Freshman Rex Plfueger helped Notre Dame to an important win in the regular season finale Saturday afternoon. Stephanie Sokol/The Pit
[dropcap]F[/dropcap]or Notre Dame’s final home game and regular season finale, the Irish achieved exactly what they needed to with an 89-75 win over NC State.
And on a night where the seniors were honored, it was the freshmen who stepped up to lift the Irish (20-10, 11-7 ACC) to victory with Matt Ryan notching 17 points in the first half and Rex Pflueger shooting 3-for-3 from long.
“Those guys have been machines,” Irish Head Coach Mike Brey said. “They deliver on the court, they deliver in the classroom; they’re unbelievable. These guys are really mature. But those two, they really have an edge about them and they’re so excited to get in. How about your freshmen year you’re going to play in the tournament? They watched last year. They’re going to be able to do that. They’re thrilled because of it, their families are thrilled and they’re a big part of our team.”
Matt Ryan entered the game seven minutes in and went on a hot streak, sinking his first four buckets with three of those being from long-range. Ryan missed just one shot – a three – during the first half.
“We didn’t anticipate Matt Ryan getting 17 in the first half. Mike had the secret weapon over there just holding him back. I am going to ask Mike ‘why haven’t you been playing that guy?'” NC State coach Mark Gottfried joked post-game.
Pflueger had one three in the first half and added two more in the second. Notre Dame finished 12-for-26 from beyond the arc.
Demetrius Jackson celebrates a Matt Ryan 3. Ryan finished with 17 points, all coming in the first half. Stephanie Sokol/The Pit
Ryan said that it was important for the team to build confidence and momentum heading into ACC Tournament action, but added that it was also good for him to do the same personally.
“It was good for me to gain some confidence. I know I can score the ball, so it was good to play well and help the team win,” he said.
Playing in his last home game for the Irish, senior Zach Auguste led the way for the Irish 24 points and 11 rebounds for his 18th double-double of the year and the 22nd of his career.
“It was one of the most memorable days at Notre Dame,” Auguste said. “It has been one of the best journeys of my life. This is a special place and I am honored to wear the Irish jersey.”
Demetrius Jackson is stopped by NC State’s Cody Martin trying to drive into the paint. Stephanie Sokol/The Pit
NC State was able to keep Demetrius Jackson quiet in the first half, holding him scoreless but Jackson opened it up in the second half for 14 points.
“We had Cody Martin on him. Cody is a little bigger and a little longer,” Gottfried said. “And Cody did a nice job on Marcus Paige and a couple guys like that and we felt like with Cody, his length would play a factor. Demetrius is such a good player, but maybe some of those pull back jump shots with Cody’s length would bother those shots a little bit more than Cat did. I thought he did a pretty good job. But then the foul trouble hurt Demetrius more than anything. It was not necessarily our defense. He got into a little foul trouble and that slowed him down.”
Cat Barber had 29 points for the Wolfpack (15-16, 5-13 ACC) while Abdul-Malik Abu had 20 and Caleb Martin had 16.
Notre Dame needed the win Saturday afternoon to stay in contention for the double-bye and the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament. A Duke loss Saturday evening gave them what they were looking for.
The Irish will not play until Thursday, March 10 at 2 P.M. EST against either Duke or NC State/Wake Forest.
