National Basketball Association
Penn St. 73, Notre Dame 63
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 17, 2018
Where: Purcell Pavilion, South Bend, Indiana
Officials:
# Wally Rutecki, # Nathan Farrell, # Courtney Green
Attendance:
4023
By Field Level Media
Sophomore guard Tony Carr scored 24 points to lead fourth-seeded Penn State to a 73-63 victory over top-seeded Notre Dame in NIT second-round action on Saturday at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind.
Junior guard Josh Reaves contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals for the Nittany Lions (23-13). Senior guard Shep Garner added 15 points and sophomore forward Lamar Stevens had 11.
Standout senior forward Bonzie Colson recorded 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Notre Dame (21-15) but suffered a left foot injury with 1:46 left in the third quarter and missed most of the remainder of the contest. Colson was 5 of 11 shooting and 5 of 7 from the free-throw line in the final contest of his decorated career.
Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs scored a team-best 17 points for the Fighting Irish, who shot 38.3 percent from the field. Senior forward Martinas Geben recorded 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Nittany Lions, who shot 37.9 percent from the field, will next face either Oregon or Marquette. Those teams play on Sunday.
Penn State led by five points at the break before controlling the third quarter and expanding the margin to 14.
Reaves scored five points during a 14-second span to give the Nittany Lions a 42-31 lead with 3:26 left. Garner hit a 3-pointer to make it 45-33 with 2:38 to go and he buried another one with five seconds left to boost the lead to 50-36 entering the fourth quarter.
Notre Dame came out strong to start the final stanza as Geben delivered a dunk, junior guard Rex Pflueger scored on a layup and Gibbs made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven. A short time later, Penn State rattled off seven straight points with Reaves capping it on a layup to make it 59-45 with 5:30 remaining.
The Fighting Irish pulled within 67-59 on a 3-pointer by Gibbs with two minutes left but Carr knocked down a 3-pointer to increase the Penn State to 11 with 1:23 left.
With the outcome no longer in doubt, Colson was reinserted with 35.2 seconds left so he could finish his career on the court.
Both teams short poorly in a first half that that ended with Penn State holding a 28-23 lead. The Nittany Lions shot 30 percent from the field and the Fighting Irish were even lower at 25 percent.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Penn St. |
|
Notre Dame |
|
Tony Carr 24 |
Scoring |
Temple Gibbs 17 |
|
Tony Carr 4 |
Assists |
Matt Farrell 4 |
|
Josh Reaves 9 |
Rebounds |
Bonzie Colson 9 |
|
Tony Carr 10 |
Free Throws Made |
Bonzie Colson 5 |
|
Josh Reaves 3 |
Steals |
Temple Gibbs 2 |
|
John Harrar 2 |
Blocks |
Bonzie Colson 3 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Penn St.
|
73 |
37.9 |
9-26 |
20-25 |
11 |
32 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
| Notre Dame
|
63 |
38.3 |
4-22 |
13-17 |
13 |
32 |
7 |
5 |
12 |
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