Irish rally past 0-15 opponent

SOUTH BEND, Ind. —Faced with a nine-point deficit with 9 minutes, 53 seconds left Saturday against winless Coppin State, Notre Dame’s T.J. Gibbs knew his team needed a wake-up call — from its defense.

“We knew we had to do it on the defensive end,” the 6-foot-3 junior Gibbs said after scoring 15 points to lead three players in double figures as the coldshooting Irish rallied for a 63-56 victory. “It wasn’t about our offense at that point. We know our offense is going to come.”

Notre Dame (10-3) survived 28-percent shooting (9 of 32) in the second half by holding Coppin State (0-15) to just two buckets in its last 10 attempts after the visitors from Baltimore had taken a 47-38 lead. The Irish also forced four of the Eagles’ 14 turnovers and finished the game with a 25-9 run.

“T.J. handled the leadership well as we finished the game,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Gibbs also had five assists, and junior center Juwan Dunham had six points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Junior John Mooney added 14 points and eight rebounds and Dane Goodwin scored 13 points as Notre Dame concluded its nonconference schedule. The Irish open Atlantic Coast Conference play Tuesday at No. 10 Virginia Tech.

“They made a run to start the second half,” Mooney said. “We didn’t come out energized or focused in that half. T.J. got us together and said we’ve got to defend and scrap it out.”