Photo by Rick Kimball/ISD
Notre Dame Basketball
Irish Fall 74-66 in Never Forget Tribute Classic to Top-Ranked Villanova
December 10, 2016
3,425
Written by Garrett Haydon
On Saturday afternoon Notre Dame (9-1) took on top-ranked Villanova (10-0) at the inaugural Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, New Jersey.
Led by a great second half, Villanova took home the 74-66 victory. The Wildcats were led by Josh Hart's career high 37 points and extended their winning streak to 16 dating back to last season. The Irish hung in for most of the game but ultimately were unable to make the big plays down the stretch. They fell to 9-1 on the season. Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia paced Notre Dame with 18 points apiece.
"That was a heck of a game for December 10th," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after the game. "I thought they really defended us in the second half and we had a hard time scoring, which was a big difference for us.
"I loved our fight. We were ready to play, ready to compete and we’re disappointed we didn’t win. We felt we matched up well with them, so our guys are kind of disappointed, but I love my group and what you see early out of them."
Kris Jenkins snapped a four minute scoring drought for Villanova with a free throw. Early in the half, the Wildcats struggled with turnovers committing four and making only two field goals. Matt Farrell answered with another jumper to pad the Irish lead to 50-41.
"I'm really excited about where he's at, having a great NCAA tournament he went into the summer with a lot of confidence," Brey said of his point guard."
Led by Josh Hart, the Wildcats cut the lead to one midway through the second half. Hart scored eight consecutive points and 12 out of 14 as Villanova got to within 56-55 with 9:28 remaining in the game.
"He's obviously a great player, we came into the game having to focus on him," stated Vasturia. "We didn't do a good enough job, and we need to be better defensively."
Jalen Brunson gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 57-56 with a layup off a nice pass from Hart. The Irish struggled for the first ten minutes of the half trying to create offense the way they were able to in the first half. The Irish tied the game after a three-point play from Bonzie Colson, snapping an over four minute scoring drought.
Both teams traded baskets in the next few minutes with the Wildcats nursing a 65-64 lead with just under four minutes left going into the final TV timeout. Villanova extended to lead to four after a three point play by Jenkins with only 2:27 left to go.
Colson missed a three with 30 seconds left and Villanova hit a couple free throws to seal it. The junior forward finished his day with 11 points and eight rebounds, to end his double-double streak end at six games.
"Defensively we moved them around better in the first half, second half their D dug in," said Brey. "They've always been a ball pressure athletic defensive team. We're really disappointed, we thought going in we had a great chance to beat them. When you lead for 31 minutes, you're disappointed, we just couldn't finish."
The Irish jumped out to an 8-2 lead 90 seconds into the game after Matt Farrell drilled a transition three pointer. Farrell continued his hot start with a couple more jump shots and a nice assist to a cutting Bonzie Colson as the Irish went ahead 17-11 at the first TV timeout with 13:20 left in the half.
Farrell, a New Jersey native started the game 3 for 3 from the field. The Irish as a team opened the game shooting 63%. Meanwhile, Villanova struggled to find an offensive rhythm as they missed a lot of open shots early on. Farrell assisted on 7 of Notre Dame's first 9 field goals, controlling the game for the first ten minutes.
Notre Dame went up 27-18 with 7:20 left in the half after Rex Pflueger found Martin Geben for an easy two. T.J. Gibbs and Pflueger knocked down some big threes as well as the Irish continued their hit shooting start.
Josh Hart started to catch fire for Villanova as the Wildcats cut the Irish lead to 3 with under a minute left in the half. After Hart made two free throws with 4.4 seconds left, Matt Farrell drove the length of the floor for a layup to beat the buzzer. Notre Dame held a 41-36 lead after 20 minutes. Hart led Villanova with 19 points at the half, while Farrell led the Irish with 12.
On Saturday afternoon Notre Dame (9-1) took on top-ranked Villanova (10-0) at the inaugural Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, New Jersey.
Led by a great second half, Villanova took home the 74-66 victory. The Wildcats were led by Josh Hart's career high 37 points and extended their winning streak to 16 dating back to last season. The Irish hung in for most of the game but ultimately were unable to make the big plays down the stretch. They fell to 9-1 on the season. Matt Farrell and Steve Vasturia paced Notre Dame with 18 points apiece.
"That was a heck of a game for December 10th," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said after the game. "I thought they really defended us in the second half and we had a hard time scoring, which was a big difference for us.
"I loved our fight. We were ready to play, ready to compete and we’re disappointed we didn’t win. We felt we matched up well with them, so our guys are kind of disappointed, but I love my group and what you see early out of them."
That was a heck of a game for December 10th.
Both teams opened the half with cold shooting, Notre Dame held the early second half advantage as they led 46-40 with 15:35 left in the game. Rex Pflueger continued his good game with a driving layup on a nice feed from Geben.Kris Jenkins snapped a four minute scoring drought for Villanova with a free throw. Early in the half, the Wildcats struggled with turnovers committing four and making only two field goals. Matt Farrell answered with another jumper to pad the Irish lead to 50-41.
"I'm really excited about where he's at, having a great NCAA tournament he went into the summer with a lot of confidence," Brey said of his point guard."
Led by Josh Hart, the Wildcats cut the lead to one midway through the second half. Hart scored eight consecutive points and 12 out of 14 as Villanova got to within 56-55 with 9:28 remaining in the game.
"He's obviously a great player, we came into the game having to focus on him," stated Vasturia. "We didn't do a good enough job, and we need to be better defensively."
Jalen Brunson gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game at 57-56 with a layup off a nice pass from Hart. The Irish struggled for the first ten minutes of the half trying to create offense the way they were able to in the first half. The Irish tied the game after a three-point play from Bonzie Colson, snapping an over four minute scoring drought.
Both teams traded baskets in the next few minutes with the Wildcats nursing a 65-64 lead with just under four minutes left going into the final TV timeout. Villanova extended to lead to four after a three point play by Jenkins with only 2:27 left to go.
Colson missed a three with 30 seconds left and Villanova hit a couple free throws to seal it. The junior forward finished his day with 11 points and eight rebounds, to end his double-double streak end at six games.
"Defensively we moved them around better in the first half, second half their D dug in," said Brey. "They've always been a ball pressure athletic defensive team. We're really disappointed, we thought going in we had a great chance to beat them. When you lead for 31 minutes, you're disappointed, we just couldn't finish."
The Irish jumped out to an 8-2 lead 90 seconds into the game after Matt Farrell drilled a transition three pointer. Farrell continued his hot start with a couple more jump shots and a nice assist to a cutting Bonzie Colson as the Irish went ahead 17-11 at the first TV timeout with 13:20 left in the half.
Farrell, a New Jersey native started the game 3 for 3 from the field. The Irish as a team opened the game shooting 63%. Meanwhile, Villanova struggled to find an offensive rhythm as they missed a lot of open shots early on. Farrell assisted on 7 of Notre Dame's first 9 field goals, controlling the game for the first ten minutes.
Notre Dame went up 27-18 with 7:20 left in the half after Rex Pflueger found Martin Geben for an easy two. T.J. Gibbs and Pflueger knocked down some big threes as well as the Irish continued their hit shooting start.
Josh Hart started to catch fire for Villanova as the Wildcats cut the Irish lead to 3 with under a minute left in the half. After Hart made two free throws with 4.4 seconds left, Matt Farrell drove the length of the floor for a layup to beat the buzzer. Notre Dame held a 41-36 lead after 20 minutes. Hart led Villanova with 19 points at the half, while Farrell led the Irish with 12.
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