National Basketball Association
Notre Dame 87, St. Francis (PA) 56
When: 7:30 PM ET, Friday, November 13, 2015
Where: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, South Bend, Indiana
Officials:
# William Covington Jr., # Dwayne Gladden, # Alfred Smith
Attendance:
9149
By The Sports Xchange
After unveiling its 2015 ACC Tournament championship banner just before tip-off, No. 19 Notre Dame then went out and dismantled visiting St. Francis (Pa.), 87-56 at the Purcell Pavilion.
Two of the stars of that 32-6 team, Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, are now NBA rookies with the New York Knicks and Portland Trailblazers respectively, but Mike Brey's squad still sported firepower aplenty in its lopsided win over St. Francis (Pa.).
With Grant and Connaughton now in the play-for-pay ranks, junior guard Demetrius Jackson and senior big man Zach Augeste are the new leading men for Notre Dame. Jackson finished with a career-high 27 points and eight boards vs. St. Francis (Pa.), while Augeste had a double-double (15 points, 14 boards) for Notre Dame, which improved to 16-0 in season openers under Brey.
Jackson made 10 of 14 shots, including three 3-pointers, for the Fighting Irish. Junior guard Steve Vasturia (10 points) also reached double figures for the Fighting Irish. St. Francis (Pa.) was paced by senior guard Greg Brown, who scored 15 points.
The Fighting Irish were somewhat sluggish at the start, but outscored the Red Flash, 19-10 over the last 10 minutes of the opening half and 21-9 in the first 10 minutes of the second half to put the game on ice.
Notre Dame (1-0 record in 2015-16) returns to action Tuesday night at home against Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Top Game Performances
St. Francis (PA) |
|
Notre Dame |
Greg Brown 15 |
Scoring |
Demetrius Jackson 27 |
Greg Brown 4 |
Assists |
Demetrius Jackson 3 |
Ronnie Drinnon 7 |
Rebounds |
Zach Auguste 14 |
Basil Thompson 9 |
Free Throws Made |
Martinas Geben 4 |
Greg Brown 1 |
Steals |
Steve Vasturia 3 |
Josh Nebo 1 |
Blocks |
Austin Torres 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
St. Francis (PA)
|
56 |
32.7 |
6-18 |
16-23 |
7 |
28 |
1 |
5 |
12 |
Notre Dame
|
87 |
42.6 |
10-29 |
19-25 |
12 |
47 |
3 |
6 |
10 |