Notre Dame Beats Southeastern Louisiana, 86-50
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs scored 18 points and fellow guards Matt Farrell and Rex Pflueger had 17 each as Notre Dame ran away from Southeastern Louisiana in an 86-50 wire-to-wire victory Thursday.
All-American Bonzie Colson, who had a career-high 37 points in Notre Dame's 97-87 victory over Dartmouth Tuesday, missed 7½ minutes of the first half with a bloody nose. But he returned to finish with 16 points, his 30th straight game in double figures, and 10 rebounds for the 31st double-double of his career.
Colson had seven points, three rebounds and one block as Notre Dame (10-3) raced to an 11-4 start. He exited the floor with 12:17 to go before half with Notre Dame leading 21-13. With him gone, Farrell and Pflueger provided the offense with 11 and 10 points, respectively, as the Irish, took a 37-29 halftime lead over the Lions (6-7).
Notre Dame used a 20-4 run that featured a 16-0 spurt to take a 57-33 lead with 13:34 to go. The lead kept growing as the Irish held the Lions to just 29.9 shooting from the field.
Jordan Capps led Southeastern Louisiana with 17 points.
THE BIG PICTURE
Southeastern Louisiana: The Lions, featuring 10 transfers from other colleges, were picked to finish third in the Southland Conference preseason poll. But they couldn't keep up offensively with Notre Dame. The Lions endured spans of 2:30 in the first half and 6:23 in the second half without scoring a field goal.
Notre Dame: The Irish, who were a plus-10 on the boards against Dartmouth Tuesday, entered the game having been outrebounded by four of their previous six opponents. At halftime, Southeastern Louisiana had a 23-18 edge. By game's end, Notre Dame had a 47-43 advantage. Colson and Martinas Geben had 10 each.
UP NEXT
Southeastern Louisiana: Lions open Southland Conference play against visiting Stephen F. Austin Dec. 28.
Notre Dame: Irish open Atlantic Coast Conference play against visiting Georgia Tech Dec. 30.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
