Mooney’s 28 points leads Irish past Georgia Tech, 80-72

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — John Mooney’s 28 points moved him past 1,000 for his career and Notre Dame ran away from Georgia Tech in the second half for an 80-72 victory Saturday.

Mooney, who picked up his nation-leading 17th double-double with 10 rebounds, was 9-of-18 shooting for the Fighting Irish (13-8, 4-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their second straight league game. T.J. Gibbs scored 19 points, Dane Goodwin 14 and Rex Pflueger 13 for Notre Dame, which shot 47% (24 of 51) for the game.

Jose Alvarado had 25 points, Moses Wright 17 before fouling out and James Banks III 13 points for the Yellow Jackets (10-12, 4-7) who saw a two-game win streak snapped.

Notre Dame, which beat Georgia Tech 78-74 on Jan. 15, closed the first half on a 10-3 run in the final 3:14 to take a 36-33 lead. There were four lead changes, and the game was tied seven times in the first 20 minutes during which the Irish led by as many as five and trailed by as many as four.

The Irish, who shot 48% (12 of 25), made 6 of 15 3-pointers, two each by Gibbs and Pflueger. Mooney had 10 points and three rebounds. The Yellow Jackets, led by Alvarado’s 12 points, shot 37% (14 of 38) after going without a field goal in the last 2:38. They did outrebound the Irish 22-15.

Georgia Tech hit four of its first seven shots of the second half, with Alvardo scoring seven points to tie the game 44-44 with 15:38 to play. A Mooney 3-pointer, off an assist from Prentiss Hubb, with 11:43 to go pushed him past 1,000 points in his career for a 53-48 Irish lead.

George Tech called a timeout, but the 3-pointers kept falling for the Irish as Goodwin’s trey helped the Irish out to a 58-50 lead with 10:03 to play. The Irish lead was still eight, 61-53, with eight minutes remaining.

A Mooney dunk, off a Hubb assist, made it 65-55 with 6:29 to play. Notre Dame’s biggest lead 71-59 came on Mooney’s layup with 3:56 to play.

BIG PICTURE

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets, who were on a modest two-game winning streak following an 82-54 non-league victory over Morehouse, entered the contest 3-2 on the road in the ACC.

Notre Dame: The Irish had lost five ACC games by five points or less before winning 90-80 over Wake Forest Wednesday night for their first league victory at home.

UP NEXT

Georgia Tech: Tuesday vs. Virginia Tech.

Notre Dame: Wednesday vs. Pittsburgh.