SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In 27 games for Notre Dame from 2019 to 2022, Elijah Morgan never scored more than six points. Since joining The Citadel, he has looked like a completely different player. He showed that and then some as he haunted his old team in a 65-45 Bulldogs win over the Irish.
The first half featured two teams battling closing as neither team could grab momentum or lead by more than four points. The second half began with the Irish (4-7) scoring six unanswered, and the Bulldogs (7-5) called a timeout.
From there, the visitors seized control and ultimately extended the lead to double digits as the Irish simply couldn’t respond. After that Bulldogs timeout, they outscored the Irish, 33-10, the rest of the way.
Whether the game’s location made it coincidental or not, Morgan was the man for the Bulldogs, scoring 15 of his game-high 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range and recording four steals. Irish fans in attendance as well as the few remaining players from Morgan’s time with the Irish had no choice but to endure the sight of him celebrating with his teammates, which included a bench that was vocal all night long.
Of course, Morgan didn’t do it all by himself for the Bulldogs. Madison Durr and Quentin Millora-Brown scored 15 points apiece on a combined 11-of-16 shooting from the field. AJ Smith briefly went back to the locker room after getting banged up early in the first half but returned to score 13 points.
[autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] was the Irish’s top player with a double-double 18 points and 10 rebounds. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had 13 points but also a game-high five turnovers.
While the other Irish players struggled across the board, none did so more than [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag]. Starting in place of the injured [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag], he missed all eight of his field-goal attempts, six of them coming from beyond the arc. It was part of a night in which the Irish shot only 26.6 % from the field.
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