Virginia Tech boots No. 2 seed Notre Dame in ACC quarters

NEW YORK -- — Keve Aluma tossed in 20 points, Storm Murphy scored 16 and Virginia Tech hit eight straight free throws in the final 46 seconds to beat No. 2 seed Notre Dame 87-80 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Thursday night.

Justyn Mutts added 11 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the seventh-seeded Hokies (21-12), who beat the Fighting Irish (22-10) for a fourth straight time. Sean Pedulla had 13 points off the bench, while Nahiem Alleyne scored 12.

Pedulla had 11 points and Aluma scored nine to help Virginia Tech take a 42-31 lead at halftime. Notre Dame scored the final five points of the half to get that close. The Hokies sank half of their 30 shots before intermission and forced 10 Irish turnovers that led to a 14-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Notre Dame never got within one possession of the lead in the second half. The closest the Irish came was 79-75 on a Prentiss Hubb layup with 48 seconds remaining. Pedulla sank two free throws after Notre Dame was forced to foul, Hunter Cattoor hit two more and Murphy went 4 for 4 in the final 26 seconds to preserve the win.

Hubb led Notre Dame with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting with three 3-pointers. Cormac Ryan hit all eight of his foul shots and scored 20. Nate Laszewski pitched in with 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Dane Goodwin scored 11.

The Irish had won seven straight ACC tournament openers before running into Virginia Tech. The Hokies, who beat Notre Dame 79-73 at home in the only regular-season meeting, move on to the semifinal round for the first time since the 2010-11 season.

The Hokies needed a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Darius Maddox to get past 10th-seeded Clemson in the first round.

Virginia Tech will play No. 6 seed Virginia or No. 3 seed North Carolina on Friday.

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