Notre Dame beat Villanova 74-70 in the season opener in Rome, rallying after trailing for most of the second half, per the Associated Press via Sportsnet. ESPN's recap carries the same details, and one ESPN version gives the score as 74-72. Our box score and the other reports have 74-70, so we use that. The game was part of the Eternal City Tip-Off, which Yahoo Sports said included an audience with Villanova alumnus Pope Leo XIV for both teams and their fans on Saturday.
AP said Brady Koehler scored key baskets down the stretch. His line from the box score was 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks in 25 minutes. Four of his rebounds were offensive. Braeden Smith also scored 16, and 10 of his points came at the line. Braeden Shrewsberry added 15 and Ethan Roberts 11.
Yahoo's angle was that the Wildcats lost the game rather than the Irish winning it. It said turnovers and late offensive struggles doomed Villanova. The numbers support that. Villanova turned it over 20 times to Notre Dame's 11, and the Irish scored 20 points off those turnovers to Villanova's 10. Notre Dame had 14 steals to Villanova's 6. Kwame Evans Jr. had five turnovers and Elijah Crawford four.
The Irish won despite shooting poorly. They hit 23 of 65 from the field (35%), against 24 of 52 (46%) for Villanova. They made up for it with 17 offensive rebounds to Villanova's 10 and with 19 free throws to Villanova's 13. Notre Dame also took 13 more shots than Villanova. Villanova led at halftime 35-31 and held the lead for 83% of the game, with a largest lead of 10. The Irish never led by more than 4 and were outscored by Villanova's 35 in the first half only to win the second half 43-35. Tyler Perkins led Villanova with 18 points, including 5 threes.
CBS Sports' Isaac Trotter framed the game as a look at what the two teams learned in the opener. Neither record has moved yet in our tables, which still show both clubs at 0-0 in conference play. Notre Dame is listed 11th in the ACC and Villanova 10th in the Big East.
Both teams return to the U.S. this week. Notre Dame hosts Mercyhurst on Thursday, Nov. 5, and Villanova plays Holy Cross the next day, Friday, Nov. 6.
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