Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs Virginia Tech Hokies Box Score on Jan 15, 2022

Justyn Mutts scored 24 points and Nahiem Alleyne added 22 as Virginia Tech rallied in the second half to snap a three-game losing streak with a 79-73 victory over Notre Dame in an Atlantic Coast Conference game Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech (9-7, 1-4) trailed by 10 points early in the second half but made a charge in the final 15 minutes. During a 9-0 run, Keve Aluma scored seven of his 17 points, helping the Hokies to a 66-62 lead with 5:22 left.

After that, the Hokies never trailed. Notre Dame tied the score twice, but Mutts scored four points in the final 1:48, and with 20 seconds left, Storm Murphy made his fourth 3-pointer of the game for a 78-73 lead.

Mutts and Alleyne entered the game in slumps. Mutts had scored a combined eight points in the previous two games. Alleyne had scored a combined 26 in the previous five. But on Saturday they made a combined 17 of 21 shots from the floor, with Alleyne hitting 4 of 5 from beyond the arc. Mutts also had seven rebounds and Aluma eight.

The frontcourt duo led an efficient Tech offense that made 29 of 49 shots from the floor (59.2 percent) and 10 of 20 from 3-point range (50 percent).

Paul Atkinson had 19 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (10-6, 4-2), which saw its six-game winning streak end. Blake Wesley scored 15 points and Dane Goodwin 13.

The Irish committed just three turnovers in the game and none in the first 26 minutes. They conducted an offensive clinic in the first half as they made 15 of 28 shots from the field (53.6 percent), including 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

Notre Dame bolted to a 12-4 lead in the opening minutes as Wesley made a pair of 3-pointers. After that, the Fighting Irish increased the lead to 10 points on five occasions but could never push it beyond.

-Field Level Media