SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s basketball donned the uniforms for one last tune-up, this time in Purcell Pavilion taking on Xavier (Lousiana). The Fighting Irish secured the 67-52 win behind a 21-point performance from Dane Goodwin.
In fact, Goodwin nabbed a double-double with a team-high 10 rebounds. He shot 6-of-14 from the field and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Furthermore, 12 of his points came in the second half.
He was joined in double figures by Trey Wertz and Nate Laszewski who had 12 points each. Grad transfer Marcus Hammond made his first appearance in Purcell and recorded nine points and seven boards.
As a whole, the Irish shot 22-of-53 and were 16-of-21 from the line. Notre Dame forced 17 turnovers which they converted into 18 points.
How It Happened
Notre Dame was hitting its shots early, starting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc to garner an 18-11 advantage. Xavier notched a 6-0 run midway through the half to make it a one-possession game at 18-17, but then the Irish revved up the defensive intensity.
Notre Dame forced six Xavier turnovers from 6:40-1:29 and built its largest lead of the half, going up 36-25, before going into the locker room up 36-27.
Laszewski was the lone player in double-digits at the half. In fact, he had his 10 points by the 8:34 mark, going 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. The next highest scorer was Goodwin with nine points, with a 6-for-6 mark from the charity stripe. As a team, the Irish shot 10-of-26 (38 percent) from the field and 4-of-13 from three.
A Xavier three-pointer at 14:07 cut the Notre Dame lead to 41-37. However, that’s when Goodwin took over the game, scoring eight of the team’s next 12 points. As a result, the Irish posted a 12-4 run from 13:00-10:23.
Trey Wertz then played the role of closer with five straight points starting at the 3:50 mark. Next, a Hammond three-pointer at 1:35 was the final dagger as the Irish secured the 67-52 victory.
— ND –