Irish Run Past Cougars 105-66
Career games from T.J. Gibbs and D.J. Harvey helped pace Notre Dame (3-0) to a 105-66 blowout win over the Chicago State Cougars (1-3) on Thursday night at Purcell Pavilion. Gibbs had a game-high 23 points on 8 of 11 shooting including 4 for 7 from downtown. Harvey had 16 points on 5 for 8 shooting as the Irish led from wire to wire.
"He’s really a gifted guy," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said of Harvey. "He got 22 minutes and it’s the third time he’s had the jersey on. He got into a little bit of a scoring rhythm. He rebounds, but it was a great night for him and he’s very important for us.
“Our seniors know he’s important, so they keep helping me bring him along.”
The Irish won their third straight game to open the season, while the Cougars dropped to 1-3.
The Irish shot 62 percent for the game as they had almost no resistance all night.
Despite the lead being so big, the starters remained in the game to attempt to put the game out of reach. The Cougars stayed within striking distance thanks to their energy. With ten minutes to play, the Irish maintained the lead at 79-53.
An impressive putback by Martinas Geben was indicative of his hard-nosed effort on the night, which gave the Irish an 83-53 lead. Fred Sims Jr. continued his strong half for the Cougars with another three, which tied his season high in points at 19. At the final TV timeout, the Irish led 97-61 after a nice three from John Mooney.
A Jelani Pruitt layup gave the Cougars four straight points to open up the half before a jumper by Colson. A nice passing sequence by the Irish led to a three-pointer by Gibbs, giving him 18 points for the game. At the first TV timeout of the half, the Irish still held a sizable 66-41 lead.
A dunk and a steal by Matt Farrell kept the lead at 25 after a quick pull-up three by Sims. The Cougars started to shoot much better in the second half, but the Irish still held a significant advantage. With 11:59 left in the game, the Irish still led 77-50.
Farrell had a good night seeing the ball go in, but he's glad there were others involved in the scoring too.
"“It means a lot," Farrell said of the depth of scorers on this team. "Some teams are going to key on us and it’s going to open up shots for other guys. We have confidence in them and they have confidence in themselves. They have to step up and knock them down and you’re seeing that happen."
The Irish opened the game on a 7-0 run capped off by a dunk by Geben. At the first media timeout, the Irish led eight to four and were shooting 60 percent for the game. Bonzie Colson finished off a three-point play soon after the timeout, giving him five points for the game.
The Irish opened up another 7-0 after a beautiful follow-up finish by Harvey. The run jumped to 9-0 after a jumper from Colson which gave the Irish a 17-4 advantage. The Irish defense had a strong opening few minutes, holding the Cougars to 25 percent shooting. The Irish had a 25-6 lead at the midway point of the half, firing on all cylinders.
“I have a great group of older guys around me and showing me what to do," said Harvey. "Coach Brey has thrown me in there early and it’s helped me to get a couple games in.”
At the under eight-minute TV timeout, the Irish lead ballooned to 30-8 thanks to a 13-2 run over four minutes. Farrell turned it on towards the end of the half and got the Irish lead up to 43-16 with 3:23 to go before half.
A three-point play by Harvey got the Irish lead up to 30 as they closed the half strongly. Back to back threes by Harvey and Gibbs gave the Irish a 56-29 lead at halftime. The Irish shot 58 percent for the half while the Cougars shot just 37 percent. Gibbs paced the Irish with 13 points while Sims Jr. led the Cougars with eight points.
Player of the Game: Gibbs. The sophomore guard had a career game and was the key factor in the game, allowing the Irish to jump out to the early lead.
Unsung Hero: Farrell. Despite being 1 of 6 from downtown, the senior rallied to have 18 points and a few beautiful drives to the rim.
Up Next: The Irish travel to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational, starting Monday night at 9 P.M. against Chaminade.
