Notre Dame loses to NC State 54-52 at the final second after leading the entire game

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind – There was no luck for the Irish in a game that had fans on the edge of their seats for 40 minutes.

It came down to the wire in Purcell Pavilion on a Wednesday night.

The Irish led the NC State for 38 minutes and 48 seconds. Tied at 52 with 4 seconds on the clock, the Wolfpack's DJ Burns Jr took the life out of fans inside Purcell Pavilion.

"We knew that he was gonna get it was just, I ended up I was undisciplined in that last possession. I jumped on a shot fake. Got an easy layup so, it’s on me I don't only want to play my teammates for nothing," Notre Dame center Kebba Njie said.

Burns also scored the game-tying bucket and finished the night with 13 points.

"Congrats to NC State. They continued playing hard the entire game. Fought through a little bit of adversity, came back. Made plays down the stretch," head coach Micah Shrewsberry said.

Although the Irish kept the lead 99% of the game, it just never felt like enough to put the Wolfpack to bed as they ran the full-court press on defense for 40 minutes.

"We just stopped like attacking out how we was earlier in the game. We relax. And then that led to them getting a lot more energy than us," Njie added.

Notre dame led by as many as 12 points, but it was NC States 17 offensive rebounds and eight second chance points that led them to a win. Additionally, NC State only shot 29% from the field and had the same amount of made baskets (19) as the Irish, who shot 40% from the field.

"We didn’t rebound at all in the second half. It wasn't the turnovers at the end, and it wasn't missed free throws at the end. It’s the 13 offensive rebounds in the second half to a team that historically is not really good at getting second chance points," Shrewsberry mentioned.

Something clicked in the second half for the Wolfpack and whatever it was, left Notre Dame 1-2 in the ACC conference, when they had opportunities to move up to 2-1.

"Our lack of disciplines what got us, right like doing things out of character at the end of the game that we shouldn't have been doing right now we turn the ball over now we're not guard them in the right way and those plays kill you. Those plays kill you," Shrewsberry added.

Despite the loss, Notre Dame showed that they will and can compete in the ACC conference. Something Shrewsberry mentioned at the beginning of the season. Their next test is Saturday against Duke, at Purcell Pavilion at 6pm.

LeVon Whittaker

Sports Reporter | ABC57