Marquette Golden Eagles vs Notre Dame Fighting Irish Match Player Stats On Dec 11, 2022

Sophomore Kameron Jones poured in 25 points -- one shy of his career high -- and Oso Ighodaro added his third career double-double as Marquette rolled to a 79-64 nonconference victory against Notre Dame Sunday afternoon in South Bend, Ind.

Ighodaro posted 16 points and a career-high 18 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (8-3), who took control early in the second half as they met their longtime rivals for the first time since Notre Dame left the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013. Olivier-Maxence Prosper (14 points) and Tyler Kolek (11 points, six assists) also notched double figures.

Nate Laszewski paced Notre Dame (7-3) with 20 points and seven rebounds while J.J. Starling contributed 12 points.

Marquette broke to an 11-5 lead in the opening five minutes as infrequently shooting point guard Kolek drove for consecutive layups. Notre Dame needed just 85 seconds to pull even as Trey Wertz drilled a 3-pointer and found Laszewski for a layup before Starling canned a 3-pointer to make it 13-13 at the 14:03 mark.

From there, the scoreboard stopped clicking so frequently as both teams' defenses settled in. After Notre Dame limited Marquette to one free throw over four minutes to claim a 28-25 lead with 5:43 to go, the Golden Eagles held the Fighting Irish to one free throw for the rest of the half to build a 34-29 lead at the break.

Marquette came out hot in the second half with seven points in the opening 64 seconds as Kolek found Stevie Mitchell for a backdoor layup and swished a 3-pointer. Then Prosper's spinning drive led to a lefty layup, a 41-29 lead and a Notre Dame timeout.

When Laszewski cashed an open 3-pointer from the left wing with 17:59 to go, it ended a nearly eight-minute stretch without a basket for Notre Dame.

Marquette built a lead as large as 54-39, but Notre Dame pecked away and received a boost with 10:41 to go when the Golden Eagles' David Joplin was assessed a Flagrant-2 foul and ejected for punching Laszewski in the groin while fighting through a screen. Lazsewski hit both free throws to cut the margin to 54-47.

Marquette responded with a Prosper three-point play set up by a nifty Ighodaro dish as the Golden Eagles steadily pulled away.

--Field Level Media