National Basketball Association
Notre Dame 92, Delaware 68
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 9, 2017
Where: Bob Carpenter Center, Newark, Delaware
Officials:
# Sean Hull, # Matt Potter, # Tim Comer
Attendance:
4737
By The Sports Xchange
NEWARK, Del. -- Notre Dame coach Mike Brey watched his team dominate Delaware for 40 minutes on Saturday night.
He saw his eighth-ranked program cruise to a 92-68 win and an 8-2 record, 5-1 away from home. He watched his players make more than half of their shots from the field and from 3-point range.
Yet the whole experience made him squirm.
"I'm never doing this again," Brey told reporters after the game.
Brey's reasoning had nothing to do with execution and everything to do with emotion. He returned to Delaware for the first time since leaving the school in 2000 to take the same job with the Fighting Irish.
The return to campus brought back a flood of memories, and Brey felt additional mixed emotions as he squared off against current Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby. In Brey's first season with the Fighting Irish, Ingelsby was a senior point guard. Ingelsby later spent 13 years as an assistant on Brey's coaching staff at Notre Dame before leaving to accept the top job at Delaware.
The coaches' respect for each other is mutual, but the talent level on their teams is not quite as even.
Guard Matt Farrell scored 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, to help the Fighting Irish seize a 24-point victory. Guard T.J. Gibbs added 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting, and forward Bonzie Colson posted a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
Notre Dame bounced back from a stunning loss four nights earlier on its home court against Ball State. The Fighting Irish likely will slide well out of the top 10 when new rankings are issued next week, but players were eager to reassert themselves against Delaware after losing two of the past three contests.
Guard Kevin Anderson scored 23 points and distributed seven assists to lead the Blue Hens. Guards Ryan Daly (15 points) and Ryan Allen (14 points) also scored in double digits.
Delaware (4-6) lost its fourth game in a row and dropped to 0-2 in school history against Notre Dame. The Blue Hens shot 39.1 percent (25 of 64) from the field, and Notre Dame shot 56.9 percent (33 of 58).
The Fighting Irish needed about 12 minutes to find their footing on the road. Delaware started strong and led 19-17 with 8:26 remaining in the first half. But Notre Dame finished the half on a 21-8 run to grab a 38-27 halftime advantage.
Notre Dame extended the lead to 21 points in the first seven minutes of the second half. Brey was able to provide his starters with extra rest in the closing minutes with the game out of reach.
Ingelsby hoped the high-profile matchup would benefit Delaware as conference games approached. The Blue Hens played in front of a sellout crowd of 4,737, many of whom wanted to see a top opponent in person.
"With our team, that's my focus -- teaching and coaching, and hopefully it will pay off for us down the road," Ingelsby told reporters before the game.
NOTES: Notre Dame F Bonzie Colson scored in double figures for the 27th game in a row. ... Delaware remained winless against ranked teams. The Blue Hens are 0-33 against top-25 teams and 0-18 against teams ranked in the top 10. ... Notre Dame coach Mike Brey won his 390th game with the Fighting Irish and moved within four wins of passing Digger Phelps as the program's winningest coach. ... Delaware F Derrick Woods was suspended earlier in the week for a violation of team rules. The team did not say specifically what Woods did to warrant the suspension.
Top Game Performances
Notre Dame |
|
Delaware |
Matt Farrell 24 |
Scoring |
Kevin Anderson 23 |
Matt Farrell 7 |
Assists |
Kevin Anderson 7 |
Bonzie Colson 12 |
Rebounds |
Eric Carter 9 |
Temple Gibbs 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Kevin Anderson 6 |
Bonzie Colson 2 |
Steals |
Ryan Daly 2 |
Bonzie Colson 1 |
Blocks |
N/A |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Notre Dame
|
92 |
56.9 |
13-23 |
13-14 |
14 |
35 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
Delaware
|
68 |
39.1 |
9-22 |
9-13 |
16 |
29 |
0 |
5 |
7 |