The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (3-2) lost its final game of the 2021 Maui Jim Maui Invitational 73-67 to Texas A&M (6-1) late Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The Irish held a 10-point lead at halftime, but the Aggie defense forced 12 Notre Dame turnovers to rally for the victory. Dane Goodwin led the Irish with 18 points and eight rebounds.
It was a feeling-out process early with the two teams entering the first media timeout even at 5-5. The Irish were able to take a six point lead, but Texas A&M answered with back-to-back three pointers to tie the game again at 11-11.
Notre Dame then utilized a 12-2 run to earn a 29-17 lead with two minutes left in the half and eventually entered the locker room with a 32-22 lead behind 11 points and five rebounds from Dane Goodwin.
It was the Irish defense, however, which told the story of the first half. The Irish held Texas A&M to 32.1% shooting, outrebounded the Aggies 25-15 and forced seven turnovers.
Notre Dame kept the Aggies at bay early in the first half. With one second on the shot clock and the Irish with the ball out of bounds on the baseline, Prentiss Hubb found Blake Wesley open in the corner and the rookie drilled a three pointer to put the Irish up 12.
The Aggies continued to cut into the lead – only to see the Irish continue to keep the lead around 10 points. A Nate Laszewski dunk down the lane from a great Paul Atkinson Jr. feed answered one mini Aggie run, then Hubb hit a three in the corner to keep the Irish up 49-39 with 12:32 left.
Texas A&M rallied yet again, connecting on seven of eight shots to cut into the lead again, but Goodwin then connected on his second three of the game to keep the Irish up 52-46 with 10:33 left. The lead eventually was cut to one with 9:00 left on a back court turnover by Hubb that was turned into a dunk for the Aggies. That play keyed the Texas A&M run that would eventually earn the Aggies a victory while holding the Irish without a field goal over an eight-minute span.
Next up for the Irish will be a post Thanksgiving trip to No. 14/15 Illinois for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Monday, November 29, at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.