Gibbs, Irish Crush LSU 92-53 To Advance To Maui Invitational Final
Expected to be a tough game, Notre Dame (5-0) blasted LSU (3-1) Tuesday night 92-53 to advance to the championship game of the 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational behind a career-high 26 points from sophomore guard TJ Gibbs.
Here’s a recap of how the Irish completed the blowout win over the Tigers. The full box score can be FOUND HERE.
FIRST HALF
After a slow start against Chaminade, Gibbs came out firing knocking down two threes in the first five minutes against LSU to help give the Irish an early 10-7 edge with 15:07 remaining in the half. LSU lost starting guard Brandon Sampson 30 seconds into the game which didn’t help the Tigers backcourt.
Senior point guard Matt Farrell also knocked down an early three. LSU big man Duop Reath started strong for the Tigers knocking down a mid-range jumper in the opening minutes scoring four total points at the 15:07 mark. He also added a blocked shot and a steal. Star freshman guard Tremont Waters had two early turnovers.
Notre Dame continued its hot start through the next few minutes going on a 10-2 run to extend the lead to 20-9 after a dunk from senior big man Martinas Geben after Farrell drive it to the basket and dished it off to the Lithuanian.
Junior Rex Pflueger knocked down a jumper for his points of the game while Gibbs converted an and-one opportunity after a nice drive to the basket to equal LSU’s total in the first 8:48.
Farrell got fancy making a between-the-legs pass to Geben for an open dunk. The Irish extend their lead to 27-11 after another basket by Geben for Reath knocked down a three and converted an and-one to cut the lead to 10.
In the first 13:45, Notre Dame held LSU to 6-of-19 (31.5 percent) from the floor while knocking down 10 of its first 21 attempts.
After going on a stretch of 1-of-9 offensively, Notre Dame caught fire against knocking down four straight shots including three-points from Gibbs, Bonzie Colson and sophomore big man John Mooney to go with another bucket by Colson.
Notre Dame took a 40-24 advantage into the half shooting 15-of-31 (48.4 percent) from the floor including 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) behind the arc. The Irish defense continued its strong start holding LSU to a 9-of-28 (32.1 percent) clip from the field including 1-of-8 from deep. Waters did not score a point in the half while Reath was the only player above five points for the Tigers scoring 14 on 5-of-7 shooting.
Gibbs led the way for Notre Dame scoring 12 points and dishing out three assists. Farrell added eight points and five assists while Colson notched eight points and six rebounds. Geben contributed seven points for a nice addition to the Irish offensive arsenal.
SECOND HALF
The threes continued to fall for Notre Dame early in the second half as Farrell and Gibbs each added one to their totals within the first 57 seconds of the half. The teams traded buckets in the early going behind three points by Reath and Waters knocking down his first field via the three-point line.
Colson converted a basket after rebounding his own miss to give the Irish a 55-33 lead with 15:36 left in the game.
The Irish kept rolling over the next two minutes going on an 8-0 thanks to three free throws from Farrell after forcing a foul and a highlight and-one dunk by Mooney off an in-bounds pass from Gibbs. The run pushed the Irish lead to 63-35 with 12:52 left.
LSU started to cut into the Irish lead with 8-0 run with five points by Waters to close the gap to 66-43. But again Notre Dame responded.
Gibbs knocked down two-straight three-pointers to push his total to 23 points on 8-of-14 from the field including 6-of-10 from deep. It was a much needed spark to keep the Tigers at bay and prevent any type of long-term run.
Farrell followed up Gibbs with a dime to Geben to allow the senior big man to convert an and-one opportunity to reach double figures with 10 points to go with four rebounds. The run pushed the Notre Dame lead back to 32 at 75-43 with 8:04 left.
Gibbs then picked up a nice steal and turned it into an and-one opportunity to exit the game with a career-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting (6-of-10 from deep). Pflueger added four quick points before he left the game with six total points, four rebounds and three assists.
Notre Dame went on cruise control the final minutes to win 92-53 to advance to the Maui Invitational finals against No. 6 Wichita State on Wednesday night.
For the night, Notre Dame shot 33-of-64 (51.6 percent) from the field including 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) behind the arc.
Farrell added 17 points and seven assists to follow Gibbs with Colson notching his third double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Geben added 10 points on 4-of-4 from the field. Mooney tied his career-high with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Reath finished with 17 points for the Tigers as their only consistent offensive weapon in the loss. The Tigers shot 36.5 percent (19-of-52) overall and just 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from the three-point line.
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