Ball Durham
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Notre Dame finding stride and confident coming down stretch in ACC play

By Kevin Connelly

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - JANUARY 29: John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the court in the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Purcell Pavilion on January 29, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - JANUARY 29: John Mooney #33 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on the court in the game against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons at Purcell Pavilion on January 29, 2020 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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Notre Dame has things working as ACC plays rolls on and the Fighting Irish come to Durham to face the Duke basketball team on Saturday afternoon.

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were riding a four-game winning streak before falling in overtime on Tuesday night to the Virginia Cavaliers, 50-49.

Notre Dame was leading for a majority of the second half before the Cavaliers were able to tie things up going into overtime, and then the Irish were only able to score two points in the extra five minutes while Virginia just scored three.

In its last seven games, the Irish are 4-3, but the three losses have come by a combined four points, at home against Syracuse and road games against Florida State and Virginia.

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Notre Dame lost on opening night to a healthy North Carolina team on the road and the midseason ACC game at home against Boston College, but the only two non-conference losses for the Irish came against then-No. 3 Maryland on the road and a neutral-site game against Indiana.

The Irish have a 15-9 record (6-7 ACC) and will wrap up a three-game road trip on Saturday afternoon in Durham.

Mike Brey‘s team is led by ACC Player of the Year candidate John Mooney, who is averaging 16.3 points and 13.0 rebounds per game while combining with a slew of veterans in TJ Gibbs, Prentiss Hubb, and Rex Pflueger.

Gibbs is averaging 13.8 points and 3.3 assists in his senior season on 42.1 percent 3-point shooting while Hubb is averaging 11.8 points and a team-high 4.6 assists in his sophomore season.

Pflueger is returning from a torn ACL that caused him to only play in ten games last season and in his senior campaign is averaging 27.6 minutes per game and 5.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Notre Dame is one of many contemplating its NCAA Tournament fate, and a win on Saturday against Duke would slide the Irish closer toward the bubble that many experts are saying is so soft this season.

The Blue Devils and the Fighting Irish will tipoff at 4:00pm EST from Cameron Indoor Stadium on ESPN.

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