Observations: Paul Atkinson Jr., Notre Dame beat first-place Miami on road, 68-64

A split was always a good outcome.

Notre Dame had two games in three days against the ACC’s highest-ranked team and its first-place one. Winning both was an unfair ask, even if it felt plausible given the Irish’s 10-1 record since Dec. 18 heading in. Losing both, though? A non-starter for a team with NCAA tournament aspirations that needs to add a few résumé-building wins.

Notre Dame dropped the first one, a 14-point home loss Monday to No. 9 Duke, spoiling some of the goodwill earned over the prior six weeks.

The Irish ought to have earned a lot of it back after their response. They beat ACC co-leader Miami 68-64 on the road Wednesday, moving to 15-7 and 8-3 in the ACC. Forward Paul Atkinson Jr. scored a team-high and season-best 23 points while adding 11 rebounds. Guard Prentiss Hubb had 15 points and six assists.

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“For them to deliver like they did, there’s some special stuff about the group,” head coach Mike Brey said. “Monday was really disappointing for us, but to be able to come back and do it here and do it fearlessly  – really proud of them.”

Notre Dame shot 46 percent from the field, averaged 1.13 points per possession, assisted on 20 of 29 field goals and committed only six turnovers.

Here are three observations from the game.

BOX SCORE

1. Paul Atkinson Jr. outburst fuels offense

Notre Dame fed its center from the start, and Miami had no solution for him. Atkinson made his first seven shots and hung 15 points on the Hurricanes in the first half.

This wasn’t 40 minutes of dominant one-on-one post play where Atkinson backed defenders down at will. Rather, 10 of his 11 makes were assisted. Notre Dame guards found him on slips to the basket, dump-offs and well-timed entry passes. Miami’s guards gambled for steals on a couple feeds, providing him an easy path to the bucket when they missed. The Hurricanes lost him entirely on one late first-half possession, leading to an uncontested layup.

“I was just the man open today,” Atkinson said. “I got layups and made a few shots.”

When he did get one-on-ones, he often exploited them. Miami’s interior defense lacks the rim protection and strong interior defenders to take away an offense’s post threat. The Hurricanes began the day ranked 275^th in opponent two-point percentage, at 52.0. All told, Notre Dame was 16-of-21 on layups and dunks.

2. One three-point spurt was enough

Notre Dame was 13-17 on two-pointers in the first half, had a 10-to-2 assist-turnover ratio and held Miami to just 1.0 points per possession, but led by a mere two points at the break. The Irish can blame a 1-of-15 first-half mark on three-pointers as the primary reason their cushion wasn’t larger.

Miami’s aggressive use of help defense allows ample chances for open catch-and-shoot jumpers if an offense can make it rotate. The Irish did exactly that and created makeable three-point looks. Hardly any went in. They finished 6-of-26, their second straight game below 30 percent.

Within that slump, though, was a brief outburst that helped Notre Dame take the lead for good.

Even with high two-point efficiency, extended runs that put away games don’t usually occur without threes. There’s only so much explosion possible. Notre Dame ripped off two 10-0 runs in the opening 10 minutes of the second half because it made three-pointers. The Irish opened by making four of their first five attempts after halftime, with Hubb providing three of those.

That hot streak was an outlier. But it helped swing the game. The first 10-0 run came after Miami took a 34-32 lead with 16:53 left. The Irish never trailed after that.

3. Another strong defensive outing

Two days after holding Duke’s rotation of potential first-round draft picks to 57 points and a season-low in efficiency, Notre Dame kept the ACC’s top offense at bay by slowing down the pace.

Miami ranked first among ACC teams in conference-game offensive efficiency, turnover rate and three-point shooting, per KenPom. It was third in two-point accuracy.

Notre Dame dropped into a zone after a few possessions and largely stuck with it. That was one way the Irish slowed the tempo, making Miami drip more time off the clock before finding a shot it liked.

The Hurricanes were averaging 68 possessions per game, but each team had just 60 in this one. That caters to Notre Dame’s preferred style. The Irish also committed just six fouls – two days after they were whistled for only eight. They snatched five steals, which is a big number in a 60-possession game.

Sixth-year senior guards Charlie Moore and Kam McGusty, who are two of Miami’s top three scorers this year, combined for 19 points on 8-of-27 shooting. Neither attempted a free throw. McGusty finished with a season-low seven points. They missed a few layups that normally go in, but nonetheless, Notre Dame kept them off-balance with its zone and forced them into difficult shots. Only 15 of Miami’s 60 field goal attempts came at the rim.