No. 6 Houston never trails in defeating Notre Dame 65-54 in Players Era Festival
Houston forward Joseph Tugler looks to block an inbound pass during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Notre Dame Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/David Becker
LAS VEGAS — Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points and No. 6 Houston never trailed in beating Notre Dame 65-54 in a game that ended early Thursday morning in the Players Era Festival.
Terrance Arceneaux added 13 points for Houston (4-2), and Milos Uzan had 10 points and nine assists.
Tae Davis led the Fighting Irish (4-3) with 22 points and eight rebounds, and Braeden Shrewsberry scored 16 points.
Both teams came off overtime defeats the days before — Houston losing to No. 9 Alabama 85-80 and Notre Dame falling 85-84 to Rutgers.
The extra work and playing on consecutive nights showed in the second half. Notre Dame went from shooting 50% in the first half to 31% in the second 20 minutes, and Houston followed a 58.6% opening half by shooting 32.3%.
Both teams hit scoring droughts, but the Cougars had a little bit more left. Other than a tie game for 42 seconds, Houston played from in front the entire night.
Takeaways
Houston: LJ Cryer tied a career-high with 30 points in Tuesday's overtime loss to No. 9 Alabama, but shot just 2 for 11 against the Irish and scored six points. The Cougars, however, had enough other talent to prevail.
Notre Dame forward Tae Davis (7) looks to shoot against Houston forward Ja'Vier Francis during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. Credit: AP/David Becker
Notre Dame: The Irish weren't able to overcome such a performance, Matt Allocco had 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Rutgers, but had eight points, five rebounds and four assists against Houston.
Key moment
Notre Dame cut a 10-point second-half deficit to a point, but then didn't score for four minutes to allow Houston to remain in front.
Key stat
Houston's bench outscored Notre Dame's 19-0.
Up next
Houston plays San Diego State in the third-place game on Saturday and Notre Dame faces No. 21 Creighton for seventh place.
