Irish Head Into Regular Season With 90-46 Win In Final Exhibition
In the final tune-up before Saturday's season-opener against Depaul, Notre Dame made quick work of NAIA opponent Cardinal Stritch 90-46.
Notre Dame went on a 10-3 run over the first four minutes of the second half to push the lead to 53-25. Matt Farrell and TJ Gibbs hit three-pointers, while All-American forward Bonzie Colson chipped in two layups.
"Rex and TJ played so fast in new roles in the first two exhibition games," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey stated. "I thought they were a little calmer to start the game. I thought that helped us be a little more efficient."
"The one thing I love about our group is that we talk on defense. We do communicate. It’s time to play and we’re certainly challenging ourselves with a hard game out of the gate."
Colson led the Irish on the night with 19 points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes of action, but he was most pleased with the defensive effort from his team.
"It’s a great thing for us to get some deflections and get some easy buckets," stated Colson. "We did a great job of trusting each other and defending. If we can communicate and have each others back, that’s something special."
Pfleuger scored five points in 52 seconds of game time to push the lead to 60-27 with 13:13 left in the half. The junior guard finished the night with 17 points and six rebounds.
“I thought tonight he got some mid-range stuff and some things at the bucket," Brey said of Pflueger. "He got fouled to get started. He didn’t start shooting three-point shots. When he can get some stuff in the paint and get to the bucket and get fouled, I think his three-point shot is better."
Notre Dame's defense held Cardinal Stritch scoreless from the 17:55 to the 13:39 mark in the second half. Overall, the Irish held the Wolves to just 19 of 61 from the field and just 26 percent from the three-point line.
"It’s our attention to detail with the communication and our practice," Pflueger said of Notre Dame's defense. "In practice, we emphasis playing defense, over talking and making sure we’re in the right places at the right time. It’s really coming over into the games."
In addition to Colson and Pflueger, TJ Gibbs (14 points), Martinas Geben (10), Matt Farrell (10) and DJ Harvey (10) all reached double-figures in the scoring column on Tuesday evening.
Cardinal Stritch was dominated in the paint as the Irish outscored them 46 to 16 and also held a 50-36 advantage on the boards.
Nemanja Knezevic led the Wolves with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
The Irish used a 9-0 run during the first eights minutes of the contest to take a 16-2 lead with 11:52 left in the first half and never looked back. During the stretch, Notre Dame held Cardinal Stritch to just 1-of-8 from the field.
Notre Dame mixed in a press and some zone in the first 12 minutes of action and the visiting Wolves had problems. At the under eight timeout, the Irish were holding Cardinal Stritch to just 22 percent (4/18) from the field and 0-for-5 from three-point range.
Lemmons, who led the Wolves with six first-half points, trimmed the Irish lead to 27-13 on a three-pointer from the corner with 4:39 before both teams went cold from the field. Neither team hit a field goal until Colson laid in a second-chance bucket with 3:14 left in the first half.
In the first half, Notre Dame shot 14-for-28 from the field and 4-of-10 from the three-point line. Cardinal Stritch was held to just 9-of-28 from the field and just 2-of-9 from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard TJ Gibbs hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Irish a 41-22 lead going into the half.
Colson led the Irish with 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half, while Pflueger chipped in 10 points.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Rex Pflueger. The junior guard gave Notre Dame energy on both ends of the floor all night. Pflueger capped off his 17-point night with an ally-oop from Gibbs.
STAT OF THE GAME: Cardinal Stritch shot 31 percent from the field. Notre Dame's length and defensive pressure overwhelmed the Wolves all night. Cardinal Stritch never got into any type of groove on the offensive end and 16 turnovers eliminated any chance of the game being close.
Up Next: Notre Dame will open the 2017-18 season on Saturday against DePaul at Wintrust Arena.
"DePaul is going to be a good challenge for us opening up their new arena," said Pflueger. "We’re going to rely on our veteran guys to help us lead and keep our young guys calm and cool."
