The last undefeated team in ACC play has fallen as No. 10 Florida State ended No. 15 Notre Dame’s 7-game winning streak at the Donald L. Tucker Center on Wednesday night, 83-80. FSU freshman Jonathan Isaac had a monster night and atoned for a late mistake with two key blocks to seal the victory.

The first half seemed to be a case of perception not necessarily matching with reality. Both teams seemed to be shooting well and finding success either in the paint or outside the 3-point line, but the score was only 39-33 in favor of FSU (17-2, 5-1 ACC) by the time they entered the locker rooms.  For most of the half, it was a very close affair. Whatever points FSU was able to secure were answered by another Notre Dame (16-3, 5-1 ACC) 3-point shot.

The Seminoles were playing good defense, but Notre Dame was able to get the shots it needed to stay in the game. A big break came for the Seminoles when guard P.J. Savoy got hot towards the end of the half, and fired off six straight points to help the Seminoles expand their lead.

Going into the second, it became clear that it was going to be a grudge match much like the first. Both offenses began to exploit tendencies in the other’s defenss, and the lead never expanded to more than eight at a single moment. It went down to the wire in the final three minutes, where FSU held a slim lead that Notre Dame was dangerously close to usurping. Free throws once again became crucial, but thankfully FSU seemed to have learn from its mistakes and went 6-for-7 in the final minutes to win.

Observations

• FSU’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes hounded Notre Dame guard Matt Farrell to start the game. The Notre Dame offense was having difficulty, though it hit outside shots to keep some semblance of a rhythm going.
• FSU made sure that it won the battle down low on each end. The only issue for the offense was turnovers, which was a big problem early in the game. Defensively the Seminoles were very stout. In the first half, they were able to rack up eight offensive rebounds compared to Notre Dame’s one.
• Notre Dame survived off the 3-point shot. 12 of its first 16 points were from behind the arc, and by the end of the half, the Fighting Irish had shot a ridiculous 6-for-9 (67 percent).
• Jonathan Isaac started well with six points, six rebounds, and two blocks, which was refreshing from previous slow starts. The North Carolina loss over the weekend might have been a turning point.
• FSU attacked the Notre Dame guards early and forced them to put effort into defending. Savoy and C.J. Walker were clearly frustratingly the Fighting Irish, even if they weren’t necessarily scoring on their drives.
• Speaking of Savoy: he did it again. With the game neck and neck near the end of  the first half, he hit back-to-back treys that helped FSU grab a 37-29 lead. He’s got serious talent and holds the key to FSU momentum at crucial moments.
• Notre Dame was sloppy with the ball, and that’s something you can’t do with a Seminoles team that gets streaky. They had 18 turnovers, and FSU scored 19 off of those.
• The Fighting Irish game planned to give their guards breathing room to open the second half. It worked, and there was noticeable improvement.
• Meanwhile, the whistles began to blare. Multiple questionable calls slowed the rhythm of both teams. 10 fouls in the first eight minutes seemed excessive.
• FSU seemed to favor the small ball approach to try and counter the Irish offense, rather than put big men in and have them do little on defense. Brandon Allen even got six minutes.
• Walker was carrying the offense midway through the second half. He’s a budding player who attacked the Notre Dame guards all night. He’s already an incredibly fast/agile player, and the control he has is impressive all things considered.
• Any hopes that Notre Dame would cool down from deep were dashed. The Irish hit three in a row at one point and were shooting 70 percent with eight minutes to go.
• Rathan-Mayes didn’t have a stinker of a game like he did against UNC, but he still was not especially impactful Wednesday until the end of the contest. But when he got going, it was at the most crucial part of the game.
• Isaac got the momentum swing going towards FSU with a 3-pointer and then an and-1 to put FSU up by four late in the game. Then he hit another triple with three minutes left to extend the lead to eight.
• Sometimes you just have to let the shots fly. Both teams did just that in the final stretch of the game, letting their best players get the ball and go for isolation.
• It seemed like the worst was about to happen. With time winding down, Notre Dame began to intentionally foul FSU and force the Seminoles to the line. After Dwayne Bacon missed a free throw, Notre Dame went down and made a fading 3-pointer. Only down by three, worry began to set in for FSU fans. But from there on out, FSU went a perfect 6-for-6 in the final 40 seconds of the game.

Notable Numbers

Jonathan Isaac (FSU): 23 points (7-for-9), 10 rebounds, 7 blocks

Steve Vasturia (ND): 18 points (6-for-15), 3 rebounds

Matt Farrell (ND): 17 points (6-for-13), 7 assists

Quotes

Dwayne Bacon on rebounding from a loss: “We didn’t expect to win every game. We were going to try…there was going to be adversity, that was some of the adversity there that hit us. We still could’ve won the North Carolina game…we just had to get past North Carolina and focus on Notre Dame…now we’ve got to get past Notre Dame and focus on Louisville.”

Jonathan Isaac on end of game heroics: “It was great. All my teammates got in my head at the free throw line, telling me I got this, telling me that they believe in me to make these shots, so I just stepped up to the line with the ultimate confidence and knocked them down.”

Leonard Hamilton on Isaac’s development: “Jonathan is locked into the game. What we’ve intentionally done with him is not try to pressure him to force shots, create things. We’re letting him mature at the right pace. I think he’s gaining more confidence…I think he’s gaining more opportunities now to affect the game, and it’s organic.