Notre Dame Basketball: Irish escape Blacksburg with a win

Notre Dame basketball improved to 5-0 in the ACC on Saturday afternoon after beating Virginia Tech.

No. 20 Notre Dame beat Virginia Tech, 76-71, in Blacksburg on Saturday afternoon to remain unbeaten in the ACC.

Relying on Steve Vasturia to anchor their attack, the Fighting Irish were able to build a 19-point lead against the Hokies, who have been struggling as of late on the defensive end. Vasturia hit eight of his 16 field goal attempts to total 20 points on the day, while Bonzie Colson had a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards.

Matt Farrell added 14 points and five assists, and also led an impressive team defensive effort with three steals.

The Irish looked cool, calm and collected despite being on the road against a solid Virginia Tech team. Notre Dame doesn’t have any Wooden Award nominees, but they know how to play together on both ends of the floor, which has allowed them to take down teams with more impressive individual talent, such as Pittsburgh, Louisville, and now the Hokies.

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Playing on the road against an ACC opponent, they were able to finish with eight steals. Any time that happens, it indicates that the players were prepared accordingly in scouting sessions. Notre Dame bought into a common defensive mindset.

Should they continue to find such success on the defensive end of the court in a conference saturated with over-powered offenses, they will have a solid shot at winning the ACC regular season title.

While they didn’t finish with an especially high point total (76), the Irish looked excellent on offense as well. They hit over 50 percent of their shots from the floor, including 38.9 percent from deep.

Vasturia and Farrell got the scoring going early and remained consistent down the stretch. Colson turned in another terrific performance as a low-post scorer and rebounder. Again, this isn’t a group of players who are garnering heavy debate for individual awards or where they may be drafted, but they know how to compete with the most elite scorers in one of college basketball’s most impressive conferences.

Meanwhile, the Hokies appear to be a team with all the potential in the world, but who have been unable to take down elite opponents. Other than a 14-point win over then No. 5 Duke (who was without Grayson Allen), Virginia Tech has yet to beat a team with any NCAA Tournament relevancy.

They managed to beat Syracuse by just 10 points after being blown out by NC State and FSU in back-to-back games a week ago. During non-conference play, they barely pulled out wins against unranked teams such as Michigan, Ole Miss, Nebraska and lost to Texas A&M by three.

Chris Clarke put forth an impressive individual effort in the loss for VT, finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two blocks and steals. He also led an impressive comeback for the Hokies, which saw them erase Notre Dame’s 19-point lead to tie the game at 64 apiece with just over three minutes left.

A huge Clarke offensive rebound and layup through a foul would even give Virginia Tech a one point lead with less than two minutes remaining. The Irish would then embark on a six point run, which included a Farrell lay-up, steal and assist in order to put the game away.

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Virginia Tech will look to bounce back with games against Georgia Tech and Clemson in the coming week. Notre Dame will take on No. 9 Florida State in Tallahassee on January 18th.

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