SOUTH BEND – Blowing the Jan. 3 game against Boston College after leading most of it couldn’t have sat well with Notre Dame. Less than three weeks later, the programs met again at Purcell Pavilion against the fresh backdrop of [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag]’s impending retirement. This was a game of runs in which both teams took turns taking control. In the end, it was the Eagles who had enough to get across the finish line, 84-72, for their second win in as many meetings this season.
The Irish (9-11, 1-8) led by as much as nine in the first half, but the Eagles (9-11, 3-6) went on a 15-5 run to take a one-point lead in the locker room. Then, the Eagles scored 13 unanswered points to begin the second half while the Irish missed their first nine shots from the field, seven of which came from 3-point range. Somehow, the Irish battled back to go up by one.
Once the Eagles took a 60-59 lead with less than eight minutes to go, they never trailed again. While the Irish did their best to hang with their guests at first, they slowly started to fall further behind. The game ended on a 14-4 Eagles run that made the game seem like less of a contest than it was. Alas, chalk this up as another disappointing loss.
Quinten Post led the way for the Eagles with a double-double of 29 points and 14 rebounds. Makai Ashton-Langford scored 20 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. DeMarr Langford Jr., Makai’s brother, had 10 points.
[autotag]Nate Laszewski[/autotag] tied Post’s scoring mark with 29 points and also had seven rebounds. Seven of his eight field goals came on 3-pointers. [autotag]Dane Goodwin[/autotag] and [autotag]Cormac Ryan[/autotag] both scored 13.
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