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Strong Second Half Lifts No. 14 Notre Dame Over DePaul 72-58

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CHICAGO, Ill. -- Notre Dame found their rhythm offensively in the second half to pull away and earn a tough 72-58 win over DePaul.

Sophomore guard TJ Gibbs came out firing in the second half scoring 12 points in just over 12 minutes of game time to finish with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting including 4-of-7 from three.

The Irish took a 29-25 lead into the second half before DePaul closed the gap to 31-30 in the early minutes. Back-to-back three-pointers by Gibbs and senior point guard Matt Farrell pushed the lead to 37-30 and Notre Dame never looked back. A 14-5 run over a four-minute stretch later in the half helped put DePaul away for Brey's team.

After struggling from behind the arc in the first half (3-of-15), the Irish seemingly couldn’t miss knocking down 9-of-12 to close the game strong. Notre Dame finished 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from deep. The Irish shot 14-of-25 (56 percent) over the final 20 minutes of the game to close out DePaul.

Senior forward Bonzie Colson notched the first of likely many double-doubles this season with 18 points and 13 rebounds, but also added a game-high five assists to his credit. Farrell added 15 points to round out the Irish double figure scorers.

It was the first road season opener for the Irish under Mike Brey and Notre Dame is now 18-0 in season openers in his tenure.

Here is a quick recap of how each half played out. Full box score can be FOUND HERE.

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FIRST HALF

It wasn’t an efficient start for the Irish offensively, but their efforts on defense allowed for a 29-25 edge at the half.

Notre Dame shot 11-of-28 (39.3 percent) from the field including 3-of-15 (20 percent) from deep behind nine points from Colson and Gibbs each. However, DePaul didn’t fare any better hitting just 9-of-32 (28.1 percent) shots overall including a 3-of-13 (23.1 percent) effort from behind the arc.

Devin Gage and Tre’Darius McCallum both contributed eight points on 3-of-6 shooting for the Blue Demons in the half.

Colson (6), Rex Pflueger (6) and Martinas Geben accounted for 17 of the team’s 24 rebounds in the half.

A free throw each from Colson and Geben grouped with a Farrell three gave the Irish an early 5-0 advantage in the game’s first 2:18 of action.

The Irish lead grew to eight points at 17-9 with 10:56 remaining in the half before a 7-0 DePaul run closed it to 17-16. DJ Harvey halted the run with a pull jumper in the lane for his first points in an Irish uniform.

Both teams went back-and-forth DePaul found a way to tie it at 22-22 for the first time since the opening tip.

Colson continued his strong start nailing a jumper to give the Irish a lead again while Gibbs knocked down a jumper and a three-pointer to help give Notre Dame a 29-25 halftime advantage.

Notre Dame turned the ball over six times in the half while forcing just two.

SECOND HALF

DePaul close the Irish lead to 31-30 and had a chance to take the lead early in the half after blocking a Colson shot. But the Blue Demons opted for an alley oop over an easy layup and missed to squander an opportunity to put the Irish on their heels.

Notre Dame promptly responded with back-to-back three pointers by Gibbs and Farrell to extend the lead to 37-30.

Those two threes were the start of a hot finish from three for Notre Dame as the Irish promptly hit threes for their first five field goals of the half and nine of the first 10 overall.

DePaul wouldn’t go away hanging around a seven-point deficit before the Irish used a 14-5 run over almost a four-minute stretch starting at just under nine minutes to extend the lead to 65-49 and put the Blue Demons away.

The Irish never trailed by less than 13 points over the game’s final 5:33 of action.

Gibbs and Farrell each scored 12 points to combine for 24 of Notre Dame’s 43 second-half points. Colson added nine.

Notre Dame never trailed during the game and lead for 39 minutes of a possible 40.

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