Notre Dame Advances to Legends Classic Title Game

Written by Garrett Haydon

The Irish took on the Colorado Buffaloes Monday night in Brooklyn at the Legends Classic. Thanks to a strong shooting first half, the Irish built a big lead and held on in the second half for a 89-83 victory in first of two the semifinal games at the Barclays Center.

It was a huge test for the Irish taking on a good offensive team that has shot well early on in the season. Colorado had come off a season in which they made the NCAA tourney but lost in the first round against UConn.

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. "In the second half Colorado really guarded us in different ways. It was really a grinding game there in the second half."

"We've had a lot of guys plays in big games and win big games. That pressure and experience helped us tonight."

Bonzie Colson scored 22 points and had 12 rebounds to lead the Irish to their fourth win of the season. Matt Farrell had perhaps his best game of the season with 20 points on 7 of 13 shooting and 6 assists. The Irish never trailed and built a 17 point lead early in the second half. Overall, they shot 43% for the game as they struggled to score late in the game. Colorado shot just 42% and missed a lot of shots in the second half especially in close.

The junior forward battled with a bigger Colorado team all night and came out ahead on the glass.

"It's huge to be able to execute on something Coach Brey had challenged us on," said Colson.

Colorado had a tough time slowing down the Irish offense in the first as they had come into the game as one of the most high-scoring units in the country. This clearly showed in the first half as they Irish were firing on all cylinders, shooting 58.1% from the field and holding Colorado to just 39.4% shooting.

Colson opened up hot as the Irish took a 15-6 lead barely four minutes into the game. They continued to be on target through the early part of the half thanks to the play of senior forward V.J. Beachem. The Irish doubled up Colorado 28-14 midway thru the half thanks to a 9-0 run.

"Just saw a couple openings and wanted to attack and have confidence in my shot," stated Colson.

The Irish led 50-35 due to the 3-point shooting that was highly efficient. Colson led all scores with 12, while Beachem and Farrell had strong halves as well with each scoring 10 points. Derick White and Xavier Johnson led the charge for the Buffaloes, scoring nine points apiece.

Both teams opened the second half cold missing a lot of shots close to the basket. To make matters worse, Colson picked up his third foul early in the second half putting pressure on the other starters. Thanks to Farrell and Steve Vasturia, the Irish withstood Colson being out of the lineup. Colorado couldn't take advantage missing a lot of shots in close.

Colson came back into the game not missing a beat, drilling a turnaround jumper. Farrell continued his strong game controlling the pace of the game. Buffaloes standout Derick White woke up in the second half hitting a couple jump shots.

"We still have an explosive guard who played so well for us in March in this building," Brey said of Farrell. "He sparked us to the elite eight and now it's his team.

"He put on a absolute clinic in how to play the point guard spot. He's driving, getting his teammates involved and hitting big shots."

Towards the midway point of the second half, the action got wild. Colorado cut the lead to single digits after Xavier Johnson knocked down a  three to cap off a 9-2 run. The Irish answered back as Steve Vasturia made the Buffaloes defense look silly with a slick hesitation move for two points. V.J. Beachem got in on the action with a highlight-reel slam a few moments later. The Irish nearly brought the house down with their bench celebration as Beachem threw down the and-one dunk.

The Irish led 71-59 with seven and a half minutes left in the game as Colorado would get close but not within striking distance. That changed as the Irish went cold from the field almost all of the sudden. The Buffaloes cut the lead to six with an 8-0 run with 4:19 to play.

The lead dwindled to five with under two minutes to play. The Colorado run continued to 13-4 until Rex Pfluger knocked down two free throws to give the Irish a seven point lead with 1:29 left. The game turned into a free throw shooting contest down the stretch with the Irish winning the battle.

Player of the Game: Farrell. The junior point guard controlled the pace from the get-go and was a huge factor for the Irish early and often. He scored a season-high 20 points and was incredibly efficient with some highlight-reel assists.

Farrell, a New Jersey native, enjoyed playing in front of the home crowd.
"I love playing here, being back home, a lot of people in the stands from back home," Farrell said after the game.

Stat of the Night: 76, the quartet Vasturia, Farrell, Beachem and Colson led the way for the Irish scoring 76 of the team's 89 points.

Up Next: The Irish will take on the winner of Texas and Northwestern in the final of the Legends Classic on Tuesday night.

"When asked about playing for the title game tomorrow night, Farrell was excited, "That's something this group is really excited about, last year we didn't get to do this being down in Florida. We're gonna come strong tomorrow and play the way we played tonight and hopefully get a championship."