Notre Dame claims berth in semifinals
Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger drives on Chaminade’s Braden Koelliker in the first half of an 83-56 win for the Fighting Irish on Monday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
Austin Pope of the Silverswords drives in the second half.
D.J. Harvey of Notre Dame is fouled by Chaminade’s Justin Bridges.
Notre Dame’s Rex Pflueger drives on Chaminade’s Braden Koelliker in the first half of an 83-56 win for the Fighting Irish on Monday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
Austin Pope of the Silverswords drives in the second half.
D.J. Harvey of Notre Dame is fouled by Chaminade’s Justin Bridges.
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LAHAINA -- Notre Dame didn't want to let Chaminade have any breathing room Monday at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.
When the Silverswords sank long 3-pointers to end the first half and begin the second, however, the lead for the Fighting Irish was down to six points -- but soon after, Bonzie Colson and Matt Farrell made sure the mission was accomplished in an 83-56 win for the No. 13 team in The Associated Press rankings.
Farrell scored 27 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and Colson added 23 points, going 8-for-11.
Notre Dame shot 28-for-52 for the game (53.8 percent).
"We wanted to come out and shoot with confidence," said Colson, an AP preseason All-American who also had eight rebounds. "In shootarounds, we concentrated on our shots and getting into a good rhythm. When we're in good rhythm, we're getting stops defensively. We feel like we can move with rhythm defensively. It's great to get stops and kills and shoot with confidence."
D.J. Harvey shot 4-for-5 on the way to 12 points as Notre Dame (4-0) advanced to a semifinal today against LSU. Chaminade (2-1) will play Michigan for a spot in the fifth-place game.
Colson and Farrell combined to score all of the points for the Irish in a 9-2 run that put them up 47-34 with 16 minutes, 45 seconds to play.
Colson hit a layup, Farrell sank a 3-pointer followed by a smooth jump shot and Colson grabbed a defensive rebound, headed down the floor and sank two free throws.
Notre Dame would eventually push the lead to 30 on three occasions late in the game.
"We have a lot of confidence in each other," Farrell said. "We tell guys, 'If you've got an open shot, you take it. Knock it down. If you miss it, you run back on the next play and get a stop.' So we enjoy playing with each other. We have fun playing with each other. We did shoot it well tonight, so hopefully we can continue to do that."
Chaminade was led by Erik Scheive's 17 points, while Austin Pope added 11. Brett Reed hit the 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer, while Pope sank the first basket of the second half to bring the Silverswords within 38-32.
"Oh, man, I had a couple bunnies that missed out in the first half that I usually make," Pope said. "I just wanted to get us going. We needed to stay on them. We had a good first 20 minutes, and I felt like we needed to jump on them early."
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
NOTRE DAME (83)
Colson 8-11 6-6 23, Geben 2-3 0-0 4, Farrell 9-12 5-7 27, Gibbs 2-7 2-4 7, Pflueger 1-7 1-2 4, Burns 0-1 1-2 1, Torres 1-1 0-0 2, Mooney 1-1 0-2 3, Gregory 0-1 0-0 0, Nelligan 0-1 0-0 0, Djogo 0-2 0-0 0, Harvey 4-5 3-3 12. Totals 28-52 18-26 83.
CHAMINADE (56)
Scheive 7-12 1-2 17, Koelliker 3-8 0-0 7, Dressler 2-7 0-0 4, Walker 2-8 0-0 6, Pope 5-12 0-0 11, Reed 2-3 0-0 5, Donley 0-0 0-0 0, Pollard 0-2 0-2 0, Bridges 0-7 0-0 0, Anderson 2-7 0-0 4, Swain 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-68 1-4 56.
Halftime--Notre Dame 38-29. 3-Point Goals--Notre Dame 9-20 (Farrell 4-7, Colson 1-1, Mooney 1-1, Harvey 1-2, Gibbs 1-3, Pflueger 1-3, Gregory 0-1, Nelligan 0-1, Djogo 0-1), Chaminade University 7-29 (Scheive 2-4, Walker 2-7, Reed 1-1, Pope 1-3, Koelliker 1-4, Pollard 0-1, Dressler 0-2, Anderson 0-3, Bridges 0-4). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Notre Dame 33 (Colson 8), Chaminade University 35 (Reed, Pope 7). Assists--Notre Dame 15 (Farrell, Pflueger 4), Chaminade University 9 (Pope 4). Total Fouls--Notre Dame 12, Chaminade University 18. A--2,400 (2,400).
AP top 25
Record Pts Prv
1. Duke (54) 4-0 1,613 1
2. Arizona (11) 3-0 1,527 3
3. Kansas 3-0 1,504 4
4. Michigan St. 2-1 1,390 2
5. Villanova 3-0 1,345 5
6. Wichita St. 2-0 1,321 6
7. Florida 3-0 1,117 8
8. Kentucky 3-1 1,104 7
9. North Carolina 2-0 1,079 9
10. Southern Cal 3-0 1,055 10
11. Miami 3-0 918 11
12. Cincinnati 3-0 893 12
13. Notre Dame 3-0 857 13
14. Minnesota 4-0 754 14
15. Xavier 3-0 750 15
16. Texas A&M 2-0 618 16
17. Gonzaga 3-0 540 17
18. Purdue 4-0 527 19
19. Louisville 2-0 466 18
20. Seton Hall 4-0 370 22
21. Saint Mary's (Calif.) 4-0 344 21
22. Baylor 3-0 206 25
23t. UCLA 3-0 191 23
23t. West Virginia 2-1 191 24
25. Alabama 3-0 133 --
Others receiving votes--Virginia 93, Texas Tech 81, TCU 36, Northwestern 20, Nevada 19, Providence 11, Maryland 9, Michigan 9, Texas 7, Creighton 6, Oklahoma 5, Temple 4, Oregon 4, Arkansas 3, Texas Arlington 2, Rhode Island 1, Belmont 1, Stephen F Austin 1.
Monday's Results
No. 1 Duke 92, Furman 63
No. 6 Wichita St. 92, California 82
No. 8 Kentucky 70, Troy 62
No. 9 North Carolina 96, Stanford 72
No. 12 Cincinnati 73, Buffalo 67
No. 13 Notre Dame 83, Chaminade 56
No. 15 Xavier 96, Hampton 60
No. 16 Texas A&M 72, Oklahoma St. 55
No. 22 Baylor 70, Wisconsin 65
Creighton 100, No. 23 UCLA 89
No. 23 West Virginia 91, Long Beach St. 62