Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports.
Balanced Attacks Fuels Notre Dame Victory Over FDU
Notre Dame improved to 6-1 on the season after a convincing 91-66 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson, the sixth straight home victory for the Irish.
Six different Notre Dame players got into double figures, as the Irish offense started fast and finished even better.
The Irish have been inconsistent from deep this season, but senior guard TJ Gibbs knocked down two triples to start the scoring as Notre Dame scored the first 13 points of the game while building a 21-2 early lead.
FDU cut the lead to nine late in the first half and again just a minute into the second half. Notre Dame had a lead between nine and fourteen points over the next six minutes, but the Irish started to pull away over the final thirteen minutes of the game.
The frontcourt took control of the game, scoring 28 of the final 39 points. Sophomore Nate Laszewski scored 11 of those points as part of his team-leading 16-point effort. It was Laszewkski's top scoring game of the season.
Fellow sophomore Dane Goodwin added 15 points, also off the bench, as the Irish reserves scored 38 points in the victory.
Notre Dame out-rebounded the Knights 44-33, but the most impressive statistic of the evening was the 24 assists on 32 made shots.
The Irish made 50.8-percent of their shots, including 12-of-25 (48-percent) from behind the arc.
Senior big man Juwan Durham scored 12 points, grabbed 11 boards and blocked four shots. It was his second double-double in the last three games. Senior John Mooney also had a double-double, scoring 13 points and coming down with 13 rebounds.
Senior Rex Plueger scored 10 points, had two steals and tied Gibbs and Prentiss Hubb for the team-lead with five assists. Laszewski also blocked three shots.
Notre Dame does not play again until next Wednesday when it heads to Maryland to take on the No. 5 ranked Terrapins as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
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