Irish play spoiler in arena debut
Matt Farrell has been spreading the good news about Notre Dame teammate T. J. Gibbs.
Gibbs’ play backed up Farrell’s words Saturday.
Gibbs scored 21 points to lead the No. 14 Irish to a 72- 58 victory over DePaul in the season opener for both teams. A lively crowd was on hand as DePaul unveiled its new home court at the 10,000- seat, $ 193 million Wintrust Arena on the Near South Side.
“It’s been a lot of fun to play with him,” Farrell said about Gibbs, who shot 7- for- 11 from the field. “I’ve been telling people that since the summer, that he’s going to have a big year. Strong driver, shoots it way better than people think, and you saw that tonight. He’s confident. He’s another Jersey guy, so it’s a lot of fun to play with him.”
Bonzie Colson had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Farrell added 15 points for the Irish, who have Final Four aspirations after going 26- 10 ( 12- 6 in the ACC) last season.
Eli Cain and Tre’Darius McCallum scored 14 points apiece for DePaul, which went 9- 23 last season. Max Strus added 11 points and Devin Gage 10.
The Irish — who were picked by the media to finish third behind No. 1 Duke and No. 9 North Carolina in the ACC — made 9 of 12 threepoint attempts in the second half.
“We’ve been working on that all season, all offseason,” Gibbs said.
Notre Dame hit 12 of 27 from beyond the arc overall and shot 47.2 percent from the field to DePaul’s 33.8 percent.
Colson, the ACC preseason player of the year, posted his 24th career double- double after recording 19 last season to lead the conference. He led Notre Dame in scoring at 17.8 points and rebounding at 10.1 last season to earn third- team Associated Press All- America honors.
Gibbs’ previous career high was 13 points.
“He’s coming into his own, scoring, talking, and he’s become a little bit of a leader, too, talking more on both sides of the floor,” Colson said. “When he shoots the ball, he’s in attack mode. That’s what we need out of him.”