Farrell, Gibbs Combine For 45 Points In 92-68 Win Over Delaware
It seemed to be more of the same for Notre Dame offensively to start against Delaware Saturday night, but the Irish found a rhythm midway through the first half and pulled away to take down Delaware 92-68 on the road.
Senior point guard Matt Farrell scored 24 points and dished out seven assists to lead the Irish while sophomore TJ Gibbs contributed 21 points to help Mike Brey defeat his former program and assistant Martin Ingelsby. Senior forward Bonzie Colson notched his 28th career double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Here's a half-by-half recap of how Notre Dame moved to 8-2. Full box score can be FOUND HERE.
FIRST HALF
Delaware started off quickly getting a basket from guard Ryan Daly. Senior Irish forward Bonzie Colson answered with an early three-pointer to give Notre Dame an early 3-2 lead.
Colson and senior point guard Matt Farrell carried the Irish offense over the first eight minutes scoring 10 of the team’s 11 points. Farrell had to head to the bench early after picking up two quick fouls. Sophomore guard Nik Djogo got some early minutes off the bench which is something Brey mentioned he wanted to take a deeper look at.
Both teams entered the under-12 minute media time out 11-11. The Irish started the game 4-of-12 (33.3 percent from the floor.
Delaware guard Kevin Anderson knocked down a triple to give Delaware a 14-11 lead. The Irish responded with a 6-0 behind two baskets by Geben and a pair of free throws frim Gibbs. But, Delaware grabbed multiple offensive rebounds which led to a three-pointer by Daly which Anderson followed up with a layup to give the Blue Hens a 19-17 lead with 8:21 remaining.
Then sophomore Irish guard TJ Gibbs went on a personal 6-0 run to put Notre Dame out front 23-19 getting a free throw, layup and three-pointer in the process. After Delaware knocked down a free throw to close the gap, Farrell was fouled on a three. The senior connected on all three to give Notre Dame their biggest lead at 26-20 with 4:33 left.
Anderson continued his hot start getting a three-pointer to fall from top of the key before Gibbs did the same to answer giving the Irish a 29-23 advantage at the under-four media timeout.
The teams traded baskets with Colson and Delaware’s Eric Carter and Ryan Allen getting layups while Farrell knocked down a 17-footer. Delaware entered the final 1:10 down 33-27.
In the final minute, Colson knocked down a jumper at the top of the key and Farrell found Gibbs in the corner in the close seconds after a Blue Hens’ miss. Gibbs connected on a three-pointer to close the half and give the Irish a 38-27 lead at the break.
Gibbs scored 14 points to lead all scorers while Farrell added 10 points and three assists. Colson notched nine points, six rebounds in the half. The Irish hit their final four shots of the half to finish 13-of-26 (50 percent) from the field including 5-of-11 behind the arc.
Anderson finished with 12 first half points while Daly contributed seven. The Blue Hens shot 32.4 percent overall (11-of-34).
SECOND HALF
The half didn’t get off to a good start offensively with both teams going a combined 0-for-6 before Colson connected on a layup after a nifty spin move with 17:47 left to give the Irish a 40-27 lead. Delaware didn’t make its first field goal until the 16:18 mark.
Pflueger put up five early points for the Irish in the first five minutes to pace the offense while Farrell also made a layup. The start pushed the Irish lead to 47-31 with 14:43 left in the half.
Delaware got a layup on the next possession by Farrell got an off-balance three-pointer to go to answer before Pflueger went on a personal 5-0 run to push his total to 10 points in the half and the Irish lead to 55-34 with 13:02 remaining.
The Blue Hens trimmed the Irish lead a little over the next three minutes closing the gap to 57-41 with just over 10 minutes left. Geben converted an and-one to answer and Gibbs followed with a three-pointer. Notre Dame led 63-46 with eight minutes left.
Delaware got hot from deep knocking down four three-pointers, but the Irish matched with two of their own (both from Farrell) and two baskets from Colson making the Irish lead 73-55.
The two teams again matched each other knocking down a pair of free throws keeping the Irish lead at 18 (75-57) with under five minutes remaining.
Allen connected on a three on the next Delaware possession, but Farrell got a good screen and drilled another three to continue answering any Blue Hens run. The basket gave Farrell 14 points in the half and 24 total.
Gibbs made two free throws to cross the 20-point threshold and senior big man Austin Torres got in on the scoring with a dunk after a nice assist from Farrell.
With under two minutes to go the Irish led 84-63 before the Notre Dame bench put up some points with freshman DJ Harvey scoring five late points and Djogo connecting on a three-pointer. Notre Dame eventually came away with a 92-68 win.
Farrell lead the Irish with 24 points followed by Gibbs at 21. Colson went for 19 points, 12 rebounds. Pflueger wound up with 10 points while Geben added eight points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
The win gave Brey victory No. 390 which puts him four away from passing Digger Phelps (393) for most in school history.
Notre Dame shot 20-of-32 during the final 20 minutes to shoot 33-of-58 (56.9 percent) overall including 13-of-23 (56.5 percent) from deep. The Irish defense held Delaware to 25-of-64 (39.1 percent) shooting.
Anderson led the Blue Hens with 23 points while Daly added 15 points and Allen 14 to round out the team’s double-figure scorers.
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