Nijel Pack posted 21 points and four steals as No. 14 Miami won its ninth straight game, defeating host Notre Dame 76-65 on Friday afternoon in an ACC game at South Bend, Ind.
Miami (13-1, 4-0 ACC) also got 18 points and seven rebounds from Norchad Omier. Isaiah Wong shot 7-for-7 from the foul line and finished with 15 points, and Jordan Miller added 12 points.
Pack, a transfer from Kansas State, shot 8-for-13 from the floor, including 5-for-8 on 3-pointers. He had game highs in points, steals and 3-pointers.
The Fighting Irish (8-6, 0-3) were led by Trey Wertz, who had 15 points. Dane Goodwin added 14 points, and Marcus Hammond scored 12 points off the bench.
Irish center Nate Laszewski had a near double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Notre Dame, which entered the game averaging just 9.1 turnovers per game, had seven in the first 10 minutes, falling behind 25-16. But the Irish went on an 11-1 run to take its first lead of the game, 27-26, on Goodwin’s jumper with 4:20 left in the first half.
Wong, after missing his first five shots, scored on a spectacular three-point play to give the Hurricanes a 29-27 lead, ending Miami’s six-minute field-goal drought. But Notre Dame closed the first half on a 7-2 run, taking a 34-33 lead into intermission.
Pack led all first-half scorers with 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 3-for-4 marksmanship on 3-point tries, but Miami was held back by 6-of-10 free-throw shooting. Notre Dame turned the ball over 11 times in the first half.
The Hurricanes opened the second half on an 14-4 run for a 47-38 lead. Notre Dame cut its nine-point deficit to 51-49 on Hammond’s four-point play with 12:12 left.
But Miami came right back with a 9-0 run for its first double-digit lead, 60-49, with 8:28 left.
Miami cruised from there, shooting 50.9 percent from the floor for the game. The Hurricanes also forced 17 turnovers while committing just nine miscues.
Notre Dame stayed in the game by shooting 9-for-24 on 3-point attempts (37.5 percent), but the Irish also missed several open looks.
Miami shot 5 of 17 from long range (29.4 percent), with Pack accounting for all five made shots.
–Field Level Media
