NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The first 30 minutes of this afternoon’s Notre Dame/Marquette was a matchup of two scrappy, undersized ball teams that played each other almost even. During the final 10 minutes of the game the red hot Fighting Irish buried Marquette, announcing to the college basketball world that they are legitimate force to be reckoned with.
Notre Dame used a 20-5 second half run to bury the No. 15 ranked Golden Eagles 76-59, giving the Irish three wins against ranked opponents in their last four contests.
Notre Dame came out of the locker room cold, making just five of its first 17 field goal attempts. The Irish shooters were just 1-of-5 from behind the arc as Marquette took a 16-12 lead midway through the opening half of the game.
Marquette senior guard Darius Johnson-Odom fueled the early Golden Eagle run, scoring eight points and hitting his first three shots.
Sophomore guard Eric Atkins and freshman guard Pat Connaughton started Notre Dame’s first run of the night, a 9-0 charge that gave the Irish a 21-16 lead. Notre Dame made four straight shots during that quick run and would not trail the rest of the day.
The two teams traded punishing blows, ill-timed turnovers, and the occasional basket heading into the break with Notre Dame leading 30-26.
Connaughton gave Marquette and the Irish faithful a glimpse of how the second half would go as the first half drew to a close. Irish guard Jerian Grant hit Connaughton on the left wing and the freshman knocked down the three to give the Irish a 28-22 lead. With just second remaining in the first half Connaughton swatted a Jae Crowder shot attempt into the stands.
Early in the second half the two teams continued to battle each other. Notre Dame would pull ahead by a few buckets and Marquette would charge back, cutting into the Irish lead. It seemed as though the Irish were in for a back-and-forth battle against a Marquette team that just would not quit.
That was before the Irish shooters caught fire.
Crowder hit a short runner to cut the Irish lead to three at 45-42. On Notre Dame’s next possession, Atkins pumped Crowder, got him off his feet, and hit a difficult fade away and drew the fill. Atkins hit the free throw to give the Irish a 48-42 lead.
Connaughton stole a pass and quickly hit Grant for a layup to give the Irish its biggest lead of the night at 50-42. Marquette would make a mini-run to pull it within four at 50-46, but the Irish were already starting to heat up.
The freshman Connaughton faked a triple from the left baseline against an overaggressive Marquette defender, stepped inside the wing and knocked down a deuce to put the lead to 52-46. Cooley came away with a steal in the Marquette backcourt and hit Connaughton for an easy lay in to push the lead back up to eight a 54-46.
Martin followed a Vander Blue missed layup with a triple to push the lead to nine. Johnson-Odom tried to answer from deep but missed short. Martin drilled a jumper from the left wing with the clocking about to hit zero to put the Irish lead into double digits at 59-48.
Marquette missed two inside shots with Irish defenders aggressively contesting and Connaughton came down with the rebound. Notre Dame went on the attack and Grant knocked down a three pointer from the left baseline to give the Irish a 62-48 lead.
Atkins again found Connaughton for a three-pointer and the freshman finished off his big night with a three from the left baseline to put the game away at 65-48. Just in case Marquette had a run left, Atkins knocked down another three and the rout was on.
Notre Dame iced the clock and finished the game off for its fourth consecutive win.
Connaughton had arguably the best game of his short Notre Dame career, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and two big blocked shots. Notre Dame used great ball movement to get Connaughton open from deep all game long, and the freshman answered with a 9-of-12 shooting performance that included making 5-of-8 from behind the arc.
Atkins did it all for the Irish, scoring 18 points, dishing out five assists, and constantly breaking the Marquette press. He was strong on the defensive end and battled through early foul trouble to stay on the court for 39 minutes. His ball handling and ability to attack the lane against an undersized Marquette defense fueled the Irish offense.
Redshirt freshman guard Jerian Grant had another solid performance, finishing the night with 12 points and eight assists. Jack Cooley battled foul trouble all game long and played just 24 minutes, but the junior big man still managed eight rebounds and two blocks, making life difficult for Marquette inside.
Martin chipped in 11 points, five boards, and four assists while playing the entire game.
Johnson-Odom and Vander Blue scored 12 points apiece for the Golden Eagles, who struggled from the field all game long. Point guard Junior Cadougan scored 11 points and added five assists.
After starting the game 5-of-17 from the field and 1-of-5 from behind the arc, the Irish made 23-of-39 from the field and 10-of-18 from behind the arc.
The loss for Marquette ends its seven game win-streak and drops them to 19-5 on the season, 8-3 in the conference. The Golden Eagles have a quick turnaround with a road contest Monday night against DePaul before returning home to take on Cincinnati next Saturday.
With the win the Irish improve to 15-8 overall and 7-3 in conference play. The win gives Notre Dame fourth place in the Big East all to itself and puts the Irish just a half-game behind Georgetown and Marquette, who are now tied for second place. The Irish play at West Virginia on Wednesday night and return home next Saturday for a contest against DePaul.
