Notre Dame Basketball: Shooting Woes Plague Fighting Irish in Morgantown

In the game of basketball, successful teams shoot the ball well. Notre Dame did just the opposite Saturday afternoon in a 72-58 loss to the Mountaineers of West Virginia. The Irish shot 35 percent from the field (21-of-60) including an abysmal 29 percent from three (8-of-27).

Bob Huggins' West Virginia squad countered by shooting 40 percent from the field (22-of-54). The dagger was their lights out shooting from behind the arc. The Mountaineers made eight-of-20 three-point attempts. They also converted 20-of-27 free throws.

In all five of Notre Dame's losses this season, the Irish have scored between 54 and 58 points—well under their season average of 75.6 points per game.

Despite their shooting struggles, Ben Hansbrough was able to add to his Big East Player of the Year credentials by scoring 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

West Virginia was led by Darryl "Truck" Bryant's 24 points. Joe Mazzulla chipped in 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Saturday also marked West Virginia's third win over the Irish in the teams' last four head-to-head contests.

The game became chippy midway through the second half with both head coaches receiving technical fouls. Bob Huggins became furious when the officials missed a hard foul Carleton Scott put on Joe Mazzulla as he was driving the lane for a layup. WVU assistant coaches literally had to bear hug him to prevent him from running out onto the court.

This game was reminiscent of Irish squads from years past. The starters played a majority of the game. The bench contributed no points to the effort. Notre Dame needs to have its bench contribute if they hope to achieve their goal of advancing deep in the Big East and NCAA tournaments. 

The Irish are in action next this Wednesday (2/23) at Providence.