Notre Dame dumps Pittsburgh, takes second-place in ACC

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Nate Laszewski had 17 points and nine rebounds, Cormac Ryan added 15 points, all on 3-pointers, and Notre Dame rolled past Pittsburgh 78-54 on Saturday.

With the win, the Fighting Irish take the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament, marking their best seeding since the 2011-12 season in the Big East. Their 15-5 ACC record (22-9 overall) is a program best for conference wins in a season. This is their fourth top-four finish in nine seasons in the ACC.

Ryan made three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half as Notre Dame opened up a 49-27 lead. The Fighting Irish made 6 of their first 7 3-pointers and 9 of their first 12 shots overall after halftime.

By contrast, Pittsburgh made 1 of 13 3-pointers and shot 29.4% overall in the first half. Laszewski led the Fighting Irish with 10 points and six rebounds in the half and Notre Dame led 31-21 going into the break.

Blake Wesley added 11 points and Paul Atkinson Jr. and Dane Goodwin scored 10 each for Notre Dame.

Mouhamadou Gueye had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers (11-20, 6-14). John Hugley also scored 13 points. The Panthers finished in a three-way tie for 11th place.

The Fighting Irish made 14 of 24 3-pointers. Pitt made 3 of 26 from distance.

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