Notre Dame Blows Past Navy 92-53
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -- Less than 48 hours after scoring a career-high 19 points against Binghamton, Zach Auguste bested that mark by scoring 20 on Sunday to help Notre Dame blow past Navy, 92-53 at Purcell Pavilion.
The Irish (2-0) used a 10-3 run nine minutes into the second half to open up a comfortable 19-point lead after an Auguste dunk, and a 19-2 burst late in the game to turn it into a rout.
Jerian Grant added 17 points and 10 assists for Notre Dame.
Brandon Venturini scored 11 points for Navy, which threw a scare into No. 18 Michigan State at home Friday night in a tight 64-59 loss. The Midshipmen (0-2) couldn't muster the same magic against the Irish, committing 20 turnovers and shooting just 23 percent in the second half.
Auguste scored 13 points in the second half, including seven straight Irish points on a personal run that started with a strong drive and dunk resulting in a three-point play with 9:31 to play.
Auguste's offensive putback and pair of free throws 1:19 later got Notre Dame's 19-2 run started.
Consecutive 3-pointers by Navy's Brandon Venturini gave the Mids a 10-6 lead early, but Notre Dame used runs of 11-0 and 7-0 to get ahead and take a 36-28 lead into halftime. The advantage could have been bigger, but the Irish shot just 3 of 10 from the 3-point arc in the first 20 minutes.
After committing just 10 turnovers in Friday's narrow 64-59 home loss to No. 18 Michigan State, Navy had matched that number just over 15 minutes in against the Irish. The Mids finished the first half with 12 turnovers, which led to 13 Notre Dame points.
TIP-INS
Notre Dame: The Irish are halfway through a stretch of four games in eight days. Throw in a foreign tour of Italy over the summer, and this group already has a good deal of experience.
"You can tell we've played together a lot," Brey said after Friday's win over Binghamton. "This team's done a lot together since June 15th."
Navy: Senior forward Worth Smith, one of three Navy players (including David Robinson and Sitapha Savane) to have 850 points, 450 rebounds, 80 blocks, and 80 steals in his career, injured his knee against Michigan State and is out indefinitely.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame hosts Coppin State at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Navy visits Providence on Thursday at 7 p.m.
(Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
