Brady Koehler did a little bit of everything, and Logan Duncomb delivered the shot that mattered most.
Koehler finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks, while Duncomb knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer to lift Notre Dame to a 74-72 win over Villanova on Sunday in Rome in the first game of the college basketball season, part of the Eternal City Tip-Off.
Notre Dame also got 16 points from Braeden Smith, 15 from Braeden Shrewsberry and 11 from Ethan Roberts as the Fighting Irish opened 1-0 after erasing a 10-point second-half deficit.
Villanova, which received votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll, got 18 points from Tyler Perkins, who went 5 for 11 from 3-point range. Elijah Crawford added 12 points and a game-high five assists, and Jake Fiegen scored 11.
The Wildcats outshot Notre Dame 46.2% to 35.4%, but the turnover battle told the real story. Villanova gave it away 20 times and never fully recovered.
That was especially costly in the first half, when 15 turnovers kept the Wildcats from building on their edge. Smith picked off a pass from Evans, Notre Dame pushed in transition, and Koehler finished a putback to trim the deficit to 25-22. Villanova still carried a 35-31 lead into halftime after Crawford’s pull-up with 10 seconds left.
The Wildcats came out firing after the break. Perkins buried 3-pointers on three straight possessions to stretch the lead to 44-35, and Luigi Suigo’s thunderous dunk pushed it to 46-36 with 16:23 remaining.
Notre Dame kept chipping away, though, and the comeback tightened when Crawford ended a Villanova scoring drought that lasted 5:46 by driving left for layups on consecutive possessions to make it 66-60. The Irish answered with Smith going 3-for-3 at the line, then Duncomb slipped a pass to Roberts for a layup to make it a one-point game.
After Villanova hit two free throws, Smith found Koehler on a fast break for a two-handed dunk that put Notre Dame ahead 68-67. Villanova’s next trip came up empty, and with 1:08 left Duncomb was alone at the top of the key and drilled the go-ahead 3-pointer.
Villanova tried to answer quickly, but Koehler raced over to block Kwame Evans Jr.’s corner 3 and Notre Dame secured the rebound. The Wildcats never got closer than two after that.
Crawford had a chance to tie with 10 seconds left, but his jumper rolled in and out. Koehler then added two free throws, and Villanova’s Darryl Simmons II scored an uncontested layup at the buzzer for the final margin.
Two of the United States’ most prominent Catholic universities brought their men’s and women’s basketball teams to Rome to open the season in a rare setting. Earlier in the week, they had audiences with Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and a Villanova graduate, though the pope did not attend the game, according to the broadcast.
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
Notre Dames place in the national conversation got a fresh jolt after Week 9, when ESPNs Football Power Index was updated and pushed the Irish to No. 1. The predictive model, which uses simulations and team strength to forecast the rest of the season, flipped the order at the top and sent Ohio State down to No. 2, giving Notre Dame fans another data point to point to as the playoff debate starts to sharpen.
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 🡒]