advertisement

No. 7 Florida State rallies to beat Notre Dame 73-71

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - In the end, it didn't matter how infrequently Florida State led Notre Dame.

The No. 7 Seminoles were ahead in the end, earning a 73-71 comeback victory over the Fighting Irish.

Trent Forrest's putback with 3.8 seconds left capped a ferocious late charge and Florida State (25-5, 15-4 ACC)moved closer toward an Atlantic Coast Conference title.

Forrest's basket gave the Seminoles just their second lead all night. Their other lead was 5-4 in the opening minutes.

'œWe only led for 20 seconds the entire game,'ť Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. 'œNot very many times you're gonna win a game on the road in the ACC only leading for 20 seconds in the game.'ť

Seminoles guard M.J. Walker scored 16 of his 21 points over the final 8:40 to help his team rally from a 61-48 deficit.

'œHe had a look in his eye that we felt he was determined to put us on his shoulders," Hamilton said. 'œI can't say enough about his focus and determination.'ť

Forrest added 15 points and Devin Vassell scored 13 for Florida State.

Prentiss Hubb's half-court heave for the Fighting Irish (18-12, 9-10) as time expired hit the back iron. Hubb led Notre Dame with 24 points, scoring 19 in the first half.

John Mooney had his NCAA-leading 25th double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but did not score in the second half.

Dane Goodwin also scored 16 points for the Irish, 14 of those coming after halftime.

'œWe had opportunities, we had good looks, we had stuff around the bucket that didn't go in,'ť Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after his team scored just 10 points over the final 10 minutes. 'œYou're gonna have to score more to beat them, gotta try to get it to 80. I thought we were on our way, but they're just hard to deal with.'ť

The Irish had won five straight at home.

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: The team stayed in control of its destiny in pursuit of the No. 1 seed in next week's ACC Tournament. A win over Boston College on Saturday assures at least a tie with Louisville for the conference title. The Seminoles would hold the seeding tiebreaker because they beat the Cardinals twice.

Notre Dame: The only hope for the Irish of making the NCAA Tournament is probably to win the ACC tourney, earning an automatic bid. They dropped to 0-6 against ranked teams in their last opportunity of the regular season. Notre Dame has lost 21 straight times to ranked opponents over the last 29 months.

KEEPING CALM

Though the Seminoles trailed most of the way, they never went through a protracted drought and were not prone to a series of mistakes at any point.

'œHopefully this will be the type of game that we can, from an emotional standpoint, grow and mature more," Hamilton said.

FRUSTRATION MOUNTS

The Irish fell to the Seminoles in the final seconds for the second time this season after losing by one in the first meeting

After that previous game, Brey expressed frustration over the officiating. That led to Notre Dame being fined $20,000 for a violation of the ACC's sportsmanship policy.

After this one, Brey put on a courtside headset for a postgame radio interview to take place over the public address system, as is typical after games. He later changed his mind and walked away without comments.

A bit later, Brey did conduct a postgame press conference away from the arena floor. He did not address officiating.

For the Irish, it was their 11th game this season decided by three or fewer points. They dropped to 4-7 in those games.

UP NEXT

Florida State: The Seminoles will be shooting to finish the season 16-0 at home when Boston College visits on Saturday.

Notre Dame: The Irish close their regular season Saturday by hosting Virginia Tech.

___

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

Florida State's Malik Osborne (10) dunks next to Notre Dame's Dane Goodwin during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The Associated Press
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey tries to avoid Florida State's M.J. Walker, with ball, and Notre Dame's Dane Goodwin during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The Associated Press
Florida State's Devin Vassell (24) looks for a shot as Notre Dame's Prentiss Hubb, left, Rex Pflueger (0) and John Mooney (33) defend during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The Associated Press
Florida State's Trent Forrest, left, passes the ball away from Notre Dame's Prentiss Hubb during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The Associated Press
Notre Dame's John Mooney (33) competes for control of the ball with Florida State's Malik Osborne during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, March 4, 2020, in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo/Robert Franklin) The Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.