”

Sure enough, Hubb dropped both foul shots through, not even hitting the rim. They pushed Notre Dame’s lead to four with 4.2 seconds left and served as the finishing touch on a 69-65 victory over Virginia.

Lined them up. Knocked them down.

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By stiff-arming a personal season-long bugaboo, Hubb toppled a career-long one for the third straight game. He and senior teammates Goodwin and Nate Laszewski had never beaten Virginia in their careers. Five tries, five losses, three of them not particularly close. In this one, though, Notre Dame led for 35 minutes, drilled 10 of 23 three-point attempts (43.5 percent) and posted a 16-to-8 assist-turnover ratio.

The Irish are normally on the receiving end of such efficiency against the Cavaliers.

Three days earlier, that senior trio vanquished North Carolina State for the first time. And before that, Notre Dame took down Louisville Jan. 22, which it had not beaten since 2017.

All knocked down like bowling pins.

“They’re battle-tested and they do not panic,” Brey said. “There’s a lot of poise with them.”

Brey didn’t need to bring up the program’s droughts against those three in practice or on scouting reports. His players knew. They discussed it, let it provide extra fuel.

“It was definitely something that was mentioned beforehand,” forward Paul Atkinson Jr. said. “Everybody knew about that.”

No, this isn’t a vintage Virginia defense, a typical top-25 Louisville team or a tournament-level North Carolina State squad, but then again, this sure doesn’t look like recent Notre Dame outfits either. These Irish have late-game mettle. Have pride on defense. Display clear cohesion.

“Today is another step in confidence,” Brey said. “Our old guys have not been able to beat them. It’s so mental now, it’s all about the fabric – meaning the group and how they’ve played. I have fabric. I’m just going to coach the fabric. It’s fabric time. These seven guys know who they are, they like playing together, they know they’re going to play.”

That’s a long time coming, if not overdue. But Notre Dame (14-6, 7-2 ACC) is where it wanted to be and needed to be this year: playing late January and February games of real consequence. Next up is another conference demon for this senior class to exorcise: No. 9 Duke at home Monday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

No matter the teams’ records, this one had some nostalgic appeal. It’s Mike Krzyzewski against his old apprentice, one last time. One more round of Brey against the man who gave him the job that propelled his coaching career. Brey taking one more shot at beating his former boss, which no other former Coach K assistant has done. (Brey’s teams have defeated his five times before).

Now, though, Notre Dame’s 10-1 mark since a Dec. 18 loss to Indiana has made the on-court stakes more important. A win will push the Irish into a first-place tie in the ACC on Feb. 1. That’s a standing this program has wandered too far from in recent years. It’s a place fans had little reason to believe this team could reach again with this staff in charge. They made that belief known on message boards, social media and even at a game last year.

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The Irish are providing hope, one takedown of an old nemesis at a time. They scored a 93-89 win over Duke last year, so this core has beaten the Blue Devils before. Any Notre Dame win over Duke ought not to be overlooked, but that one was in an empty Cameron Indoor Stadium against a team that finished 13-11 and missed the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame went 11-15 last year. The result was inconsequential.

Monday is a 180-degree pivot, with first place on the line for both. For Notre Dame, a win would bring NCAA tournament contender talk to a crescendo. This game is the Irish’s best chance to convince the masses their feel-good story could actually end in March Madness and in the top crop of the ACC.

“I know what these seniors would like to experience,” Brey said. “It’s no mystery. We’ve talked about it. They’ve methodically worked for it.”

They’ve done plenty to invoke the idea already. But not enough. There are still 11 league games left. There have been crazier collapses and limps to the finish line. That’s not lost on anyone inside Rolfs Hall, even after a week of returning the favor against teams who they owed payback.

“We can’t be too high on our horse,” Hubb said. “We have to stay level-headed and just keep getting in the lab.”

There’s finally intrigue around what’s cooking in there.

No. 9 Duke (17-3, 7-2 ACC) at Notre Dame (14-6, 7-2)

When: Monday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Purcell Pavilion

TV: ESPN

Radio: Notre Dame basketball radio network

Series history: Duke leads 27-8

Last meeting: Notre Dame won 93-89 on Feb. 9, 2021

KenPom prediction: Duke 74, Notre Dame 69

Leading scorers:

• Duke: forward Paolo Banchero (17.6 points per game), forward Wendell Moore (14.9 ppg)

• Notre Dame: guard Dane Goodwin (15.4 ppg), guard Blake Wesley (15.0 ppg)

Other notes:

• Duke freshman forward Trevor Keels (11.9 ppg) hasn’t played since Jan. 18 due to a calf injury and his status for Monday is not clear.

• Blue Devils forward A.J. Griffin is one of two major-conference players shooting at least 50 percent on three-pointers (min. 50 attempts). He’s 32-of-64.

• Duke leads the ACC in defensive efficiency during conference play, per KenPom.

• Two of Duke’s three losses have come on the road: Nov. 30 at now-No. 16 Ohio State and Jan. 18 in overtime at unranked Florida State. The third was at home to Miami on Jan. 8.