Notre Dame Tops Colorado, 89-83
Junior point guard Matt Farrell scored a career-high 20 points and added six assists as Notre Dame held off Colorado 89-83 in the semifinals of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center.
“I’m so proud of him,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said of Farrell in his postgame radio interview with und.com. “We hand the ball to him, and everybody’s talked about these NBA guards we’ve lost and we may not have a point guard. We actually have a pretty darn good point guard.
“He was fabulous tonight. Defending, getting his hands on the ball, running our team, driving, kicking, getting us in transition. Something to get confident from, but I’m not surprised. He played with great confidence in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s why we got to the Elite 8.”
The Buffaloes (3-1) trailed by 15 points at the half, but were able to get as close as four points two times in the final minute. Notre Dame went 14 for 14 from the free throw line over the final 1 minute, 33 seconds to keep Colorado at bay.
Brey said the first half was “easy,” before the Buffaloes started guarding the Irish. Notre Dame’s experienced front line responded well, though.
“I’m not surprised to see them react well in game situations,” Brey said.
Junior forward Bonzie Colson led the Irish (4-0) in scoring with 22 points on 6-of-13 shooting. He also led the team with 13 rebounds. It’s was Colson’s fifth career double-double.
Senior wing V.J. Beachem added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Irish. Senior guard Steve Vasturia also had 17.
Notre Dame got very little production from its bench. The quartet of sophomore wings Matt Ryan and Rex Pflueger, freshman point guard T.J. Gibbs and senior forward Austin Torres combined for just seven points, nine rebounds and one assist.
Brey, though, was pleased with what he got from the reserves.
“I loved the bodies we had coming off,” Brey said. “…We have nine, 10 guys that can play and we’re going to keep them all ready to go throughout a night and throughout the season.”
Several Irish starters battled foul trouble. Junior forward Martinas Geben and Colson each played long spans with four fouls, as well as reserve big man Torres.
Geben played 21 minutes and scored six points and had seven rebounds.
Notre Dame shot 42.4 percent from the field and 6 of 18 from 3-point range. The Irish, who assisted on a high percentage of their baskets through the first three games, finished with 10 assists on their 28 made field goals against the Buffaloes.
When the game got tight, both teams were excellent from the free throw line. Notre Dame shot 27 of 29 compared to Colorado’s 18 of 19 performance.
Senior guard Xavier Johnson scored a game-high 23 points and added five rebounds for Colorado.
Notre Dame next plays either Texas or Northwestern in the final game of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN2.
Box Score: LINK.