SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Wake Forest fell to Notre Dame on the road Tuesday evening by a final score of 79-58.
Wake Forest (5-8, 2-8) entered halftime trailing by just three points (35-32) after a competitive first period, but ultimately could not respond to an early second half run by the Irish (7-9, 4-6).
Isaiah Mucius led the team in scoring with 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field. The East Patchogue, N.Y. native has now scored in double-digits seven times this season.
Ody Oguama chipped in a season-best 13 points, his fourth double-digit scoring outing of the season, and pulled down a team-high six boards to lead Wake Forest’s rebounding efforts.
Additionally, Daivien Williamson and Ismael Massoud each recorded eight points.
The Deacs posted a season-low six turnovers versus the Irish. The previous season low of 11 came in the previous game against Miami.
How It Happened
Ody Oguama opened up scoring for the Deacs on the game’s opening possession with a layup.
Carter Whitt knocked down his fifth 3-pointer of the season with 7:56 left in the first half, cutting Notre Dame’s lead to three (17-14).
Isaiah Mucius converted a three-point play at the stripe which cut the Notre Dame lead down to two (23-21) with 4:31 remaining.
Ismael Massoud’s second 3-pointer of the game capped off an 8-2 Wake Forest run that cut the deficit down to one (25-24) with 3:57 left in the half.
Jahcobi Neath knocked down his first triple of the game that once again cut the Irish lead down to one (30-29) with 1:42 left to play.
Daivien Williamson tied the game at 32 with his first 3-pointer of the night with 1:05 remaining.
Wake Forest entered halftime trailing the Irish 35-32 after shooting 5-for-6 and out-scoring the Irish 16-12 in the final five minutes of the half.
Nine of ten Deacs that saw first-half action found the net, and Massoud led all scorers with eight.
Wake Forest shot 5-11 from beyond the arc in the opening half.
Notre Dame opened up the second half with a 16-0 run over the first five minutes of game action. Ody Oguama got the Deacs on the board with a bucket that brought the score to 51-34.
After a hard-fought second half, Wake Forest dropped the road contest 79-58.
Key Moment
Wake Forest embarked on an 8-2 run after falling behind 23-16 with 5:33 left in the opening period.
That run brought the deficit down to one point (25-24), and featured a three-pointer from Ismael Massoud and three-point play from Isaiah Mucius.
Stat of the Game
Wake Forest turned the ball over a season-low six times in the loss, the Deacs’ fewest turnovers since committing five in a February 21st, 2018 victory over Pittsburgh.
The Deacs beat their previous low of 11 from their 66-54 win over Miami on Jan. 30.
Straight From Forbes
“Notre Dame really stuck to their plan for the whole game. They played like a good team does, they took what the defense gave them. We tried to limit (Nate) Laszewski’s touches, and we did. He only had six shots, but he found other ways to win the game by getting 10 rebounds and distributing the ball. So, that’s what a really good team does, they find ways to win without trying to do things they can’t do.
We don’t have people buying into defending to get going.That’s on me, and I have to find a way to make it better. When you run motion, it’s hard. You have to cut and you have to cut unselfishly to get people open. When you don’t do that, the ball gets stagnant and it doesn’t move.
Finally at the end of the game, the last four or five minutes, we had a team in there that moved the ball and we got really good shots. But when you don’t cut for your teammates and you don’t play hard, it’s impossible to run any kind of offense in my opinion.
Mike Brey did a great job of coaching his team and I did not. It’s my job to find a way to fix it before we play our next game. There were a lot of 50-50 balls in the first half that could’ve gone our way. They didn’t let us stick around, we weren’t playing great in the first half, but it was a three-point game.”
Up Next
Wake Forest will be back on the road next Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Chestnut Hill for a matchup with Boston College.
Tip-off against the Eagles is set for 7 p.m. and the game will broadcast on ACC Network.
