Notre Dame’s V.J. Beachem didn’t know about “The Streak” until Thursday morning.
Bonzie Colson had been asked about it over and over again to the point at which he was ready to take off a Virginia player’s head, which he almost did.
Ten straight. That’s how many consecutive losses the Fighting Irish have suffered at the hands of the Cavaliers.
The last time Notre Dame had beaten Virginia was Feb. 22, 1981. The Irish coach was Digger Phelps. Orlando Woolridge hit a jumper for a one-point win.
Since then it had looked like this: L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L, L.
Not a typo. Ten straight losses. Five of them since the Irish joined the ACC.
“I knew we haven’t beat them since I’ve been here,’’ said Colson, a junior forward. “So we had a little bit more edge, a little bit more swagger coming out.’’
Swagger? Edge? How about downright bad intent?
The Irish jumped out to a 14-4 lead, and all that pent-up hostility came to a boil with 61 seconds left in what turned out to be a 71-58 Irish domination in the quarterfinal round game of the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center.
Notre Dame (24-8) will face Florida State (25-7) Friday night in a semifinal. Virginia (22-10) will have a few days before the start of the NCAA Tournament to rebound from this thumping.
“They were ready,’’ Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “You could see it. They were very looking forward to playing us.’’
The Irish, shooting 52.2 percent, so flummoxed Virginia’s vaunted Pack Line defense that the frustrated Cavaliers lost their poise with 1:01 left. Virginia’s Mamadi Diakite spun Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell like a dreidel, drawing a flagrant-one foul.
Colson was so incensed he sprinted some 30 feet and got right in Diakite’s face. Officials quickly got in front of Colson. He already had done his damage, leading four Notre Dame players in double figures with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
The streak is over.
“I think I’m responsible for five of those, and I think our guys, they know,’’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “Everything in this league we’ve accomplished in four years, that’s the one thing we didn’t have an answer for.’’