No. 14 Miami wins 9th straight, topping Notre Dame 76-65
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Nigel Pack scored 21 points and grabbed four steals in his home state to lead No. 14 Miami over Notre Dame 76-65 on Friday.
A junior from Indianapolis, Pack made 5-of-8 3-pointers. The Kansas State transfer poured in 13 points in the game’s opening 10 minutes to help stake the Hurricanes to a 25-16 lead.
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“Nigel was really terrific all game long,” Canes coach Jim Larrañaga said of Pack’s first collegiate appearance in Indiana. “ … He’s doing a fantastic job (in multiple facets) and I expect his scoring will continue to be there because he’s such an outstanding shooter.”
Norchad Omier added 18 points, went 8 of 11 from the field and blocked three shots as Miami (13-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its ninth straight game. Isaiah Wong chipped in 15 points and Jordan Miller 12.
Trey Wertz scored 15 points, Dane Goodwin 14 and Marcus Hammond 12 for the Fighting Irish (8-6, 0-3), who lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
“We’re struggling confidence-wise, no question about it,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “In our losses, we’ve really turned the ball over and it’s just killing us.”
The Irish had a season-high 17 turnovers, including five by Wertz and four by Goodwin. The Canes committed just nine, and outscored Notre Dame 25-7 on points off turnovers.
“The second half we really picked it up at both ends of the court,” said Larrañaga, whose team trailed 34-33 at halftime. “We played better defense, we rebounded better, we attacked the basket more.”
