Irish Cruise To 92-53 Win Over LSU
Tuesday’s game between LSU and Notre Dame was likely to be an offensive battle and the Irish didn’t disappoint as they started the first and second half going 3-of-4 from downtown in a 92-53 win.
The Tigers lost guard Brandon Sampson on the first possession of the game, and the Irish took advantage.
Sophomore guard TJ Gibbs was unstoppable as he had a career-high in points (26) and three-pointers made (6).
"It was trusting my teammates,” said Gibbs. “They were doing all the work and I hit the easy shots they were giving me.”
It wasn’t just the offense for Gibbs, as he and Rex Pflueger shutdown LSU leading scorer Tremont Waters all night. The freshman guard entered Tuesday’s game averaging 17.7ppg, including 21 points in a win over Michigan on Monday, but on Tuesday, he was held to just eight points of 2-of-7 shooting from the field.
"I wish I could bottle that for the rest of the season,” stated Brey. “I thought we played well on both ends of the floor and our experience showed. I am thrilled with our defense. They scored 90 and shot 58 percent last night, but we hold them to 36 percent and had 17 turnovers.
“The difference in our group is how we’re playing defense.”
The defense was impressive as the Irish held LSU to just 37 percent from the field and 26 percent from beyond the arc. When you combine the low field goal percentage with 17 turnovers, the Tigers couldn't make the game close.
“It’s the makeup of this group," Brey said of the defensive performance. "In our first practices this summer, this group was better defensively, especially with a Pflueger and Gibbs on the floor. They want to be a defensive unit.
“I don’t have to sell it. They talk about defending, so there’s an identity. We do have some quick hands and we get a lot of deflections. That gets us some easy buckets in transition.”
Notre Dame started the second half right where they left off in the first half. The Irish scored eight points in the first two minutes of the second half highlighted by three-pointers by Farrell and Gibbs.
Farrell came off a career-high with a solid 17 points and seven assists, while Colson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Farrell added another trey and Colson hit a layup to push Notre Dame’s lead to 55-33 with 15:35 left in the game. The Irish extended the lead to 63-35 with just over 12 minutes to play by using an 8-0, which John Mooney completed a three-point play off a beautiful inbounds pass for a dunk.
"We just really slowed down and played within ourselves,” Gibbs said. “We’re leaning on each other early. We’re just seeing the open man and making the extra pass. We just did what we usually do.”
Freshman DJ Harvey continued his solid play with a mini 5-0 run to give Notre Dame a 66-35 lead before Tremont Waters hit a three to end a scoring drought for LSU.
The momentum for Tigers was very short as Gibbs hit back-to-back three-pointers and Martinas Geben capped a 9-0 with a three-point play for a 75-45 with just over seven minutes to play.
Geben finished the game a perfect 4-for-4 from the field for 10 points and four boards.
The Irish lead would continue to grow as sophomore Nik Djogo and Mooney hit three-pointers in the final minutes. Mooney finished the night with nine points and six boards in 19 minutes.
Gibbs opened going 2-of-3 from three-point range, while point guard Farrell nailed a trey from the corner to give the Irish a 10-6 lead at the first media timeout.
Gibbs would complete a three-point play to push the Irish lead 18-7. The 8-0 run by Notre Dame would end as Randy Onwuasor hit a runner in the lane. However, Farrell found Martinas Geben for a dunk to push the score to 20-9 with 11:22 left in the half.
In the twenty minutes, Gibbs hit three three-pointers and completed a three-point play for 12 points, but he also chipped in three assists and two boards.
Notre Dame went on another 7-0 run, but the Tigers answered when Farrell headed to the bench. LSU also went to an aggressive 1-3-1 zone with Farrell out and went on a quick -0 run as Doup Reath hit a three and completed a three-point lead to pull within 27-17.
Reath scored 17 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead the Tigers on the night.
Colson ended the run with a jumper from the top of the key and sophomore forward John Mooney nailed a three-pointer from the corner to push the Irish lead to 34-19.
Mooney had his second productive half in Maui with three points and three boards in just eight minutes of action.
Gibbs and Colson nailed back-to-back three balls in 41 seconds to give Notre Dame a 40-22 lead. Wreath added a bucket for LSU to bring the Irish edge to 40-24 at the half.
Colson recorded eight points and six boards in the first half, while Farrell added eights points and five assists.
Wreath led LSU with 14 points and three rebounds in the first half.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: TJ Gibbs. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-15 shooting, which included 6-of-10 from three-point range, also a career-high.
Gibbs also played phenomenal defense and simply outhustled the Tigers for the majority of the game.
STAT OF THE GAME: Notre Dame shot 15-of-32 from three-point range, while holding LSU to just 6-of-23 from downtown.
A close second was the turnover battle where the Irish won 17-6 and turned those 17 turnovers into 19 points compared to the Tigers four points.
WHAT’S NEXT: Notre Dame will play Witchita State for the Maui Invitational title on Wednesday night at 10:30 p.m. ET. on ESPN2.
"We play a heck of team in Wichita State," Brey said. "They’re really good and we’re excited we get to play for a trophy. There’s a toughness about them. It’s a unit of guys that have won together and expect to win and play with a great edge. You have two really hard playing, competing, older groups that know who they are.
“It’s a fabulous matchup early in the season.”
