John Mooney scored 28 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, and Notre Dame weathered a lengthy scoring drought in the second half to beat Marshall 74-64 Friday at Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Ind.

The Fighting Irish (3-1) led throughout, jumping to a 25-8 lead when T.J. Gibbs knocked down one of his three 3-pointers. He finished with 15 points.

But Marshall (1-2) whittled away at the deficit, cutting it to just three points at the culmination of a 5:02 Notre Dame scoring drought to make it 49-46 with 10:47 to play in the game.

The Thundering Herd got a double-double from Taevion Kinsey, who scored 16 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Jarrod West added 14 points, and big man Iran Bennett chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds.

The 6-foot-9, 300-pound Bennett spent much of the second-half surge on the bench with three fouls, but scored on a put-back immediately upon returning to the lineup. His bucket cut the gap to 54-50 with 9:02 left. Marshall was not any closer for the rest of the way, however.

Dane Goodwin scored three of his 11 points in response, knocking down a transition floater and the ensuing free throw on a foul. The Irish kept the Herd at arm's length from there.

Marshall had an opportunity to cut it to three points with less than two minutes remaining, but Jannson Williams air-balled his look at 3-pointer.

Notre Dame dominated a variety of statistical categories, forcing 17 Marshall turnovers to just eight giveaways and making 11 more free throws (19-of-26 to 8-of-13).

The Irish also held the herd to 18.2-percent shooting from behind the 3-point line -- though Notre Dame struggled from deep, too, going 7 of 28.

Notre Dame outrebounded Marshall 54-43 but the Herd's 15-13 edge in second-chance points contributed to a 36-28 advantage for points in the paint for Marshall.

Transition points buoyed Notre Dame, including kick-starting its recovery from Marshall's second-half rally. Gibbs led the charge with three steals, while Mooney and Goodwin added two apiece.

--Field Level Media