SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Make it a 3-0 start to the season for the Notre Dame men’s basketball game, as the Fighting Irish defeated Southern Indiana (1-2) by the score, 82-70. Notre Dame led from start to finish and for the second consecutive game, all five starters finished in double figures.
Trey Wertz poured in 12 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 20 points – topping his game-one performance of 18 points. He has scored in double figures for three straight games for the first time in his Irish career – totaling 55 points to start the year.
Then there’s Nate Laszewski who recorded his third consecutive double-double, posting 18 points and 10 rebounds tonight. Meanwhile, the rest of the Irish starters went as follows: JJ Starling (10 points), Cormac Ryan (13 points) and Dane Goodwin (14 points).
Furthermore, the Irish continue to finish games strong. Notre Dame connected on its last six shots from the field to close out the Youngstown State win in game two. Tonight, they went 11-for-14 down the final stretch.
How It Happened
Notre Dame was feeling it from beyond the arc in the early going, leading 13-5 then 22-11 after a 4-for-9 start from deep. In fact, the four three-pointers came from four different players: Laszewski, Ryan, Goodwin and Wertz.
All-in-all, the Irish fired off a 13-2 run midway through the half while also causing a three-minute USI scoring drought – resulting in a 28-13 lead at the 7:08 media.
Notre Dame ultimately rode its momentum into a 42-25 halftime lead behind a very balanced attack. All five starters, plus sixth man Ven-Allen Lubin, had at least four points. Laszewski was the lone man in double figures at the midway point with 11 points. He was trailed by Ryan and Wertz who each had eight points.
After Laszewski started the second half with a rare and-two on a four-point play, the Irish hit a bit of a cold spell from the floor. As a result, the Screaming Eagles recorded a 13-3 run that cut the deficit to single digits at 51-43.
Next, Ryan and Wertz took over by combining to score the team’s next 16 points to give the home squad some cushion at 67-54 with 6:38 remaining.
Later, it was time for other Irish to step up as Lubin, Goodwin, Starling and Laszewski combined for a 9-2 run, resulting in a 76-58 Irish lead with four minutes to go.
Goodwin connected from deep at 1:38 and that’s all she wrote as the Irish continue their winning ways at Purcell.
Notre Dame shot 47.2 percent (25-53) from the field and connected on nine treys. They continue to get the job done at the free-throw line, converting 23-of-28. Rebounds-wise, it was even at 35-apiece.
Up Next
No rest for the weary, or for the Irish in this instance. Notre Dame will be back in action on Friday night when they host Lipscomb at 7 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion.
— ND –