Notre Dame Beats Fort Wayne; Off To Best Start In Mike Brey Era
Despite a rapidly shrinking lead, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey wasn’t worried about getting beat by Fort Wayne on Tuesday at Purcell Pavilion.
The No. 23-ranked Irish ultimately came away with an 87-72 win over the Mastodons in front of 7,204 spectators, though the final result wasn’t as impressive as Notre Dame’s dominant opening period.
“They made a run in the second half; they’re a good team,” Brey said. “I thought we were poised and knew we weren’t going to get beat. We just adjusted and figured it out.”
The victory moves Notre Dame to 9-0, the best start in Brey’s 17 seasons with the Irish.
It sets up a game against No. 1-ranked Villanova on Saturday in Newark, N.J. The last time Notre Dame started a year 10-0 was in 1973-74, which included snapping UCLA’s 88-game winning streak.
“It’s a great opportunity for us,” Brey said of the game against Villanova.
Notre Dame’s players insisted they were not overlooking the Mastodons — which already defeated then-No. 3 Indiana this season. That focus showed in the first half Tuesday as Notre Dame swarmed Fort Wayne in the first half.
The Mastodons — which entered averaging 88.7 points per game — were held to just 23 points on 9-of-28 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The Irish, meanwhile, scored 41 points on 40.5-percent shooting.
Notre Dame’s lead grew to as large as 27 with 16:36 left in the second half.
“That’s our defense 100 percent,” sophomore wing Rex Pflueger said. “Our offense is going to stay clicking throughout the season I believe … but our defense is what’s going to help us win more games.”
The Irish lead dwindled as the second half wore on. Fort Wayne senior guard Mo Evans had just four points in the first half, but he finished with a game-high 25 to lead the Mastodons back.
Notre Dame’s lead shrank to as small as nine points with 2:49 remaining, but a block by Irish senior wing V.J. Beachem on a shot by Jordon King and an ensuing technical foul on Fort Wayne coach Jon Coffman helped boost Notre Dame’s lead back to double digits.
“We did a really good job in the first half of shutting them down and we probably played one of our best halves defensively,” said Notre Dame senior guard Steve Vasturia, who led the Irish with 21 points. “Give them credit in the second half, they made a lot of tough shots. I felt we did a good enough of job of just holding them off and kind of finishing out what we needed to do.”
COLSON STAYS HOT
Notre Dame junior forward Bonzie Colson continued his stellar play this season, notching another double-double to push his streak to six consecutive games.
Colson — who was named the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Player of the Week on Monday — finished the game with 17 points, 14 rebounds and five assists, while shooting 6 of 11 from the field and 3 of 5 on three-pointers.
“It starts with my teammates giving me confidence,” Colson said. “I’m just trying my best to do it on both sides of the floor rebounding, if I have an open lane, looking every shot in. I have great teammates, teammates who give me confidence and that’s what it comes down to.
“[I am] just trying to be consistent and on the defensive end just digging in and trying to get every rebound and communicate.”
Colson started the game off hot scoring eight of Notre Dame’s first 10 points. In just more than 10 minutes, Colson recorded 11 points, six rebounds and an assist to push the Irish out to an early 24-12 lead. Colson is averaging a double-double through nine games this season, leading the team in scoring at 17.1 points per game and rebounds at 11.1 per game.
Brey was asked after the game if Colson can sustain his current level of play.
“Yes, he’s a special guy,” Brey said. “He just is really confident and growing. Some of the stuff he’s doing outside the arc, the step-back threes, stepping up … I just want to let him keep blossoming and not over-coach him. He’s in an amazing frame of mind for us right now.”
OTHER NOTES
• Beachem finished with 14 points and eight rebounds against Fort Wayne, his 15th straight game with double-figure scoring. Junior point guard Matt Farrell added 12 points and six assists.
• Notre Dame was 20 of 23 (87.0 percent) on its attempts from the foul line Tuesday. Vasturia was a 8 of 8, while Farrell went 4 of 4 to remain a perfect 24 of 24 from the line this season. Farrell has made his last 28 attempts from the charity stripe.
• Coffman on Notre Dame: “Notre Dame is going to be a very good team. They came in focused and ready to play us tonight. … I’ll give Coach Brey credit, this group is undervalued in the country right now. I have a vote for the USA Today coaches top 25 and my votes have been significantly higher than where they’re currently sitting. America is going to see that rise pretty quickly.”
Mike Brey, Post-Game
Irish Players, Post-Game
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