A season ago, the Marquette Golden Eagles shot a white hot 12 of 17 from beyond the arc en route to defeating Notre Dame—then ranked ninth in the country—by 22 points at the Bradley Center.
On Saturday afternoon, the Fighting Irish gleefully returned the favor by sinking 11 three pointers as they steamrolled Buzz Williams’ squad, 76-59, at Purcell Pavilion.
MU, who entered the weekend allowing opponents to shoot 32.6 percent from the great beyond (eighth in the Big East), saw its seven-game winning streak come to a screeching halt as the the Irish to shot a torrid 47.8 percent (11-23) from the three-point range.
At the forefront of the Notre Dame attack, which saw four players score in double figures, was freshman guard Pat Connaughton who net 23 points (9-12 FG, 5-8 3PT FG) while snaring 11 rebounds.
The 6’5”, 206-pound Connaughton, a native of Arlington, Mass., entered the matchup averaging 6.1 points per game and was one point shy of matching his career high in scoring set against Sam Houston State on Nov. 16.
Additionally, the Irish (15-8, 7-3), who have now won 12 of 13 contests at home this season, received strong showings from sophomore guards Eric Atkins (18 points) and Jerian Grant (12 points, eight assists).
As for the 15th-ranked Golden Eagles—who shot 39.1 percent (25-64) from the field, including a mere 2 of 13 from three-point range—the blue and gold were paced by 12 points apiece from Vander Blue and Darius Johnson-Odom as they felt the sting of defeat for the first time since falling victim to Syracuse on Jan. 7.
“We couldn’t guard them off the bounce,” noted Williams, whose club fell into a second-place tie with Georgetown as a result of the loss, according to the AP. “They repeatedly put us in rotation which is why they shot as many threes as they did.”
Despite shooting 36.7 percent (11-30) in the opening frame, Marquette trailed 30-26 at intermission as Johnson-Odom, the reigning Big East Player of the Week, scored 10 points.
Trailing 37-30—its largest deficit of the game to that point—after a free throw by Jack Cooley, the Golden Eagles (19-5, 8-3) pulled to within 42-40 with 14:05 to play following a jumper by Johnson-Odom, his lone basket in the second half.
From that point on, the ensuing 14 minutes proved to be an offensive showcase for Mike Brey’s club.
Shooting 57.7 percent (headlined by eight triples) in the second half, the Irish, on the strength of Connaughton’s 10 points, strung together a 26-8 run which crippled the Golden Eagles’ chances of leaving South Bend with its winning streak intact.
“We’re very cool competitors when we had a chance to put it away,” noted Brey, whose club won the rebounding battle, 35-33, as reported by the AP. “I’m thrilled to see that from this group. We played a heck of a basketball team today.”
Marquette, who is 2-6 when playing the Irish within Purcell Pavilion since becoming a Big East affiliate, saw sophomore wing Jamail Jones score eight points in 19 minutes off the bench, marking the second most points notched by the Atlanta native since pumping in 10 points in MU’s season-opening triumph over Mount St. Mary’s.
The Golden Eagles have little time to lick their wounds as they return to action on Monday when they travel to Chicago to play the DePaul Blue Demons (11-10, 2-7) at 8:00pm CST at Allstate Arena.
Game Notes
- Senior forward Jae Crowder scored four points, marking only the third time the bruising forward has failed to score in double figures this season and his second-lowest scoring output behind the two-point showing in Marquette’s Dec. 3 victory over Wisconsin in Madison.
- The Irish have now won four straight, with Saturday marking the most points scored by Notre Dame in conference play this season.
- Junior Cadougan scored 11 points while handing out a team-high five assists.
- Marquette trumped the Irish in points in the paint, 36-22; second chance points, 16-5; and bench scoring, 14-4. Notre Dame, meanwhile, bested the Golden Eagles in points off turnovers, 11-8, and fast break points, 4-2.
- With the victory, the Fighting Irish now lead to all-time series with Marquette 80-37.
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