In a battle of unbeaten teams, Jerian Grant scored 24 points and dealt eight assists to lead Notre Dame to an 81-68 victory over Massachusetts Saturday in the Hall of Fame Tip-off in Uncasville, Conn.
It was a day of offensive efficiency for the backcourt of Notre Dame (4-0) as Grant and Demetrius Jacksoncombined to hit 15 of 19 field-goal attempts. Jackson finished with 16 points and five steals.
Forwards Pat Connaughton (18 points, five rebounds) and Zach Auguste (11 points, 10 rebounds) bolstered the Notre Dame attack in the frontcourt.
Guard Derrick Gordon scored 18 points and center Cady Lalanne contributed 16 for Massachusetts (3-1), which bolted to an early 10-point lead. But Notre Dame dominated the rest of the way behind 58.5 percent marksmanship from the floor.
In the first nine minutes, 3-pointers by Lalanne, forward Seth Berger
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and guard Donte Clark helped UMass build a 19-9 lead. But late in the half, Notre Dame went on a 14-2 run, culminated by 3-pointers from Jackson and Grant which gave the Fighting Irish the lead for good.Early in the second half, over a scintillating one-minute span, Jackson did much of the work in an eight-point run. He ignited it with a steal and a breakaway layup, followed with a pass to guard-forward Pat Connaughton for a 3-pointer and ended the spree with a 3-pointer as Notre Dame took a 39-30 lead.
Midway through the half, a jumper by Jackson gave the Irish their biggest lead of the afternoon, 50-33.
A 3-pointer and two free throws by Clarke drew UMass to within seven points with four minutes left, butNotre Dame resumed control as Connaughton hit two 3-pointers in the final 2:31.