The #13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish completely eviscerated LSU in the Maui Invitational semifinals
The #13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team ran the LSU Tigers off the court tonight, winning 92 to 53 in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Tournament semifinals and improving to 5-0 on the year.
The Irish jumped out to a strong start in the first half behind fantastic shooting from TJ Gibbs and Matt Farrell and another great Maui Brey dad outfit, building a 25-9 lead after the first 11 minutes of play.
Gibbs scored 12 points in the first half, making 3-of-6 from deep, while Farrell chipped in 8 points and dished out 5 assists.
Martinas Geben was a huge beneficiary of Farrell’s passing prowess as well, scoring 7 points, including multiple thunderous dunks down low. One pass that Farrell threaded through the legs of a defender to a wide open Geben for a slam was particularly impressive.
BONZIE COLSON was relatively quiet in the first half, but still managed to stuff the stat sheet to the tune of 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals.
As a team, the Irish shot 48% from the field in the first half and 44% from 3 (7-of-16).
LSU did not shoot well in the first half, as the team shot 31% from the field and 13% from deep. Duop Reath was the only Tiger who was effective in the first half, scoring 14 points and showing great touch for a near-7-footer.
Star freshman Tremont Waters was held scoreless in the first half, and the Tigers trailed 40 to 24 at the intermission.
In the second half, it was more of the same, as the Irish extended their lead behind Gibbs, Farrell, and COLSON. By the under-12 timeout, Notre Dame led by 28 and was essentially doing whatever they wanted to do offensively.
The Irish reserves got plenty of time over the final minutes of the game, and Notre Dame finished off a 39-point victory. Gibbs finished with a career-high 26 points (6-of-10 from deep), Farrell had 17 points and 7 assists, and COLSON finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 steals, adding yet another double-double to his name.
Additionally, John Mooney and DJ Harvey combined for 14 points and 9 rebounds off the bench, and Rex Pflueger and Martinas Geben added solid rebounding and defense to the mix. The Irish shot 52% from the field and 47% from deep for the game.
LSU was led by Duop Reath, who finished the game with 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Skylar Mays contributed 8 points and 7 rebounds, and Tremont Waters struggled to do much of anything all game thanks to the defense of guys like TJ Gibbs.
Waters finished with 8 points on 2-of-7 shooting, and the Tigers overall shot 37% from the field and 26% from 3-point range. LSU is now 3-1 on the season.
The Irish move on to the tournament title game tomorrow night at 10:30 PM ET, where they will face the #6 Wichita State Shockers in a rematch of their 2015 Sweet Sixteen matchup, which the Irish dominated and ultimately won 81-70.
