NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame has made a living in recent weeks of going into hostile territory and knocking off superior opponents. For 38 minutes this afternoon, it was the lowly DePaul Blue Demons who looked to play spoiler over the Irish. In the end Mike Brey’s team came away with enough clutch shots to come away with a much needed 84-76 win.
Notre Dame has now won six straight games.
DePaul came into the game as one of the best offensive teams in the Big East Conference and the Blue Demons lived up to that billing, shooting 46.9-percent from the floor en route to 76 points. The Blue Demons also came into the game as the worst defensive team in the conference, another reputation they lived up to as the Irish shot 59.6-percent from the floor. Notre Dame’s 84-point outburst was its highest output in conference play.
Notre Dame was sloppy out of the gate, struggling to get motivated against an inferior opponent. Junior forward Jack Cooley carried the Irish early, doing a bit of everything for Notre Dame. Cooley got the Irish on the board early with a strong take to the rim. A few possessions later he made a nifty pass to Jerian Grant for a two-handed dunk as the Irish jumped to an 8-4 lead. Cooley followed that up with a strong dunk of his own as Notre Dame looked ready to roll over the Demons.
In the early going the Irish were constantly beating DePaul to the rim with back door cuts and pick and roll plays. But the Irish advantage inside was largely neutralized early by its sloppy play, as Notre Dame turned the ball over an uncharacteristically high nine times in the first half alone.
DePaul spread the ball around early as seven players scored in the first half. The young and scrappy Blue Demon team showed no fear against the Irish and the longer they hung around the more confident they became. The Demons used their superior athletic ability to get to the rim early and Oliver Purnell’s club shot well from the perimeter.
Senior point guard Jeremiah Kelly knocked down a big triple to give the Demons an early 14-12 lead, one of many it would have in this game.
DePaul’s young players started to take over at that point in the game. Freshman guard Charles McKinney hit a nice runner down low and sophomore standout Brandon Young answered with another athletic drive to the rim. Notre Dame tried to counter but another freshman, Jamee Crockett, drilled a triple and sophomore big man Cleveland Melvin popped a jumper from the free throw line to give the Demons a 23-16 lead.
With the lead the Blue Demons started to pressure Notre Dame, looking to take advantage of its athleticism. Cooley answered with six straight Notre Dame points to pull the Irish within one at 25-24. Crockett and Grant traded triples to keep it a one point game. Young tried to push the lead back up for DePaul but Cooley blocked his shot and Irish senior Scott Martin answered with a deuce of his own to put the Irish back on top at 29-28.
DePaul got cold from the field as the teams neared the game's midway point but Notre Dame’s sloppy play prevented the Irish from taking advantage. The two teams traded baskets and headed into the break tied at 34-34.
Notre Dame point guard Eric Atkins got the Irish going early out of the break, attacking the rim and kicking the ball out to freshman Pat Connaughton, who swishes a triple from the right baseline to give Notre Dame a quick lead. But DePaul would not be deterred and it would not go away quietly.
Forward Donnavan Kirk answered with a triple and Melvin followed with a jumper from the elbow as DePaul regained the lead at 39-37. Cooley tied it up with a putback of a Martin miss and a Martin free throw put the Irish back on top. Back-to-back buckets by Connaughton and Atkins gave the Irish a 45-41 lead but again Kelly answered with a three.
Notre Dame kept knocking down shots and DePaul kept answering.
The Irish used great ball movement to get Cooley free for another dunk but Crockett answered with a triple. Grant made two free throws but Krys Faber tied the game with a jumper. Grant and Atkins had back-to-back buckets to put the Irish up four but DePaul guard Worrell Clahar answered with a triple.
Notre Dame followed up that triple with its first big run of the game. Cooley took Kirk to the hole for two more of his 22 points and Grant followed that up with a deuce. After Atkins grabbed a rebound, took it the distance, and hit a layup the Irish had quickly built its biggest lead of the game at 61-54.
Purnell was forced to call timeout at the 11:11 mark with his young team on the ropes. The timeout did wonders for the Blue Demons, who came out of the timeout on fire.
Kelly immediately knocked down a triple. Young ripped Martin near midcourt and took it the distance for an easy lay in. Kelly knocked down two free throws and took Atkins to the hole for another deuce. In just over two minutes the Demons had used a 9-0 run to take a 63-61 lead.
Cooley stopped the bleeding with two made free throws but DePaul kept answering. Young had a strong take to the lane to put the Blue Demons up 68-65 with 7:27 left in the game. Grant answered for the Irish, knocking down a triple to tie the game and Brey immediately called a timeout.
Out of the next official timeout Kelly and Kirk picked up quick back-to-back fouls, something the Demon bench was not happy about. The DePaul bench was called for a technical foul, something the Irish would use to take control of the game.
Grant made both free throws and the Irish turned the ensuing possession into a deuce from Cooley, giving Notre Dame a 72-68 lead. The Irish would never trail again. Sophomore Alex Dragicevich knocked down a three to give Notre Dame a 75-68 lead, tied for its biggest of the game.
Atkins knocked down a couple free throws and hit a tough runner off the glass with 1:58 left in the game to put the Irish ahead 78-72. Young answered with a triple but Grant followed that up with two more made free throws.
On the biggest defensive possession of the game Cooley came up big again, drawing a charge on Young with 1:03 left in the game. Notre Dame turned that change of possession into a pair for Grant free throws as the Irish took command, putting the game away from the line.
Cooley finished the night with 22 points and 14 rebounds, his second consecutive double-double and his fourth in six games. The junior was 10-of-12 from the field and a perfect 2-for-2 from the line. He also blocked four shots and helped the Irish dominate the boards. Notre Dame outrebounded DePaul by a 33-23 margin.
Grant came into the game struggling from the field, but a strong second half got him out of his shooting funk. He finished the night with 22 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Grant was 6-of-0 from the field and knocked down two of his five attempts from behind the arc. He was perfect from the line, hitting all eight of his attempts. Grant also chipped in with five assists.
Atkins had a strong all-around performance, scoring 14 points, dishing out six assists, and coming away with three big steals. Martin struggled form the field, hitting just 3-of-10 for seven points. But the senior did a great job defending Melvin, who came into the game averaging 18.2 points per game.
Notre Dame got good play from its bench as Dragicevich scored eight points and Joey Brooks added two.
Melvin scored 16 points on the afternoon but shot just 7-of-18 from the field. Kelly had arguably his best game of the season, scoring 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting that included 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Young and Crockett each scored 13 apiece.
DePaul’s 9-of-16 performance from behind the arc was a big reason it was able to stay in the game.
With the loss the Demons drop to 11-13 on the season and 2-10 in the conference. They travel to Connecticut on Wednesday before returning home next Saturday to take on Louisville.
Notre Dame is now 17-8 on the season and have now won eight of ten. The Irish improve to 9-3 in the conference, temporarily tying them for second place in the Big East. Marquette hosts Cincinnati this afternoon. A Golden Eagle win puts them a game in the win column ahead of the Irish. A Bearcat win and the Irish take sole possession of second place.
The Irish next play on Wednesday night in a home contest against Rutgers at 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be aired on ESPNU as the Irish look for its tenth conference win of the season.
