Nov. 13, 2017
Notre Dame Mount St. Mary’s Box Score
By Robby Hamman
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Senior Bonzie Colson and junior Rex Pflueger each posted double-doubles in Notre Dame’s (2-0) 88-62 victory over Mount St. Mary’s (0-2) in the 2017-18 home opener on Monday evening inside Purcell Pavilion. The Irish are now 18-0 in home openers under Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey.
Colson scored a season-high 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season while Pflueger scored 14 points and pulled down 10 boards for his first career double-double.
Senior Matt Farrell also posted double figures in scoring with 12 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame held an eight-point lead at the half, outscoring the Mountaineers 40-32 over the opening 20 minutes of play. The key stretch for the Irish came in a two-minute spell between the six and four-minute marks, as the Notre Dame defense spurred an 11-0 run to put the team on top 31-23.
The Irish came out of the halftime break and completely took control of the game, rattling off 14 straight points to open the frame to go up by 22 points at 54-32. Notre Dame’s defense was everywhere in the 14-point run, recording 10 consecutive stops to open the half. The Irish cruised the rest of the game, going on to win by a final score of 88-62.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Colson has opened the season stuffing the stat sheet, as the consensus preseason first team All-American finished Monday with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting to lead the Irish to the victory. The New Bedford, Massachusetts, native also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds for the 25th double-double of his career and second of Notre Dame’s two games this season. Colson also matched his career high for steals with three and added three blocks and an assist.
NOTRE DAME STAT OF THE GAME
The Irish were superb from the free-throw line against The Mount, going 18-for-19 from the stripe to average .947 for the contest. Pflueger led Notre Dame, going 8-for-9 from the line while Colson was a perfect 4-for-4 and T.J. Gibbs finished 3-for-3.
NOTES OF THE GAME
- Notre Dame remains perfect in home-openers under Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey, improving to 18-0.
- Brey now has 384 victories as Notre Dame’s head coach and is just 10 shy of passing Digger Phelps as the outright all-time program record holder.
- The Irish are now 3-0 against Mount St. Mary’s in the all-time series.
- Notre Dame improves to 51-35 when playing in-season tournament games, as Monday’s contest was Notre Dame’s first of four games in the Maui Invitational.
- Colson’s 25th career double-double moves him into a tie for 16th place on the Notre Dame career double-double’s list with former standouts Armand Reo and Zach Auguste.
- Monday was Colson’s 15th game of scoring 20+ points in his career.
- Farrell has knocked down a three-pointer in 28 consecutive games, the longest streak of any active player in the ACC.
- Pflueger posted career highs in points (14), rebounds (10) and free-throws made (eight) in the victory over Mount St. Mary’s.
- Farrell has finished with double-figure points 33 times in his career and in both outings this season.
- Sophomore Elijah Burns came off the bench to score a career-high seven points while knocking down the first three-pointer of his career.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame is back in action at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16, as the Irish host Chicago State at Purcell Pavilion.
— ND —
Robby Hamman joined Fighting Irish Media as athletics communications assistant director in September 2016, coordinating efforts for the volleyball and men’s lacrosse program. Hamman is a 2010 graduate of Bethel College, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in sport management and business administration, and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Defiance College in 2013.