Notre Dame will try to wrap its season-opening five-game homestand with a win when they host Bowling Green on Tuesday in South Bend, Ind.
The Fighting Irish are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2017-18 season, when they opened 6-0.
Notre Dame survived a dramatic 66-65 win against Lipscomb on Friday, when the Irish saw the Bisons shoot 76 percent in the second half to take a brief two-point lead. Dane Goodwin’s top-of-the-key 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining lifted the Irish to victory.
Goodwin led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 6 of 8 from 3-point range. Nate Laszewski scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half while posting a game-high nine rebounds.
Guard Trey Wentz has helped run Notre Dame’s offense in the absence of Niagara transfer Marcus Hammond, who is expected to join the team after Thanksgiving after a knee injury.
“I think playing Tuesday is an extreme long shot. … I think it’s more into next week,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “We could use another veteran body out there and another guard that can make a play.
“But thank the Lord for Trey Wertz. The guy has come in and run our team. He’s exhausted, but I’m really pleased with how he’s running us.”
Bowling Green (2-2) is coming off an 81-68 loss to St. Bonaventure on Saturday. Leon Ayers led the team in points (18) and rebounds (seven) and was one of four Falcons to reach double-digits in points. Samari Curtis added 13 in addition to a season-high six rebounds and a team-high four assists.
“The first half we had some easy shots, some easy layups, that we missed and rolled right off the rim,” Bowling Green coach Michael Huger said. “We have to hang our hat on defense. We have to play better defense in order to get stops and get easy buckets in transition. That was the difference in the game.”
The Irish lead the all-time series against the Falcons 5-2, including 4-0 at home. Tuesday’s contest between the Falcons and Irish will be their first meeting since 1972.
–Field Level Media
