SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Grant Basile scored 33 points, including 16 in a near six-minute stretch of the second half, and Virginia Tech defeated Notre Dame 93-87 on Saturday.
The Hokies made 10 consecutive shots — seven of them by Basile — in building an 85-75 lead with 3:49 to go and finished it off by making eight of their last nine from the free-throw line. Basile, a 15.6 points-per-game scorer, has back-to-back 33-point games.
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After making 13 of their first 25 3-point tries, the Fighting Irish missed their last five in the final eight-plus minutes as Virginia Tech pulled away.
Justyn Mutts scored 19 points for the Hokies (15-10, 5-9 ACC) and M.J. Collins and Sean Pedulla added 12 points each. Basile made 13 of 19 shots, 3 of 7 from 3-point distance.
Nate Laszewski, who scored 20 points for Notre Dame (10-15, 2-12) in the first half, continued his hot shooting in the second half. He had 30 points and made six of his first eight 3-pointers to keep Notre Dame close and J.J. Starling tied the score at 59 when he hit a driving layup with 11:43 remaining.
But Virginia Tech, which had led for most of the game except for one 12-minute stretch of the first half, surged ahead with an 11-4 run capped by a three-point play by Basile that began his stretch of 16 points in six minutes as the Hokies went on to build their double-digit lead.
Laszewski finished with a career-high 33 points and eight rebounds. He made 12 of 17 shots, including 6 of 9 3-pointers. His previous high was 28 two seasons ago. Cormac Ryan made 5 of 9 3-pointers for Notre Dame and finished with 17 points. Ven-Allen Lubin added 11 points.
Notre Dame visits Duke on Tuesday and Virginia Tech’s next game is at Georgia Tech on Thursda