ELMONT, N.Y.. – Sometimes the three ball gives and sometimes it taketh. For the Notre Dame men’s basketball team (5-1) on Friday it was the latter, as St. Bonaventure (4-2) connected on 10 from beyond the arc, handing the Irish its first loss of the season, 63-51.
The Irish faced its largest deficit of the season, going down 13 points early, but continued to fight its way back. There were three times in the second half in which Notre Dame cut the deficit to either seven or eight points and each time St. Bonaventure responded with a three.
Freshman Ven-Allen Lubin impressed with his first collegiate double-double, garnering 10 points and a season high 13 rebounds. Nate Laszewski was the lone other Irish player joining Lubin in double figures with 11 points. The grad student also reeled in eight boards.
How It Happened
The Notre Dame offense struggled to find its rhythm in the first half, finding itself in an early 22-9 hole. Ryan, who momentarily left the game after being poked in the eye, had the best half for the Irish, scoring seven points on 3-for-4 shooting.
In fact, after a Ryan three-pointer at 5:09, the Irish cut the deficit to eight. Yet, the Bonnies stymied the momentum and built the lead back to 13, at 31-18 with 1:15 on the clock.
Notre Dame would add a basket to make it 31-20 at the half. Irish shot 9-of-29 compared to 12-for-26 for St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies also enjoyed a 21-14 rebounding advantage.
Notre Dame recorded a stretch nearly midway through the second in which they connected on six of nine to cut the gap to seven at 41-34. Lubin made two of those baskets and was all over the boards during that stretch.
Yet, every time the Irish seemed to cut it to around eight points, the Bonnies would push back to double-digits, typically with a three. It happened again at the 5:04 mark, as the Irish used four straight free throws to shorten the gap to 51-44, but the Bonnies responded on the other end with an immediate trey.
With 2:02 remaining, Lubin recorded his double-double in probably the most unique way possible, blocking the in-bound pass as the deflected ball soared up and into the hoop – making it once again a seven-point game, down 57-50.
Yet, it was the St. Bonaventure three again, their 10th of the game, which was the immediate answer to make it 60-50 with 1:17 left.
St. Bonaventure finished 10-of-24 from three compared to Notre Dame’s 2-of-17. The Irish also shot below 40 percent from the field for the first time this season.
Up Next
The Irish return to Purcell Pavilion where they’ll host the 2022 ACC/B1G Challenge. The opponent – a familiar foe – and a ranked one in No. 12 Michigan State. Tip is set for 9:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2 on Wednesday, Nov. 30.
— ND –