John Mooney scored 18 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and dished five assists, and Notre Dame cruised to a 79-50 win over Howard on Tuesday night in South Bend, Ind.
Juwan Durham and Dane Goodwin finished with 11 points each for Notre Dame, Rex Pflueger added 10 points and Prentiss Hubb contributed nine points.
Notre Dame built a 41-21 lead at the half and coasted from there. The Fighting Irish shot 50.8 percent (32 of 63) from the field and enjoyed a 45-32 advantage on the glass.
Wayne Bristol Jr. led Howard with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting. Andre Toure contributed nine points, and Charles Williams was limited to seven after entering the game averaging 20 points per contest.
The Bison shot 31.1 percent (19 of 61) from the field and struggled against Notre Dame's mix of defenses, which at times included a 1-3-1 set.
Mooney showed off his skill set in a variety of ways on the offensive end. He scored on a Euro-step late in the first half and buried a 3-pointer early in the second half to stretch the lead to 56-31.
It marked Mooney's top performance of the season. He scored 10 points in each of Notre Dame's first two games against then-No. 9 North Carolina and Robert Morris.
Pflueger also set a season high with his double-digit performance. He entered the contest averaging only 2.5 points per game.
Both teams leaned on their benches in the final minutes with the score out of reach. But Bristol remained in the game for Howard and tried to make a difference with a 3-pointer with 43 seconds to go.
The Fighting Irish finished with 22 assists, compared with 16 for Howard.
The game marked the second lopsided win in a row for Notre Dame, which beat Robert Morris by 35 points before beating Howard by 29.
--Field Level Media
Howard | Notre Dame | |
Wayne Bristol Jr. 14 | Scoring | John Mooney 18 |
Ian Lee 6 | Assists | John Mooney 5 |
Zion Cousins 5 | Rebounds | John Mooney 16 |
Wayne Bristol Jr. 2 | Free Throws Made | Rex Pflueger 3 |
Wayne Bristol Jr. 2 | Steals | Temple Gibbs 3 |
Nate Garvey 1 | Blocks | Juwan Durham 2 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Howard | 50 | 31.1 | 8-26 | 4-7 | 16 | 29 | 2 | 6 | 17 |
Notre Dame | 79 | 50.8 | 6-23 | 9-13 | 22 | 40 | 5 | 9 | 14 |