Dec 14, 2003
Notre Dame at DePaul Box Score
By JASON STRAIT
AP Sports Writer
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) – Jordan Cornette had a career-high 17 points and Chris Thomas added 13 to lead Notre Dame to a 82-69 victory over DePaul on Sunday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Thomas hit a 3-pointer and had five points during a 10-2 run that gave Notre Dame (3-3) a 65-55 lead. Thomas, who made four consecutive free throws down the stretch, scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half. He also had five assists.
Thomas, Notre Dame’s leading scorer at 19.6 points a game, was held scoreless until 10:54 into the game. The junior guard has scored in double figures in 26 straight games.
Delonte Holland led DePaul (5-2) with 23 points and Andre Brown had 22 points and 11 rebounds.
With Thomas creating shots instead of taking them, it was up to Cornette and freshman Colin Falls to play bigger roles on offense.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey shook up his lineup before the game, hoping to avoid the school’s first four-game losing streak since 1999-2000. He put Falls in the starting lineup and benched Cornette, who had started all five games this season.
The moves worked.
Falls, making his second career start, had a career-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point range. Falls was a standout prep star in the Chicago area, growing up about five minutes from the DePaul arena in Park Ridge, Ill.
Cornette, averaging just 5.6 points entering the game, was 6-of-10 from the field and had seven rebounds.
Notre Dame’s win spoiled an emotional halftime ceremony honoring former DePaul coach and Chicago-legend Ray Meyer.
DePaul named its basketball court after Meyer and his late wife Marge. Meyer is the 11th winningest coach in NCAA history and guided the Blue Demons to a 724-354 record during his 42 years as coach, from 1942-84.
Even with a boost from the presence of Meyer, DePaul didn’t have enough over the final 10 minutes to pull out the win.
The Blue Demons cut the deficit to seven when Cornette made consecutive 3-pointers to push the lead back to double figures with 4:21 to go.
Notre Dame led 39-38 on a reverse layup by Cornette at halftime despite trailed most of the opening period.
After a 3-pointer by Falls, DePaul went on a 13-2 run to take an early eight-point lead. Brown opened the run with a short jumper and capped it with a spinning move down low.
The Irish took a 29-27 lead on Cornette’s 3 – Notre Dame’s first since being up 3-0.
The Irish shot 51 percent for the game. Notre Dame entered the game shooting 39 percent from the field.