The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are now 3-0 to start college basketball season, and they are doing it in a fashion we haven’t seen in a while — even against smaller school. Notre Dame beat Eastern Illinois, 94-70, and had 5 players with double digit points. The biggest stat, however, was the 17 steals the Irish got — which is 4th best in school history.
Irish Roll in Scoring Frenzy Over Eastern Illinois, 94-70
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team recorded the longest scoring run in Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry’s tenure
Monday night against Eastern Illinois, posting a 24-0 scoring spree over seven minutes in the first half. In addition, all five Fighting Irish (3-0) starters finished in double digits, led by a 20-point performance from Logan Duncomb. As a result, the Irish rolled to a 94-70 victory over the Panthers (0-3).
Duncomb recorded a perfect 9-for-9 shooting night, plus added four boards and two assists.
Fifth-year point guard Braeden Smith was once again all over the stat sheet. He posted 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting, dished out a team-best eight assists, grabbed five rebounds and collected a team-high five steals. Smith now has 21 assists through three games and is one assist shy of 500 in his career.
Fifth-year guard Ethan Roberts earned 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, which included three triples. He’s now 7-of-12 from beyond the arc this season.
Braeden Shrewsberry, like Roberts, has started the year with three straight games in double figures, finishing with 12 tonight. Shrewsberry dished out a career-high tying five assists, earned a career-high tying three steals and drained four triples. The senior has now moved into sole seventh place all-time on ND’s career three-pointer list with 250.
The Blue & Gold netted 17 steals against the Panthers, which ranks fourth all-time for a single game, and the most since Jan. 6, 2002. The Irish forced 23 turnovers tonight and this comes just two games after forcing 20 from Villanova. ND tallied 28 points off said turnovers.
Offensively, Notre Dame shot 58.9 percent from the floor and 45.8 percent from beyond the arc. They also dished out a season-best 20 assists.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Eastern Illinois had recorded three triples through two games, so naturally the Panthers started the game Monday night 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to open up an 11-0 lead.
Out of the Notre Dame timeout, the home squad responded with the biggest scoring run in Coach Shrewsberry’s four-year tenure – 24-0.
Shrewsberry kicked off the offensive flurry with a three, which was followed by a steal and transition layup from Smith, then a low post-spin move and score from Duncomb. Couple that with a pair of Notre Dame free throws and a steal and dunk from Logan Imes, and the Irish took their first lead of the night at 12-11.
Seven different Irish players scored during the 24-0 run, led by a combined 11 points from Shrewsberry and Koehler. Defensively, the Irish forced seven turnovers and held EIU scoreless for seven minutes.
Later, the Panthers recorded a stretch in which they converted 6-of-9 from the field to stay within 10 points. Yet, Braeden Smith instantly killed the momentum with an and-one. In fact, Smith recorded eight of the team’s final 10 points of the half. The Irish led 46-33 at halftime.
The Irish shot a hot 61.5 percent in the first half, going 16-of-26 from the floor, and 45.5 percent from behind the arc (5-for-11). The Irish defense forced 12 turnovers, which they converted into 20 points.
Smith and Roberts were both in double figures at the midway point, combining for 21 points. Smith was 4-for-4 from the floor, while Roberts was 4-for-6.
Duncomb tallied the first six points for the Blue & Gold in the second half, bringing his point total to double digits. During the 17-minute mark, Shrewsberry and Roberts each drained a triple. Later at 14:52, Shrewsberry recorded his fourth triple of the night, pushing the lead to 20.
The Irish didn’t let up as they went on an 8-0 run over 1:06, while Smith went on a solo 5-0 run to make it 69-44 with 13:53 remaining.
The trio of Koehler, Duncomb, and Smith would go on to score the next 14 points for the Irish as they surged Notre Dame to a 27-point lead at 83-56 with 7:28 to go.
While the Panthers would counter with a 6-0 run, it was broken up by a pair of free throws from Devin Brown. Shortly after, Yoro Diallo was on the board with his first bucket of the night with 4:56 remaining as his layup would make it 87-64.
The Irish and Panthers finished the night going basket-for-basket as Imes would score seven straight points for Notre Dame to close out the 94-70 victory.
UP NEXT
It’s a very short turnaround for the Notre Dame men’s program, which will be right back at it inside Purell Pavilion on Wednesday night vs. South Carolina State. Tip is slated for 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX
