College basketball’s opening Sunday in Rome delivered the kind of chaos that felt right for a season kicking off after a messy offseason. Notre Dame, down 10 in the second half, found enough late poise to knock off Villanova 74-72 in the Eternal City Tip-Off at Palazzo dello Sport.
Villanova had Notre Dame on the ropes at 60-50 with 10:24 left after Tyler Perkins buried his fourth 3-pointer of the second half. From there, though, the Irish got big answers from Brady Koehler, Braeden Smith and Logan Duncomb, and the game flipped in a hurry.
Duncomb, who had been held scoreless in the first half, came alive when it mattered most. He finished with nine points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 68 seconds left, the first triple of his career.
Smith was just as important in the comeback. The Gonzaga transfer struggled early against Villanova’s length and athleticism, then settled in and played with craft and toughness after halftime. He scored 16 points and went 10-for-11 at the free throw line, and Notre Dame leaned on every one of those points late.
Koehler may have been the biggest reason the Irish walked out with the win. The 6-10 forward looked like Notre Dame’s best player and turned in 16 points, eight rebounds and two blocks despite dealing with foul trouble. He also made the game’s biggest defensive plays, lunging to the corner to block Kwame Evans’ potential go-ahead 3, then contesting Elijah Crawford’s potential tying jumper before securing the rebound and sealing it with two free throws in the final seconds.
That kind of performance could shift the conversation around Notre Dame this season. Koehler looks like a breakout sophomore, and Shrewsberry believes it’s real.
For Villanova and Kevin Willard, the loss exposed plenty. Tyler Perkins still stood out with 18 points, and the Wildcats have size up front, but this was the sort of game that cools the buzz around a team being talked about as a Top 25 group with top-15 upside.
Even with the win, Notre Dame had issues of its own. The Irish managed only six baskets at the rim, an eye-poppingly low total, but they made up for it with the other stuff: Villanova turnovers, bad fouls and shaky transition defense. Willard’s team committed 20 turnovers, and that kind of sloppiness is a warning sign with tougher opponents ahead.
Still, the opener did what an opener is supposed to do: basketball finally took center stage again. No TROs, no injunctions, no stays. Just a wild game, Bill Raftery on the call and, yes, more commercials for prayer and meditation apps.
In Other News...
Ohio State Just Created A Ranking Debate Fans Wont Ignore
USCs rise and fall in the AP Top 25 has already made for one of the more interesting early-season twists, but the latest shakeup has only added to the conversation around where the Irish fit in the national picture. The Trojans slipped out of the poll after losing to Wisconsin, then turned around and stunned No. 2 Ohio State at home, a result that immediately complicated how voters view both teams and the teams around them.
Ohio States offense never looked settled without its starting quarterback, and the Buckeyes slide in the rankings reflected how much that absence mattered. With several other ranked teams also winning or losing, the poll saw plenty of movement, leaving Notre Dame fans with a fresh reminder that the margin between a top-tier spot and a drop can change quickly when the results start stacking up. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Just Got A New Playoff Debate Fueling Fans
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The rest of the updated top five includes Miami, Georgia and LSU, but the Irish are the ones now sitting at the center of the discussion. FPI is only one measure, of course, and it is built to project what comes next rather than reward what has already happened, but any time Notre Dame lands at the top of a national ranking, it adds another layer to the case being made for where the season could go from here. [Read more 🡒]
Jerome Bettis Jr. Just Made Notre Dames WR Pecking Order Interesting
Jerome Bettis Jr. gave Notre Dame another useful wrinkle in the passing game against Navy, turning in the most productive outing of his career with six catches for 78 yards and his first touchdown. It was the kind of performance that tends to change how a receiver is viewed in the rotation, especially for a team still sorting out where the targets are going and who can be trusted when the ball comes their way.
Marcus Freeman and CJ Carr both singled out Bettis for the steady way he has handled his chances, and that matters in a receiver room where opportunities can shift quickly. His expanded role has become one of the more interesting developments for the Irish, not just because of the numbers from one game, but because he looks like a player who can keep forcing his way into the conversation. [Read more 🡒]