Dec. 19, 2004
By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) – Colin Falls scored 16 points, Dennis Latimore added 15 and Notre Dame survived falling behind by 16 early to beat Army 71-52 Sunday.
Army (2-7) jumped to a 21-5 lead by making 8-of-10 shots while holding Notre Dame (5-2) to just 2-of-14 shooting. But the Black Knights shot just 31 percent the rest of the game while the Irish shot 45 percent and outrebounded Army 47-28 to take control.
The Irish finished the first half on a 25-9 spurt and opened the second half on an 18-4 run to put the game away. Latimore, who played just eight minutes and scored just two points on 1-of-3 shooting in the first half, was 5-of-5 shooting in the second half. Jordan Cornette had 13 points and seven rebounds and Chris Thomas had 12 points on 4-of-14 shooting and added seven assists.
Colin Harris led Army with 10 points, Travis Owsley scored eight and Jimmy Sewell had seven points and 11 rebounds.
Despite a big size advantage, Notre Dame only outscored Army 22-20 inside. But the Irish forced 19 turnovers, leading to 22 Irish points off turnovers compared to 10 for Army.
Army was unstoppable at the start of the game. The Black Knights scored at will, with 6-foot Matt Bell dribbling across the middle of the paint and shooting over the bigger Irish for an easy basket. They also hit from outside, with Sewell, who is 6-11, hitting a 3-pointer.
They used a 14-1 run to take the 21-5 lead when Sewell scored inside eight minutes into the game. They extended the lead to 16 points again when Bell made a pair of free throws with 10:12 left in the half to make it 23-7.
But the Irish cut the lead to 23-17 when Cornette hit a 3-pointer with 7:52 left in the half. They finished the half on a 7-0 run, with Chris Quinn tying the score at 30 with a 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in the period.
Thomas became Notre Dame’s career steal leader with his third steal on Sunday, giving him 203 to pass David Graves. He finished the game with five steals.