Falls’ shots fall as Irish top No. 22 Tide

Mike Brey heard a few calls to bench Colin Falls during his shooting slump.

The Notre Dame coach ignored them, and Falls responded by scoring 24 points, including six 3-pointers in the first half, in a 78-71 victory over No. 22 Alabama on Wednesday night at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

“That guy’s bailed me out of too many games hitting shots,” Brey said, explaining why he stuck by his guard.

It was a smart decision.

Falls had made just one field goal in consecutive losses to North Carolina State and Michigan, but went 6 of 8 on 3s to propel Notre Dame (3-2) to a 46-29 halftime lead. Alabama wiped out most of the deficit but the Fighting Irish never gave up the lead and went 8 for 9 from the free-throw line over the final 3 minutes.

The Crimson Tide (4-2) opened the second half with a 22-9 run and closed within one point on Ronald Steele’s 3-pointer with 8:43 left.

Falls hit his only 3-pointer of the second half to push the lead back to five points a minute later, but Notre Dame couldn’t extend it past that until Torin Francis hit two free throws off an offensive rebound with 28 seconds left.

The Tide missed two 3-pointers after that.

“We had all the energy in the world,” said Alabama’s Chuck Davis, who had a career-high 29 points. “We’re fired up, we’re coming back, adrenaline was on our side. It was just them stepping up and making plays.”

Francis had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Fighting Irish, while Chris Quinn and Russell Carter each had 11 points.

Davis was 13 of 18 from the field while most of his teammates struggled.

Alonzo Gee had 15 points, nine in the Tide’s run to open the second half. Steele, playing despite a back injury, had 12 points and five assists but was just 4 of 13 from the field.

Notre Dame made 15 free throws in 19 attempts while Alabama was 11 of 21.

(1) Duke 72, Penn 59: At Durham, N.C., J.J. Redick moved up to ninth on the all-time school scoring list with 24 points, and Shelden Williams added 20 as the Blue Devils (8-0) prepared for their matchup with second-ranked Texas (8-0) by beating the Quakers (3-3).

Sean Dockery had 11 points for Duke, which travels to East Rutherford, N.J., on Saturday to meet Texas. Freshman Josh McRoberts had perhaps his best all-around game, finishing with eight points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks.

(17) Nevada 78, UC Davis 51: At Reno, Nev., Marcelus Kemp scored 19 points, including 10 straight late in the game, and Mo Charlo added 12 to lead the Wolf Pack (6-0) past the Aggies (1-5).

Nick Fazekas and Demarshay Johnson each had 10 points for Nevada, which shot 58 percent from the field and is off to its best start since the 1951-52 team opened the season 14-0.

Kyle Brucculeri scored 16 points and Phil Rasmussen had 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Aggies, who upset Stanford last week but shot only 33 percent from the field against Nevada.

(21) Maryland 87, Western Carolina 57: At College Park, Md., Travis Garrison had a career-high 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Ekene Ibekwe led a second-half run that carried the Terrapins (6-2) past the Catamounts (5-6).

Ibekwe scored 12 of his 18 points after halftime, and D.J. Strawberry added 13 points for the Terrapins. Nik Caner-Medley grabbed 10 rebounds to become the 26th player in Maryland history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

(23) North Carolina 75, Saint Louis 63: At Chapel Hill, N.C., freshman Tyler Hansbrough scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to lead the Tar Heels (5-1) past the Billikens (3-3).

David Noel had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who followed their weekend upset of Kentucky by holding off pesky Saint Louis in the first matchup between the programs since 1959.

Women

Reserve Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton scored 14 points and Katie Gearlds added 13 to help No. 24 Purdue (5-2) notch a 65-54 win over No. 10 Notre Dame (6-1) at West Lafayette, Ind. … (1) Tennessee 59, George Washington 43: At Washington, Candance Parker scored 14 points and the Lady Vols (8-0) held the Colonials (2-3) scoreless for 8 1/2 minutes in the second half en route to a victory. … (9) Maryland 88, Monmouth 55: At West Long Branch, N.J., Marissa Coleman had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Terrapins (7-1) past the Hawks (1-5). … South Florida 79, (11) DePaul 77 (OT): At Tampa, Fla., Jessica Dickson scored a season-high 35 points to lead the Bulls (6-1, 1-0) past the Blue Demons (7-1, 0-1) in the Big East opener for both teams. … (13) Michigan St. 77, Detroit 52: At East Lansing, Mich., Liz Shimek scored a career-high 29 points in 32 minutes to help the Spartans (5-2) topple the Titans (2-6). … Stony Brook 58, (20) Temple 56: At Stony Brook, N.Y., Jessica Smith scored 17 of her 21 points in the first half and the Seawolves (4-2), playing a nationally ranked Division I team for the first time, upset the Owls (6-2). … (23) Utah 65, Weber State 38: At Salt Lake City, Shona Thorburn had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists to lead the Utes (5-1) past the in-state rival Wildcats (3-3).