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Harangody, Notre Dame too much for lowly Loyola Marymount

Nov 22, 2008 - 7:04 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- A rare trip west could not derail Luke Harangody and Notre Dame.

Harangody scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds to lead the ninth-ranked Fighting Irish to a 65-54 victory against Loyola Marymount on Friday.

The reigning Big East Player of the Year, Harangody lived up to that honor against the Lions, making 9-of-17 shots from the field en route to his 27th career double-double.

Tory Jackson scored 16 points and added seven rebounds while Ryan Ayers contributed nine points for Notre Dame, which paid a visit to the Los Angeles area for the first time since February 28, 2004. The Fighting Irish will head further west to Hawaii next week when the Maui Invitational begins.

"We will take it," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "With this atmosphere and the way this team is coached by (Bill) Bayno and his staff, we knew we were going to have to work to get out of here with a win. We never could get into a flow offensively."

Jarred DuBois poured in 16 points and Ashley Hamilton added 10 points for Loyola Marymount, which posted a 5-26 record last season, but gave Notre Dame all it could handle.

"Tonight you might have witnessed one of the greatest defensive performances ever in this arena," said Lions assistant coach Max Good, who took over the head coaching duties as Bayno missed the game and a week of practice due to illness.

"DuBois, a true freshman, took head-on one of the top rated 3-point shooters (Notre Dame guard Kyle McAlarney) in the college game and held him scoreless (from the field)."

The Fighting Irish never trailed, but the Lions remained close in the first half, rarely trailing by more than three points.

Notre Dame opened its biggest lead of the opening 20 minutes when Harangody's dunk 4:46 into the contest gave the Irish a 16-9 advantage.

However, the Lions put together a 7-0 run to tie the score.

The Fighting Irish opened up a six-point bulge later in the half, but Loyola Marymount countered once again, briefly tying the score, 26-26, with 5:11 remaining.

Notre Dame closed the half on a 10-4 run to carry a 36-30 lead into the locker rooms.

The Lions struggled to narrow the deficit after emerging, but did briefly crawl within 50-47 following back-to-back 3-pointers from Corey Counts, who finished with nine points - all from behind the arc.

A quick layup by Jackson and a free throw by Harangody stretched the Fighting Irish lead back to five points and it never looked back, opening up its first double-digit advantage with 3:38 to play.