Freshman Markus Burton had 21 points as Notre Dame snapped a three-game losing streak with a 60-56 victory over visiting Marist on Friday night in South Bend, Ind.
Tae Davis had 12 points and Carey Booth added 11 for the Fighting Irish (5-7), who in the second half shot 52.9 percent from the field and went 15 of 16 from the free-throw line.
The Irish, who led by 10 in the second half, clamped down defensively after the Rd Foxes (7-3) got within 56-54 on Noah Harris’ 3-pointer with 1:36 left in regulation, by forcing two turnovers in the final minute.
Max Allen II had 14 points and Jadin Collins 12 in the game for Marist, which had won five straight, and hung around despite going 5 of 15 from 3 and 7 of 13 from the free-throw line.
Notre Dame trailed 25-24 at the break but scored 10 of the first 13 points in the second half to lead 34-28. Burton scored seven of those points. Booth later scored five straight Irish points, highlighted by a banked-in 3-pointer, to put the hosts up 41-33 with 13:10 remaining.
Marist’s Javon Cooley was ejected midway through the second half after receiving a flagrant 2 foul against the Irish’s J.R. Konieczny, who made two free throws to push the lead to 10.
Notre Dame was ahead 45-35 when Marist scored seven straight, including four from Collins.
However, with Burton sitting with four fouls, Notre Dame scored the next eight — six from Davis — to rebuild its cushion. Then the Irish held off a late surge by the Red Foxes to win for just the second time in seven games.
Marist made five of its first seven shots and led by six with 15:19 to play in the opening half. However, Burton paced Notre Dame, which eventually used an 8-0 run to lead 20-16.
The Fighting Irish, which shot 33.3 percent through the first 20 minutes, remained ahead until the Red Foxes used a 7-0 spurt to go take a 25-22 lead. The visitors were up by one at the break despite making just five of their final 17 shots of the first half and going 1 of 6 from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
