Matt Farrell was held to just 3 points in the first half Saturday against Clemson, before unloading for 15 points and the game-winning three in Notre Dame’s 75-70 win. Damien Dennis/The Pit
VJ Beachem tied his season’s-best 22 points while Bonzie Colson notched his tenth double-double Saturday afternoon to rally the Fighting Irish past ACC foe Clemson.
With just nine seconds left in the game, Matt Farrell sunk a three from the top of the arc to put Notre Dame (14-2, 3-0 ACC) up 75-70. Clemson’s Marcquise Reed marched the ball down court and put up a long shot that bounced off the rim, allowing Colson to go up and bring it down for his 12th rebound and securing the Irish victory.
“I was taking it, no matter what, I told coach,” Farrel said of his game-securing three after the game. “I don’t know if you wanted to run something, but run it flat. I wanted to take that.”
Farrell struggled to get going in the first half, much like the rest of the Irish offense. He entered the break with just three points, going 1-for-4 from the field. He finished with 15 points.
Clemson jumped ahead to an early 10-2 lead, with Jaron Blossomgame sinking six points in that early Tiger sprint. Just under five minutes into the game, Beachem sunk his first three, giving Notre Dame a sigh of relief as the Irish went on a 12-2 run over the next 4:18 minutes.
That lead slipped away as the Tigers fought back, controlling much of the game in the first half while Notre Dame lived and died by the three. Notre Dame didn’t sink anything but three’s until Steve Vasturia’s layup with 6:03 remaining in the first.
The Irish trailed 40-33 at the half.
During the break, Farrell mentioned that Head Coach Mike Brey entered the locker room heated and gave him some advice.
“He came in hot; kicking things and throwing things. I can’t repeat what he said but he challenged us and we responded,” he said.
Brey called Farrell’s play a mess in the first half and attributed it to fatigue.
“For him to play the minutes and be the guy for two games already before today, I thought took its toll on him a little bit watching him at practice on Friday,” Brey said. After the game, coach said that he’d give Farrell two days off to rest up.
Brey also attributed that close score at the half to VJ Beachem’s 11 first-half points, claiming that had it not been for Beachem the Irish could “be down by 25 points.”
Whether it was from an exhausted Tiger defense or rejuvenated Irish offense, Notre Dame entered the second half on a tear and retaking the lead 6.5 minutes into the half off a Vasturia layup. The lead changed 15 times throughout the game, with both teams trading blows in the second half and neither trailing by more than two points at a time after that layup.
Tied at 70-70 with a minute left, Colson hit a late jumper to give the Irish the lead. Just seconds later, Clemson’s Gabe DeVoe missed a three-pointer that would have gave the Tigers the lead, instead allowing Beachem to nab the rebound.
Farrell hit his game-securing three 29 seconds later.
With Saturday’s win, Notre Dame remains one of two unbeaten teams in ACC play, joining Florida State at the top of the table. The Irish will be challenged Thursday in their first conference road-test at Miami.
