Notre Dame vs. Illinois Boxscore
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team suffered its third loss of the season (3-3) 82-72 at Illinois (5-2) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Monday night.
The Irish were led by freshman Blake Wesley, who scored 18 of his 24 points for the Irish in the second half, while Dane Goodwin added 15. Kofi Cockburn led the Illini with 28 points.
The Irish took a 10-9 lead at the first media timeout behind the strength of two three point field goals from Nate Laszewski and a run out rebound goal after a turnover from Cormac Ryan.
Illinois answered with a 7-0 run while hitting five of six shots before a Trey Wertz runner in the lane cut the Illini lead to 16-14 with 11:31 left.
Before half Notre Dame put together their own 7-0 run behind a turnaround jumper from Wesley, then a Laszewski three pointer after an offensive rebound from Wesley.
Illinois earned a 41-34 lead at halftime behind nine three point field goals and 53 percent shooting from the floor.
To begin the second half, Notre Dame missed five of its first seven shots, while Illinois put together a 7-0 run to build a 52-39 lead with 16 minutes left. The Illini eventually connected on seven of their first nine shots of the second half.
Wesley started to take over the offensive duties for the Irish, scoring 11 straight points as Notre Dame attempted to chip into the Illinois lead. The home team still held a 10 point lead with 7:54 left as Wesley moved to 20 points in the game and 14 in the second half.
A Cormac Ryan three pointer cut the lead to five with 5:37 left while Notre Dame held Illinois without a field goal for over five minutes. The Illini offense became Kofi Cockburn, who scored five consecutive points at the free throw line to keep the Illini in the lead.
Notre Dame was able to get it to five points once again with a rebound three pointer from Goodwin, but the Illini answered with two free throws and the Irish suffered two empty offensive possessions to allow the home team to seal the game.
Notre Dame will be back in action on Friday, December 3, 2021, in the ACC opener at Boston College (6 p.m. ET, ACC Network).