Corey Hadnot II poured in 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting and Purdue Fort Wayne held off Notre Dame 72-69 Sunday in South Bend, Ind., handing the Fighting Irish their first home loss of the year.
Mikale Stevenson finished with 18 points, DeAndre Craig chipped in 14 and Maximus Nelson added 11 for the Mastodons (8-6), who won their fourth in a row while snapping Notre Dame’s four-game winning streak. No other Purdue Fort Wayne player scored.
Jalen Harlason led Notre Dame (9-4) with 21 points and nine rebounds while Braeden Shrewsberry scored 13. Logan Imes finished with 12 for the Fighting Irish, who entered the day 7-0 at home.
The Mastodons entered the second half with a 27-24 advantage but the game was all even at 34-34 after Haralson scored on a layup at the 16:37 mark. Craig’s jumper 19 seconds later put the Mastodons back on top.
Down 41-35, the Fighting Irish charged back with a 6-0 run in a span of 46 seconds and tied the game thanks to a 3-pointer from Brady Koehler with 13:53 to play.
Stevenson ended the run with a jumper and then hit a 3-pointer as Purdue Fort Wayne went ahead 46-41 with 11:57 remaining.
Cole Certa hit two free throws to trim the Notre Dame deficit to 54-53 with 4:48 left. But the Fighting Irish went more than three minutes without scoring — a layup from Haralson ended the drought — and Craig buried a big 3-pointer with 1:28 left that extended the Mastodon lead to 59-55.
Notre Dame got within 70-69 with four seconds to go on a clutch 3-pointer from Shrewsberry, but Nelson hit two free throws to ice the game. Haralson’s game-tying shot attempt was off the mark as time expired.
Purdue Fort Wayne looked good early, going on a 15-2 run to grab a nine-point lead with 13:48 left in the half after Hadnot buried a 3-pointer.
Notre Dame missed seven of eight shots, finally cooling the Mastodons off a bit when Shrewsberry connected from long range at the 13:40 mark. The Fighting Irish were soon within 17-14 with 9:45 left after Shrewsberry’s second 3-pointer of the day.
But the Mastodons responded and eventually took their first double-digit lead at 27-16 on a 3-pointer after Hadnot’s personal 7-0 run.
Notre Dame answered with an 8-0 run, closing the gap to 27-24 on a layup by Imes with 42 seconds left while Purdue Fort Wayne went scoreless over the final 4:26 of the half.
–Field Level Media
