Notre Dame Beats Detroit Mercy To Earn Season’s First Win

The long wait to open at home was worth it for Notre Dame, who kicked off the 2020-21 home slate with a 78-70 victory over Detroit Mercy.

Notre Dame had three games canceled before scheduling the Titans just days before the game. Detroit Mercy, who is coached by Mike Davis, lost to Michigan State in their opener by an 83-76 score. That is the same Spartan team that beat Notre Dame 80-70 in its opener.

It was a battle throughout, and every time Notre Dame seemed ready to pull away the gritty Titans would claw back into the game. The Irish led by as much as 11, but there were multiple lead changes and the Titans led by four at one point.

Notre Dame shot the ball well in the first half and were aided by a newfound presence in the paint. The Irish outscored Mercy 20-10 down low. Senior big man Juwan Durham and junior forward Nate Laszewski combined for 16 first half points with some excellent passes thrown in as well. There was a concerted effort to get the ball inside by the Irish coaching staff and it paid off in the first half.

The Irish shot 47% from the field and 46% from three going 5-11 from beyond the arc in the first half. Notre Dame freshman Tony Sanders Jr. got into the act as well hitting his first three from the corner to extend the Irish lead to 37-29 late in the first half.

Notre Dame took a 37-31 lead into the locker room.

The second half saw Notre dame climb out to a nine point advantage at 42-33 before Detroit Mercy went on a mini 6-0 run of their own and eventually cut the lead to one before junior guard Prentiss Hubb hit one of his four 3-pointers followed by a jumper by junior guard Cormac Ryan to stem the tide.

A triple from Laszewski was followed by a dunk from the big man, which pushed the Irish lead back out to eight at 56-48. The Titans responded with a 9-2 run that once again cut the Notre Dame lead to just one point.

Antoine Davis, the son of the Titans head coach, put Detroit Mercy up 63-62 at the 5:53 mark, but junior guard Dane Goodwin responded immediately to put the Irish back on top. That was the beginning of a 12-0 run which saw Notre Dame put the game away. Detroit never got closer than six points the rest of the way and the Irish iced the game at the line.

Notre Dame struggled from the floor in the opening loss to Michigan State, but that changed in the victory tonight. Notre Dame shot 46.2% from the floor in the game, but the Irish knocked down 11 triples and went 47.8% from deep.

Laszewski (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Goodwin (15 points, 10 rebounds) both had double doubles to pace the Irish offense, who had all five starters in double figures. Durham had 12 points, nine rebounds and blocked four shots.

Hubb led the Irish with 18 points and eight assists, while Sanders scored six points, grabbed six boards and dished out three assists in the win.

Notre Dame (1-1) hosts #23 Ohio State (3-0) on Tuesday night at 7:30 PM ET. The game is part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and will be aired on ESPN2.

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