Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Upset by Ball State 80-77

A strong 26 point performance from Bonzie Colson wouldn’t be enough as Ball State upset Notre Dame 80-77

Off to another slow start, the Notre Dame basketball team kept Ball State in this one early. Trailing 12-10 after the second media timeout, the Irish struggled to get things going offensively. Not something t you want to do against a team who can shoot the three.

The ball movement for Notre Dame was exactly how they needed it to be. Most plays getting a handful of passes before a shot was ever thrown up, but the Irish just couldn’t knock them down.

Uncharacteristically Notre Dame struggled with turnovers. The Irish had four in the first ten minutes of play.

More from Notre Dame Men's Basketball

The offensive struggles continued, but the defense was able to keep them in it for a while holding Ball State to shooting just 38% with 7:25 left in the first.

Even with the defense playing decently, Notre Dame never found their offensive rhythm in the first half.

The Irish realized they were in trouble heading into the locker room at half down 34-29 to the Cardinals.

Notre Dame was shooting only 37% and an ugly 20% from beyond the arc. Getting beat in almost every aspect of this one, Notre Dame was also outrebounded 22-15 and outscored in bench play 13-3.

But, coming out of the locker room at half Notre Dame looked re-energized. Aggressive cuts and finishes at the rim kick-started the offense once again. Some momentum coming from Rex Pflueger knocking down some shots to start the half, Notre Dame even started to get the three to fall.

Notre Dame finally gained control for a second and Ball State answered with a run of their own to regain the lead 47-44.

Even with Notre Dame’s defense still standing tall, Ball State began to hit everything no matter how well defended it was. The Cardinals were able to hit seven in a row to take a 67-58 point lead with 6:36 left.

Bonzie Colson brought the Irish within one with just 60 seconds left and Matt Farrell tied it up with a three and 19 ticks left on the clock.

But, Tayler Persons pulled up and hit the biggest three of his career from the wing for the win. Notre Dame fell to Ball State 80-77.

Who’s up next?

Notre Dame will be back in action Saturday as they travel to Newark to take on Delaware with a 7 PM ET tip-off.