No. 1 Notre Dame Blows Past Miami: 5 Key Takeaways from the 82-42 Win
Notre Dame 82, Miami 42
5. Notre Dame is the No. 1 team, and played like it
It’s been over a month since Notre Dame was in a competitive game. It’s getting better as the season has worn on, and there’s no flinching whatsoever.
It’s obliterating teams at the moment. Coming off the breather against Duke, what do you on a random Thursday night late in the season with big things coming up soon? You end the game in the first five minutes with a suffocating defense, starting with …
4. The Irish three-point defense was fantastic … again
Miami isn’t great from three, and it doesn’t rely on the outside shot, but it needed to get going right out of the gate, and it really, really didn’t.
You made just as many three-pointers against the Irish as Miami did.
The Hurricanes went 0-for-16, they had to keep bombing away to try keeping up, and it got ugly early. That makes it three straight games the Irish D allowed teams to hit fewer than 20% from three, and 13 in the last 14 that the team gave up fewer than 30%.
3. Miami scored 13 points in the first half whether it needed them or not
Again, 0-for-16 overall on threes, it was 10-0 Irish before Miami got on the board, and it took just one surge for Notre Dame to get going with the defense taking care of the rest.
It wasn’t a great night from the outside from the No. 1 team in the nation from three – Notre Dame hit just 5-of-19 – but the rebounding was strong, Liatu King was all over the defensive glass, and there was no drama whatsoever. However …
2. The Irish could use a little more from the bench
The team is still way too thin.
The starting five is a killer, Hannah Hidalgo didn’t have to do too much – and she still came up with 18 points, and it was 38-13 at halftime. This was the chance to let the bench cook a little bit, and there wasn’t much happening outside of a solid job done by Cassandre Prosper.
It would be nice to have a few more options over the finishing kick because …
1. And now comes the real fun
At NC State. This is the first real test on Sunday since dealing with North Carolina in early January. It’s also the third road game in ten days – again, it would’ve been nice to get more out of the bench to limit the starters a bit more.
Florida State and Louisville aren’t layups to close out the regular season, but it’s fine. Notre Dame has been on cruise control for weeks.
The season starts Sunday.
