Notre Dame beats Jacksonville, snaps 3-game losing streak
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — Marcus Hammond scored 15 points, Dane Goodwin added 12 points and Notre Dame beat Jacksonville 59-43 on Tuesday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Notre Dame won a game with less than 60 points scored for the first time since Jan. 3, 2018. The Irish only had 21 points in the first half but scored 22 in the opening 10 minutes of the second. Notre Dame went ahead by double digits for the first time with 6:11 left in the second half.
J.J. Starling and Cormac Ryan, two of Notre Dame's top-three scorers, each went 0 for 5 from the field in the first half. Ryan started 0 for 7 until scoring at the 12:49 mark of the second half, but the three-point play came during a 15-2 run as Notre Dame built a 45-36 lead. Jacksonville went five minutes without scoring during the run.
Starling finished with 11 points and eight rebounds and Ryan had six points for Notre Dame (8-5), which closes the calendar year against No. 14 Miami on Dec. 30.
Gyasi Powell scored 12 points and Omar Payne had 10 points and nine rebounds for Jacksonville (7-4).
Jacksonville went on a 7-0 run in the first half to build a 14-7 lead as Notre Dame started 3 for 16 from the field. Notre Dame also missed its first 12 3-pointers before making 3s on back-to-back possessions to take a 21-16 lead with 4:22 left. But the Irish didn't score again before halftime and Jacksonville was within 21-19 as both teams shot below 31% from the field.