Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In what turned into a low-scoring affair, Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley scored a game-high 19 points as No. 22 Notre Dame held on for a 58-49 win over the University of Evansville men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
 
A slow shooting day haunted the Aces as they shot 31.1% in the contest.  Colt Ryan led UE with 15 points while Ryan Sawvell recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.  Cooley had 19 points and 11 boards for Notre Dame while Scott Martin registered a career-high 17 rebounds for the Irish.
 
“We played really hard today and that is one thing we can take out of this,” UE head coach Marty Simmons said.  “ We need to work harder offensively to find open looks and improve both offensively and defensively.”
 
Evansville got out to the early 2-0 lead before Jack Cooley went on a 9-2 run by himself, going a perfect 3-3, including the first three-pointer of his career as the Irish took the early edge. A three-pointer by Jerian Grant later on made it a 14-4 game in favor of UND.
 
A three-pointer by Jordan Nelson midway through the opening period helped UE get within three at 14-11, but cold shooting by the Aces (a 5-17 start) helped the Irish go up by a 24-14 margin.  The Aces kept fighting as Ned Cox drained a three and Lewis Jones hit an and-one to get UE back into it before the Aces went to the half down 28-21.  Despite shooting just 30.8%, UE forced seven turnovers to keep the game within striking distance.
 
The cold shooting for UE extended into the second half as the Aces hit just three out of their first 12 shots of the period as Notre Dame led by as many as 11 points.  Neither team was unable to make a run as the slow shooting for UE, coupled with a 3-for-11 start to the second frame for the Irish made it tough for both teams to take control.
 
With under 11 minutes left in the game, the Irish made a run to take their largest edge at 43-30.  Cameron Biedscheid hit a trey as the shot clock ran out and following a UE miss, Jerian Grant hit a lay-up to give UND its 13-point edge.
 
After being held in check through the first 30 minutes of the contest, Colt Ryan made his presence known, notching back-to-back buckets as the Aces got back within seven at 43-36.  The Aces kept the deficit in single digits until late in the contest as Cooley connected on a pair of free throws with 4:06 remaining to give UND a 49-36 lead.
 
Freshman #D.J. Balentine# drained three treys in the final minutes, but it was the Irish coming away with the win. 
 
Evansville’s leading rebounder from a season ago, Troy Taylor, notched six in the opener while three other players had three apiece.  Notre Dame finished the game shooting an even 40% as UE held them to just 8-for-23 in the second half and just 1-8 from long range in the latter stanza.
 
Next weekend, Evansville will host three games as part of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.  The Aces face Yale on Thursday at 7:05 p.m. before squaring off against Yale on Friday and Western Illinois on Saturday.  The final two games are slated to begin at 7:35 p.m. as the second in doubleheaders.