NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Chicago State men's basketball team continued its seven-game road swing tonight with its first-ever meeting against Big East Conference member Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, but the Cougars (1-2) fell to the host Fighting Irish (3-0) by a score of 102-62.
The visitors connected on three three-pointer early in the game to capture a 10-5 advantage just three minutes into the game before ND scored 13 of the next 22 points over a four-minute span to gain an 18-14 lead following a jumper from senior Tim Abromaitis. After CSU tied the score at 26-26 following a slim 12-8 scoring drive that ended with a pair of free throws by senior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.), the Fighting Irish later posted a 26-6 run in the final eight-plus minutes to head into halftime with a 52-31 lead.
A 35-11 run in the first 12 minutes with eight points coming from senior Carleton Scott helped Notre Dame increase its leading margin to 87-42 that concluded with a three-pointer from senior Ben Hansbrough at the 8:42 mark. CSU would get no closer than 38 for the remaining of the game.
Wall along with fellow seniors Hajji Martin (Chicago, IL/Morgan Park) (Chicago, Ill.) and Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) each scored 14 points to lead Chicago State with Martin posting a team-leading eight rebounds.
Hansbrough paced Notre Dame with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field.
CSU travels to Provo, Utah this Saturday night to open the South Padre Island Invitational against BYU with the tip-off set for 9 p.m., central time.
