Notre Dame Cruises To 105-66 Win Over Chicago State
Notre Dame did what it was expected to do and cruised to a 105-66 win over Chicago State Thursday night in Purcell Pavilion.
It was an uneventful night in terms of the outcome of the contest, but several players recorded career-highs in points including sophomore guard TJ Gibbs (23) and freshman wing DJ Harvey (16) to complement seniors Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell.
The Irish now sits 3-0 on the season before heading to the Maui Jim Maui Invitational which begins Monday when Notre Dame opens the tournament with Chaminade.
Here is a quick recap of how Notre Dame defeated the Cougars.
Full stats can be FOUND HERE.
FIRST HALF
It was Notre Dame early and often during the opening minutes against Chicago State with the Irish building a quick 8-2 lead thanks to two dunks from senior big man Martinas Geben and a three-pointer by Gibbs.
Notre Dame used runs of 9-0, 8-0 and 7-0 to build a 32-8 lead with 7:10 left in the half. Colson scored eight points during that run while Farrell added seven followed by Gibbs with six.
The early lead helped Mike Brey get extended minutes for some key reserve players. Junior forward Elijah Burns was first off the bench with Harvey right behind as the first perimeter substitute. Burns recorded eight minutes of playing while Harvey clocked in 10 minutes.
The Irish took advantage of their height and strength advantage getting the ball inside scoring 24 points in the paint.
Notre Dame also got to the foul line early and often registering 19 total attempts making 15 of those for a 78.9 percent clip. Six different players recorded at least two attempts in the half.
Overall, the Irish shot 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) from the floor including 5-of-12 behind the arc taking a 56-29 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF
Chicago State scored a couple of early buckets to cut the Irish lead to 23 points, but Notre Dame quickly bounced back thanks to five points from Gibbs and a jumper via Colson.
Notre Dame continued to be efficient on both ends of the court shooting 18-of-27 (66.7 percent) from the field and holding the Cougars to a 12-of-34 (35.3 percent) mark.
The Irish became a little sloppy in the second half with 11 turnovers, but their defense helped overcome it.
Gibbs scored 10 points in the second half to record a career-high 23 points. He notched 21 points against DePaul on Nov. 11 during the team’s season opener. The big two of Colson and Farrell continued their strong starts to the season with Colson scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds while Farrell notched 18 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Harvey scored eight points in the second half including a thunderous dunk in transition to finish with a career-high 16 points while adding four rebounds and two assists.
The feel-good moment of the game occurred when senior forward Matt Gregory, who was awarded a scholarship before the season, caught a pass in the corner and knocked down a three for a career-high in points during his four-year career. The former walk-on scored two points against Chicago State in 2014 and one point against Fairleigh Dickinson in December that same year.
Junior guard Rex Pflueger added seven points and sophomore big man John Mooney took advantage of extended minutes scoring nine points and grabbing five rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
It was a smooth sailing second half for the Irish as they cruised to a 105-66 win.
“It was good we got a lot guys in the game tonight,” Brey said following the game. “We got a lot of guys minutes. I thought we started off well defensively. A lot of guys got to play and some of those guys on the bench got to play some longer minutes.
“Anytime you can do that with only the third being in the uniform, I think that’s good for some of those younger guys.”
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