SOUTH BEND ― These are the kind of nights that members of the Notre Dame basketball program have dreamed about since, well, they became members of the Notre Dame basketball team.
The kind of night when everything seems to flow and fall into place. When the game looks easy. The kind of night when a ranked conference opponent comes to town, then stumbles into a 19-point deficit in a frightening display of shot-making and swagger by the Irish.
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The kind of night when the Irish glance at one of the scoreboards inside Purcell Pavilion and see that they’re up six with two minutes and change to play in regulation. When they look up again and see that they’re up three with 19.2 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Look a third time and see that they’re up two with two minutes to play in the second overtime and believe that this is finally going to be their night. Their moment.
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Think that, yeah, for the first time under head coach Micah Shrewsberry, for the first time since March 2023, Notre Dame (11-10 overall; 2-6 ACC) will close it out the way it should close it out and beat a ranked team.
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Their night to finally win one of those games against a ranked team. Against an elite ACC opponent. One of those nights that’s going to make all the previous heartache and heartbreak worth it. One of those nights when Notre Dame basketball can take a step forward in the league and win a game that tells the rest of the conference, hey, don’t forget about those guys from South Bend. They can do a lot, even with a little.
One of those nights once again became one of those nights. One of those nights when the Irish must pick up the pieces and figure out how to be a possession or two better in those close-out moments. One of those nights when they just couldn’t do enough when more was needed.
One of those nights when they again insist that it’s eventually all going to turn. That’s hard to see through the fog of another soul-crushing conference loss, this time 100-97 in double overtime to No. 17 Virginia in a game the Irish led for 36:19.
“We’re not into moral victories,” Shrewsberry said. “Nothing about us is about that. But we are about the process, and we are about using every opportunity to keep getting better. That’s what this team is doing. A lot of people have counted us; people have quit on us a long time ago.
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“These dudes have kept coming, kept fighting, kept competing.”
It’s hard to see, but once the frustration fades, you can see something. There’s a good team in there waiting to figure it out and find a way out from another disappointing defeat. Some talent. Some swagger. Some youth. Some way out.
Let it hurt? Nah, the Irish are done letting nights like these ache. They’ve had enough of them over the last three-plus seasons. Those games at home or on the road, in conference play or out of it, where it looks like Notre Dame is going to wrap it up, only to see it unravel.
“I wanted this so bad for them,” Shrewsberry said. “They just put it on the line, man, for 50 minutes. Just went toe to toe with a really good team.”
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This one had a little of everything as it stretched into the night. Big shots. Big swings. Big leads. Big deficits. Big runs. Big moments at big times. Nine ties. Fourteen lead changes. Times when Virginia looked in control. Times when Notre Dame refused to fold. Times when it seemed over, only to keep on going. Another five minutes. Another dose of big.
Everything about a game played in front of a scary small crowd (4,012) was big.
“We just competed,” Shrewsberry said.
Included in it was a big let-down wrapped in a big belief that one of these nights in one of these seasons, Notre Dame is going to close one of these games against a ranked team out. They’re going to figure it out and the horn is going to sound and the students, what few bothered to find their way across campus, will run from the west section of seats and spill over the floor and the other team from somewhere else will scramble back to the locker room.
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One of these nights, but not on this night. Not on a night when sophomore guard Cole Certa deserved to frame a box score that saw him erupt for a career-high 34 points. Not on a night when freshman Brady Koehler logged a staggering 41 minutes, also a career high, to go with his first career double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Jan 27, 2026; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Cole Certa (5) shoots as Virginia Cavaliers forward Thijs de Ridder (28) defends during the first half at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center. Mandatory Credit: Michael Caterina-Imagn Images
“It’s hard, especially when you’re right there, and you think you’ve got it for a second,” Certa said. “It’s hard to close out games against really good teams. We really deserved this one tonight. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way.
“We were right there.”
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Many believe Notre Dame had no business being anywhere near a win against a Virginia team that’s old and experienced and just plain better. The Irish believed.
That’s the thing with this group. Even after all that heartbreak and heartache, all that vitriol spewed about the seemingly aimless direction of the program on social media, even after all the near-mises and couldas and wouldas and shouldas, this group that’s undermanned and inexperienced and often overmatched keeps swinging and believing and competing.
It didn’t happen again on Tuesday, but it’s close to happening. You can see it. One of these days, maybe one of these days still to come this season, Notre Dame will win a game like the one it played Tuesday.
Don’t bail on this program just yet. They’re close, even though close doesn’t count.
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One day, it will.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame basketball blows big lead, loses to Virginia in two overtimes
