Sophomore Kameron Jones poured in 25 points – one shy of his career high — and Oso Ighodaro added his third career double-double as Marquette rolled to a 79-64 non-conference victory against Notre Dame Sunday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.
Ighodaro posted 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (8-3), who took control early in the second half as they met their long-time rivals for the first time since Notre Dame left the Big East for the ACC in 2013. Olivier-Maxence Prosper (14 points) and Tyler Kolek (11 points, six assists) also notched double figures.
Nate Laszewski paced Notre Dame (7-3) with 20 points and seven rebounds while J.J. Starling contributed 12 points.
Marquette broke to an 11-5 lead in the opening five minutes as infrequently shooting point guard Kolek drove for consecutive layups. Notre Dame needed just 85 seconds to pull even as Trey Wertz drilled a 3-pointer and found Laszewski for a layup before Starling canned a 3-pointer to make it 13-13 at the 14:03 mark.
From there, the scoreboard stopped clicking so frequently as both teams’ defenses settled in. After Notre Dame limited Marquette to one free throw over four minutes to claim a 28-25 lead with 5:43 to go, the Golden Eagles held the Fighting Irish to one free throw for the rest of the half to build a 34-29 lead at the break.
Marquette came out hot in the second half with seven points in the opening 64 seconds as Kolek found Stevie Mitchell for a backdoor layup and swished a 3-pointer. Then Prosper’s spinning drive led to a lefty layup, a 41-29 lead and a Notre Dame timeout.
When Laszewski cashed an open 3-pointer from the left wing with 17:59 to go, it ended a nearly eight-minute stretch without a basket for Notre Dame.
Marquette built a lead as large as 54-39, but Notre Dame pecked away and received a boost with 10:41 to go when the Golden Eagles’ David Joplin was assessed a Flagrant-2 foul and ejected for punching Laszewski in the groin while fighting through a screen. Lazsewski hit both free throws to cut the margin to 54-47.
Marquette responded with a Prosper 3-point play set up by a nifty Ighodaro dish as the Golden Eagles steadily pulled away.
–Field Level Media
