Tag: St. Mary’s

Notre Dame suffers first loss of season to St. Mary’s

Tough defeat for the Irish.

Notre Dame found itself playing in the best quarterfinal game at this year’s Maui Invitational in Las Vegas. With the Irish locked in a tight battle with St. Mary’s from the opening tip, it was inevitable that this game would come down to the wire. That’s exactly what happened, and it didn’t go the Irish’s way as they lost, 62-59. As a result, they fall into the losers bracket and will face Chaminade of Division II in their next game.

The Irish (2-1) held a 58-57 lead with under a minute to play when Dan Fotu hit a big 3-pointer to put the Gaels (5-0) back in front. Trey Wertz, who had made the free throws to give the Irish what turned out to be their final lead, then made a critical error when he stepped out of bounds on a drive.

After Tommy Kuhse missed the front end of a one-and-one, Cormac Ryan was fouled with seven seconds left. He split the free throws, forcing the Irish to foul Kuhse again. This time, Kuhse made both free throws, though the Irish still had a chance to send the game to overtime with a 3. Ryan was unable to hit a buzzer-beating shot from there, and that was it for the Irish’s Maui Invitational title hopes.

Fotu led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting over 22 minutes. Kuhse chipped in 14 points.

Ryan was the Irish’s top scorer with 16 points, including three 3-pointers. Paul Atkinson Jr. scored 13 on 6-of-9 shooting, and Dane Goodwin scored 10.

COVID-19 restrictions move Maui Invitational to Las Vegas

No Hawaii experience for the Irish this year.

Players on teams invited to the annual Maui Invitational usually consider themselves lucky. They get to play basketball at a popular destination that not everyone has a chance to go to. That didn’t happen last year as COVID-19 relocated the event to Asheville, North Carolina. It won’t happen this year, either, as continued strict pandemic restrictions and protocols in Hawaii mean the tournament will be played in Las Vegas.

Over the summer, it was announced that Notre Dame will play in the tournament for the first time since winning it in 2017. Its opponent in the first round will be St. Mary’s. Depending on the result of the game, the Irish next will play the winner or loser of the game between Oregon and Chaminade. They will know which team awaits afterwards because they play the last game of the round.

While it’s disappointing that the Irish won’t get to go to Hawaii and Asheville is fine in its own right, Las Vegas is a nice alternative. Plus, Las Vegas is considered the “Ninth Island” because of its strong embracing of all things Hawaii. It will be a nice opportunity for Hawaiians on the mainland to attend the tournament for once.

Notre Dame releases nonconference schedule for 2021-22 season

Who will the Irish play before ACC action begins?

It always is exciting whenever a nonconference schedule is announced. You know who you’re going to play leading up to your usual opponents. Some hail from conferences you only hear about during March Madness, and others are prominent or talented programs that you really can use as a measuring stick for the type of team you have. In short, nonconference play can say a lot about your program.

Notre Dame released its nonconference schedule Thursday. We’ll know more about their ACC schedule over the next couple of weeks, and the tournament the Irish will be playing around Thanksgiving could feature more games than what currently is listed. We also don’t know how many games at all could be affected by COVID-19 as we all know that the situation remains very fluid. Until then, here are the teams the Irish will face after home exhibitions against Nazareth on Oct. 29 and St. Norbert on Nov. 5: