Notre Dame 84, Santa Clara 69
Guard Jerian Grant led a balanced attack with 20 points as Notre Dame beat UC-Santa Clara 84-69 in a non-conference game on Friday night at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.
Guard Eric Atkins and center Garrick Sherman each scored 16 points, guard Demetrius Jackson had 13 and forward Austin Burgett collected a game-high 10 rebounds as the unranked Irish (3-1) bounced back from Sunday's 83-70 loss to Indiana State.
Guards Brandon Clark scored a game-high 21 points and Jared Brownridge added 16 for the Broncos (2-2), who dropped their second straight game.
Santa Clara made Notre Dame pay for four early turnovers when Brownridge hit two 3-pointers to give the Broncos an early 12-7 lead.
Notre Dame responded with a 7-0 run for a 14-12 edge and later pulled ahead for good with a 14-3 run late in the opening half on the way to a 41-35 halftime lead.
Grant topped Notre Dame with 13 first-half points and Brownbridge paced Santa Clara with 11.
The Irish kept the Broncos at arm's length during most of the second half. Santa Clara used a barrage of long-distance shots -- including six 3-pointers -- but never got closer than four points.
Five different players scored as Notre Dame used a 14-2 run in a span of 4:37 to open a 69-53 lead with 8:03 left in regulation.
Notre Dame hosts Army at 2 p.m. Sunday and Santa Clara is idle until Nov. 29 at home against North Dakota State.
