University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Notre Dame
Notre Dame's Hot Shooting Hands UMass 81-68 Loss
November 22, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Box Score
UMass vs Notre Dame Box Score 
UNCASVILLE, Conn. - Notre Dame used a 9-0 run early in the second half that Massachusetts was unable to recover from as the Irish handed the Minutemen their first loss of the season, 81-68, in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament at Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday.
Derrick Gordon led UMass (3-1) with 18 points, while Cady Lalanne had 16 and six rebounds while battling foul trouble in the second half.
Donte Clark came off the bench to score 10 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. Maxie Esho had nine points and nine boards, to go along with a game-high two blocks.
The Minutemen shot 43 percent and made 6-of-17 from outside. UMass continued its early trend of getting to the free throw line, with 29 attempts but made just 20 for 60 pct.
UND (4-0) shot 59 pct. and was 9-of-19 on 3-pointers. Jerian Grant led four players in double figures with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting. The Irish also held a 31-28 edge on the glass.
UMass went on a 13-7 run to jump out to a 21-11 lead with 9:38 to play in the period. The lead stayed about double figures for the next three minutes before the Irish rattled-off eight-consecutive and cut the margin to 24-23 on back-to-back Pat Connaughton layups with 4:33 left.
ND ended the period with a pair of made 3-pointers by Demetrius Jackson and Grant for a 31-28 at the half.
The teams traded layups to open the second half before the Irish got six points from Jackson and a three from Connaughton to stretch the lead to 40-31 with 16:17 left.
Following a pair of Gordon free throws, a 10-0 Irish run stretched the lead to 50-33 with 12:30 left before a Lalanne layup ended the UMass scoring drought that had reached 4:48.
The Minutemen got the margin down to seven with 4:15 to play after a Donte Clark 3-pointer and two free throws but could not get any closer.
The Minutemen did force the Irish into a season-high 17 turnovers - including four off its press - and scored 20 points off those miscues.
UMass will face Florida State on Sunday at Noon in Uncasville.
