Dec 30, 2001

Notre Dame vs Colgate Box Score

By TOM COYNE
AP Sports Writer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Chris Thomas scored a season-high 28 points, 18 of them after coach Mike Brey yelled at him early in the second half for passing up shots, as Notre Dame beat Colgate 92-61 Sunday.

Ryan Humphrey added 21 points as the Irish – off to their best start since opening the season 12-2 during the 1985-86 season – overcame a 0-for-9 shooting slump late in the first half and pulled away from the Raiders (7-3) in the second half.

Notre Dame (10-2) led 37-31 early in the second half when Thomas got the ball under the basket. Thomas went up as if to shoot but looked to pass instead. When no one was open, he tried an awkward backward pass but was called for traveling.

“Chris, why didn’t you shoot the ball?” Brey shouted to him. “Shoot the ball.”

Thomas followed his coach’s advice, hitting a 3-pointer to start a 10-0 run in which he made two 3-pointers. Thomas missed his next shot, but made the next five as the Irish continued to pull away. He added seven assists, five of them in the second half.

Tim Sullivan led the Raiders with 17 points, scoring all of them in a five-minute span as Colgate cut Notre Dame’s early 22-6 lead to 35-31 on a three-point play with 59 seconds left in the half. The Irish lead 37-31 at halftime.

Mark Linebaugh added 16 points for the Raiders, who shot just 33.9 percent for the game.

Matt Carroll scored 14 points for the Irish and Matt Graves scored 13.