National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Notre Dame 64, Kentucky 63
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 12, 2020
Where: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center, Lexington, Kentucky
Officials: # Mike Roberts, # Chuck Jones, # Jim Lindsay
Attendance: 3075

Nate Laszewski scored 21 points and Prentiss Hubb added 18 to lift Notre Dame to a 64-63 victory over Kentucky on Saturday in Lexington.

Olivier Sarr led the Wildcats with 22 points, however his baseline jumper rimmed out as time expired.

Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston Jr. each scored 14 points for Kentucky (1-4).

The Fighting Irish (2-2) dominated the first half before nearly losing their grip on the game in the final 20 minutes.

The Irish helped build their early lead with a 19-0 run midway through the first half that helped open up a 33-9 advantage.

Notre Dame went into the break with a commanding 48-26 lead behind 19 points and six rebounds from Laszewski.

Outside shooting from the entire squad was the difference in the first half, as Notre Dame shot 6 of 11 from behind the arc. Kentucky made just 1 of 13 such baskets.

The Wildcats opened up the second half on a tear, however, cutting the deficit down to 53-49 behind a 16-0 run.

Hubb finally stopped the bleeding for the Irish with a fastbreak layup with 6:54 remaining.

Sarr responded for the Wildcats with a jumper to keep things close, but Hubb drilled a clutch 3-pointer. Juwan Durham slammed down a thunderous dunk off a beautiful pass from Cormac Ryan to push the lead back to 60-51 heading to the under-4 media timeout.

Kentucky made one final push when Brandon Boston Jr. canned a 3-pointer, Davion Mintz converted an old-fashioned three-point play and Isaiah Jackson scored off a steal to make it 62-61.

The two teams exchanged buckets with just under a minute to play before a shot clock violation gave the Wildcats one final chance to win the game with 11.4 seconds remaining.

Notre Dame shot just 1 of 10 from beyond the arc in the second half.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Notre Dame   Kentucky
Nate Laszewski 21 Scoring Olivier Sarr 22
Cormac Ryan 4 Assists Davion Mintz 4
Nate Laszewski 9 Rebounds Olivier Sarr 7
Nate Laszewski 7 Free Throws Made Brandon Boston Jr. 2
Prentiss Hubb 2 Steals Brandon Boston Jr. 3
Juwan Durham 2 Blocks Olivier Sarr 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Notre Dame 64 44.2 7-21 11-12 9 28 4 4 16
Kentucky 63 43.5 5-23 4-6 14 28 4 6 11