SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Freshman JJ Starling scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half, Nate Laszewski had 22 and Notre Dame pulled way in the final 10 minutes to beat Bowling Green 82-66 on Tuesday night.
Starling eclipsed his previous career high of 17 in his young collegiate career, hitting 10 of 11 shots, all but one inside the arc. He gave the Fighting Irish (5-0) their final lead with 9 1/2 minutes remaining with a bucket, scoring eight points in a 23-4 game-ending run.
Freshman Ven-Allen Lubin added 12 points and Dane Goodwin 11 for Notre Dame, which shot 55%, including 65% in the second half.
Bowling Green (2-3) missed 14 of its final 16 shots in what had been a competitive game with the largest lead being seven points until Notre Dame’s surge.
Samari Curtis led the Falcons with 14 points, Leon Ayers III added 13 as did Rashun Agee, who also had nine rebounds.
There were nine lead changes in the first half, the final one coming with a Laszewski 3-pointer at the end of the half for a 42-40 lead. Laszewski had 17 points by halftime and Lubin 10 while Agee had 13. Bowling Green shot 53% in the first half but Notre Dame had six more points both at the line and off turnovers.
The victory completed a 5-0 season-opening homestand. The Irish are off to their first 5-0 start since 2017-18 when they opened 6-0.
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