Irish rally to open season with win over Villanova in Rome — SkimNews
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- Notre Dame rallied from a second-half deficit to beat Villanova 74-72 in the men’s season opener at Sunday’s Eternal City Tip-Off in Rome, with both teams unranked in the preseason AP Top 25.
- Brady Koehler and Braeden Smith each scored 16 points for a Notre Dame team with 10 new players; Koehler’s dunk with 1:36 remaining cut Villanova’s lead to one.
- Logan Duncomb hit a three-pointer with 1:08 left for Notre Dame’s first second-half lead, 70-68; Koehler then made two free throws with four seconds remaining to extend it to 74-70.
- Tyler Perkins led Villanova with 18 points before fouling out with 16.3 seconds left, leaving the Wildcats without their leading scorer for the closing stretch.
- Luigi Suigo, a 7-foot-3 Italian making his Villanova debut on home soil, recorded two dunks and a three-pointer while finishing with seven points.
- Pope Leo XIV met with both teams and their fans Saturday; Shrewsbury called the trip “really cool,” while Willard described it as “phenomenal” and “once-in-a-lifetime.”
- Villanova entered seeking a revival after four years without an NCAA tournament win, following a three-year tournament absence and a first-round loss to Utah State last season.
Why it matters: With 10 new players, Notre Dame recovered from a second-half deficit to claim a 74-72 season-opening win. Villanova’s leading scorer, Tyler Perkins, fouled out with 18 points and 16.3 seconds remaining, and the Wildcats remain without an NCAA tournament victory in four years after last season’s first-round loss to Utah State.
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