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No. 11 FSU Upset by Unranked Notre Dame 83-73 Ahead of ACC Tournament
March 6, 2021
Unranked Notre Dame upset No. 11 Florida State 83-73 on Saturday at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Indiana.
The Fighting Irish benefited from a dominant first half that saw them lead by 16 at the break, and they were spearheaded by junior guard Prentiss Hubb, who led all scorers with 22 points.
Notre Dame improved to 10-14 on the season and 7-11 in ACC play, while the Seminoles fell to 15-5 overall with an 11-4 conference record.
Saturday's contest represented the final regular-season game for both teams ahead of the ACC tournament next week.
FSU can still secure the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament with a Virginia loss to Louisville on Saturday, but if Virginia wins, the Seminoles will be the No. 2 seed.
Notre Dame got the better of Florida State in essentially every area Saturday. The Irish shot 42.6 percent from the field, 33.3 percent from beyond the arc and 82.4 percent from the free-throw line, compared to 40.6 percent, 25.0 percent and 75.0 percent from FSU.
The Irish also out-rebounded the Seminoles 38-35 and had just 17 personal fouls compared to Florida State's 23.
Fox College Hoops tweeted some highlights from Notre Dame's impressive, unexpected win:
NCAA March Madness noted Saturday's victory was the Irish's first against a ranked team since 2017.
For Notre Dame, five of the seven players who saw the court Saturday scored in double figures. That included guard Dane Goodwin, who contributed 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Meanwhile, only two Florida State starters scored in double figures, while guard Scottie Barnes paced the team off the bench with 17 points to go with nine rebounds.
The Seminoles are 1-2 over the past three games following a four-game winning streak. With losses to North Carolina and Notre Dame recently, they clearly aren't playing their best basketball heading into the ACC tournament.
Notre Dame was riding a four-game losing streak entering Saturday's game, with losses to Syracuse, Louisville, Boston College and NC State.
The Fighting Irish need to run the table and win the ACC tournament to have any chance of qualifying for the NCAA tournament, but given the momentum on their side after upsetting FSU, perhaps a Cinderella run isn't out of the question.