No. 14 Miami tops Notre Dame for 9th straight victory

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Nigel Pack scored 21 points in his home state to lead No. 14 Miami over Notre Dame 76-65 on Friday.

A junior from Indianapolis, Pack made 5-of-8 3-pointers. The Kansas State transfer poured in 13 points in the game’s opening 10 minutes to help stake the Hurricanes to a 25-16 lead.

Norchad Omier added 18 points, Isaiah Wong 15 and Jordan Miller 12 as Miami (13-1, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its ninth straight game.

Trey Wertz scored 15 points, Dane Goodwin 14 and Marcus Hammond 12 for the Fighting Irish (8-6, 0-3), who lost for the fourth time in their last five games.

The Hurricanes led most of the way, but a Hammond four-point play pulled Notre Dame to as close as 51-49 at 12:12 to go.

Miami responded with a 9-0 run to largely seize control and later led by as many as 14. The Irish got no closer than eight, that coming at 2:30 left in the game.

BIG PICTURE

Miami: The Canes’ schedule is tough from here and their only league road wins are over a pair of teams that are winless in ACC play, but 4-0 in the conference is a good start. Miami will still have to face No. 17 Duke twice, plus visit No. 25 North Carolina, Clemson, NC State, Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech.

Notre Dame: The sinking Irish have a steep hill to climb to reach the NCAA tournament, considering they have a trio of double-digit nonconference losses to unranked clubs. Notre Dame visits both No. 13 Virginia and No. 17 Duke in February, and has a pair of meetings with No. 25 North Carolina.

UP NEXT

Miami: Visits Georgia Tech on Wednesday.

Notre Dame: Plays three of its next four on the road, beginning Tuesday at Boston College.

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