With 12 minutes 57 seconds remaining in the first half of Sunday’s game against DePaul, Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette took a pass from teammate Chris Quinn, squared himself to the basket and calmly swished a three-pointer, bringing the Irish to within two points of the Blue Demons.
Six and a half minutes later he did it again. By the second half it had become second nature. Cornette finished with a team-high five three-pointers en route to 17 points as Notre Dame (3-3) broke a three-game losing streak with an 82-69 victory over the Blue Demons (5-2) at Allstate Arena.
The outcome hinged on the inability of a three-pronged DePaul attack to handle a six-headed Irish monster.
DePaul’s big guns shot and scored on schedule, but its role players provided minimal support.
Delonte Holland led the Blue Demons with a game-high 23 points, Andre Brown had 22 and Quemont Greer added 10. But starting guards Sammy Mejia and Drake Diener combined for only 10 points and the Blue Demons’ bench contributed only four. Coach Dave Leitao used 11 players to Notre Dame’s eight.
Six Irish players, meanwhile, scored in double figures as Notre Dame produced its most balanced effort of the season for a friendly crowd of 14,198 that also was on hand for a halftime ceremony honoring Hall of Fame DePaul coach Ray Meyer and his late wife, Marge.
“I’m very disappointed in the way we played,” Leitao said. “We made the game very easy [for] them. We competed for about 17 minutes.”
Holland connected on his first five shots and had 14 points in the first 17 minutes. Brown added 10 points.
But DePaul managed just five points in the final three minutes of the first half, a total matched by Notre Dame sophomore Rick Cornett, a Homewood Christian High School product. Cornett had 10 points, five rebounds, a block and two steals in his first college start.
Freshman Colin Falls, a Loyola Academy grad from Park Ridge, joined Cornett in the starting lineup and made 4-of-8 three-pointers. Quinn and Torin Francis matched Falls’ 12 points for the Irish, who were fine as long as the ball was in Chris Thomas’ hands.
The junior point guard, criticized for his shot selection in losses to Marquette and Central Michigan, took a career-low seven shots but finished with 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and one turnover in 39 minutes.
“It might have been his best game at Notre Dame as far as controlling tempo, getting his teammates involved, making his teammates confident by getting them easy baskets and open looks, leading, defending and coming down and rebounding when we needed it,” Irish coach Mike Brey said.
The Irish shot 52 percent, including 11-for-24 on three-pointers. They had only one turnover in the second half as DePaul applied pressured in an effort to get back into the game.
“The game got to a point where they dictated everything they wanted to us,” Leitao said.
Holland said the Blue Demons stopped communicating on defense.
“It seemed like they were penetrating so easily, and when we would help out they would be there to shoot the wide-open three,” he said. “We couldn’t keep them in front of us in that second half. We just let it slip away.”
Or perhaps Notre Dame grabbed it away. The Irish, fearful their losing streak would reach four, played with a sense of desperation.
“To say we were reeling is a bit of an understatement,” Brey said. “It was an honor to be here when coach Meyer’s name went on the court. I’m proud to have been here for that, and I’m certainly proud we won today.”
