Auguste, Ryan Help Notre Dame Beat NC State 89-75
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Zach Auguste had 24 points and 11 rebounds and Notre Dame snapped a two-game losing streak to conclude the regular season Saturday with an 89-75 win over North Carolina State.
Matt Ryan scored a career-high 17 points and Demetrius Jackson had 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Irish (20-10, 11-7 ACC), who still need a No. 17 Duke loss against No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday to finish fourth in the ACC and earn a double bye in next week's league tournament.
Anthony "Cat" Barber led NC State (15-16, 5-13) with 29 points and became just the second ACC player besides Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson (1990-91) to average 23 points, four rebounds and four assists per game.
Abdul-Malik Abu finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds for the Wolfpack.
The Irish took a 10-point lead early in the second half, but a 12-2 NC State run, capped by a Barber 3-pointer, quickly wiped out that advantage.
Notre Dame led by one when freshman Rex Pflueger hit consecutive 3s to spark a 12-2 burst that opened up a 12-point advantage with 8:48 to play.
Jackson, Notre Dame's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game, did not score in the first half after going 0 of 6 from the field, but he heated up with nine minutes to play.
Jackson scored 10 straight Irish points and knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, the second of which pushed ND's lead to 15 with seven minutes to go.
Coming off a season-low 34 percent shooting in Wednesday's loss to Miami, Notre Dame opened the game by hitting just one of its first nine shots. That's when Ryan came off the bench to ignite the Irish.
Ryan knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored eight quick points to fuel a 10-0 run to put the Irish up 20-13 midway through the first half. Barber responded with three straight buckets, part of an 8-0 NC State run.
The Wolfpack led by six after Caleb Martin's 3-pointer late in the first half, but Ryan again came up big, knocking down a 3 and adding three free throws as the Irish ended the first half on a 14-2 spurt to take a 45-39 lead. They scored 50 points total against Miami.
Barber had 16 points at the break.
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TIP-INS
NC State: The Wolfpack were already locked into the 12th seed in next week's ACC tournament prior to Saturday's game at Notre Dame... Barber went 4 of 5 from the free-throw line to break the program record for free throws made in a season... Junior BeeJay Anya set the program record for career blocked shots (208) against Boston College on March 2.
Notre Dame: The Irish lead the nation averaging just 9.1 turnovers per game... They also average 76 points per game, but totaled 56 and 50 in losses to Florida State and Miami, the first time this season ND has lost consecutive games.
UP NEXT
NC State faces Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament on Tuesday.
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