Brady Koehler racked up 16 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks and Logan Duncomb hit the go-ahead 3-pointer to propel Notre Dame to a 74-72 win over Villanova in the first game of the college basketball season, billed as the Eternal City Tip-Off, on Sunday in Rome.
Braeden Smith also scored 16 points, Braeden Shrewsberry had 15 and Ethan Roberts added 11 for the Fighting Irish (1-0), who rallied from a 10-point deficit in the second half.
Two of the United States’ most prominent Catholic universities sent their men’s and women’s basketball teams to Rome to open the season in a rare setting. They had audiences with Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and a Villanova graduate, earlier in the week, but the pope did not attend the game, according to the broadcast.
Tyler Perkins went 5 for 11 from 3-point range and had a game-high 18 points for Villanova (0-1), which received votes in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. Elijah Crawford added 12 points and a game-high five assists, and Jake Fiegen scored 11 points.
But Villanova committed 20 turnovers to fumble away the game despite outshooting Notre Dame 46.2% to 35.4%.
The Fighting Irish had trailed throughout the second half but trimmed the margin to two with less than five minutes left. Crawford stopped a Villanova field goal drought that lasted 5:46, driving down the left lane for layups on back-to-back possessions to make it 66-60.
But after Smith went 3-for-3 at the free-throw line, Duncomb fed Roberts streaking in the paint for a layup that made it a one-point game. After Villanova made two free throws, Smith bounced a pass to Koehler on a fast break and the big man’s two-handed jam made it 68-67.
Another Wildcats possession came up empty, and Duncomb found himself alone at the top of the key for the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:08 left. Villanova tried to score quickly at the other end, but Koehler flew in to block Kwame Evans Jr.’s corner three and Notre Dame grabbed the rebound.
The Wildcats got no closer than two in the final minute. Crawford’s would-be tying jumper with 10 ticks left rattled in and out. Koehler finished off his strong game with two foul shots; Villanova’s Darryl Simmons II made an uncontested layup at the buzzer for the final margin.
The Wildcats committed 15 of their turnovers in the first half to sap their own momentum. Smith stole a pass from Evans, the Irish went on the break and Koehler scored on a putback to cut their deficit to 25-22.
Crawford’s pull-up with 10 seconds to go gave Villanova a 35-31 halftime lead.
Perkins splashed 3-pointers on three straight possessions early in the second half to pump Villanova’s lead to 44-35. Luigi Suigo’s thundering dunk a minute later made it a double-digit game for the first time, 46-36, with 16:23 to play.