Liberty University
(1-1)
Notre Dame
(2-0)
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty | 22 | 29 | 51 |
| Notre Dame | 41 | 31 | 72 |
Notre Dame Defends Home Court Against Liberty
11/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Fresh off a win Friday night, the Liberty men's basketball team stepped into Notre Dame's Joyce Center Sunday afternoon, looking for its first-ever win against a BIG EAST opponent. Unfortunately it was not meant to be, as the Fighting Irish protected its home court for the second-consecutive season, defeating the Flames, 72-51.
With the defeat, Liberty falls to 1-1 on the season, while Notre Dame improves to 2-0.
Although the Fighting Irish controlled the opening tip, the Flames took advantage of a turnover and missed free throws by the home team to take an early, 4-0 lead. David Minaya displayed sharp shooting in the early going, hitting two jumpers from just inside the arc.
Notre Dame's Ben Hansbrough responded for the Irish, nailing a jumper and three-point shot to give the hosts the lead. Tim Abromaitis tacked on a layup at 15:47, completing Notre Dame's 7-0 surge and increasing its edge to three, 7-4.
After another Minaya jumper cut the Flames' deficit to one, the Fighting Irish went on a 5-0 burst courtesy of a jumper by Tyone Nash and another Hansbrough trey to put the home team up, 12-6, at 14:08.
Jesse Sanders halted the spurt at 12:24 with a layup to make it a four-point game. The Fighting Irish then began to pull away over the next 1:34, outscoring the Flames, 9-2, to take a double-digit lead, 21-10, with 10:50 remaining in the opening period.
Liberty responded by closing the gap on a Gordon layup, a jumper by Sommy Ogukwe and a three-pointer by John Caleb Sanders, creating a 7-2 surge to make it 23-17 with 6:51 remaining.
Notre Dame held a six-point lead, 25-19, at 4:59, but proceeded to pull away in the closing minutes, outpointing the Flames, 16-3 over the span to carry a 41-22 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Hansbrough led the Fighting Irish at halftime with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, including 4-of-5 from behind the three-point arc. Minaya was the Flames' top scorer in the opening period with six points.
Notre Dame hit 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from the field, while Liberty went 10-of-26 (38.5 percent). The difference came from the three-point land and the charity stripe. Notre Dame outscored the Flames from behind the three-point arc, 21-6, and at the foul line, 10-0.
Much like the first half, Liberty started the second stanza scoring four straight points. However, Notre Dame responded with four of its own to regain a 19-point advantage at 16:30. The Flames countered with another four-point spurt, with layups from Minaya and Jesse Sanders to cut it back to 15 at 14:50, 45-30.
Notre Dame then proceeded to go on an 11-2 run over the next five minutes for its largest lead of the game, 56-32, with 8:49 remaining on the game clock.
Refusing to call it quits, Liberty responded by outscoring the Fighting Irish, 14-6, to cut it to 16, 62-46, with under five minutes to play in the contest.
The Flames were unable to climb any closer, as Notre Dame held off Liberty for the second-straight season, with a 72-51 decision.
For the contest, Notre Dame hit 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from the floor. The Fighting Irish added three treys in the latter half for a total of 10 on the afternoon. The Flames finished the contest shooting 21-of-59 (35.6 percent) from the field.
Four Fighting Irish scored in double figures – Hansbrough (19), Nash (16), Abromaitis (13) and Atkins (10).
Minaya led the Flames with 12 points, while John Brown garnered his second straight double-double, finishing with 10 points and 12 boards. John Caleb Sanders scored his first career points in a Liberty uniform, going 3-fo-5 from three-point range for nine points.
The Flames next head to Wilmington, N.C., to take on UNC Wilmington on Tuesday. The Seahawks opened the season against Florida on Friday, falling to the No. 9 Gators, 77-60. Tipoff for Tuesday's contest inside Trask Coliseum is slated for 7 p.m.
