No. 13 Notre Dame bids aloha to mainland

No. 13 Notre Dame will learn more about itself this week in Hawaii as part in the Maui Invitational, which includes No. 7 Wichita State and Michigan.

Notre Dame opens tournament play against host Chaminade on Monday in Lahaina, Hawaii.

After posting convincing wins over DePaul and Mount St. Mary's, Notre Dame rolled past Chicago State 105-66 on Thursday to improve to 3-0 on the season.

Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs and freshman guard D.J. Harvey each had career performances for Notre Dame, which shot 62.1 percent from the floor against the Cougars. Gibbs had 23 points, and Harvey came off the bench to score 15.

"This was a great focus win for us," Gibbs said.

With the core of last year's NCAA Tournament team back, Notre Dame has started strong but hasn't faced near the level of completion that awaits on Maui.

Notre Dame beat its first three opponents by an average margin of 26.3 points, but it almost certainly will run into tougher competition in Hawaii. The season-opening road win at DePaul was the only one that was close, 72-58.

The winner of the Monday game between Notre Dame and Chaminade will face the winner of Michigan and LSU on Tuesday. Wichita State, California, Virginia Commonwealth and Marquette are in the opposite side of the bracket.

Chaminade lost seven lettermen, including four of their top five scorers who accounted for 68 percent of the Silverswords' points last season. Point guard Austin Pope, the only returning starter, has helped Chaminade get off to a 2-0. Pope is averaging 9.5 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Silverswords have wins over Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage, both games in Anchorage as part of the Hawaii/Alaska Challenge. Chaminade stormed out to a 23-6 lead against Alaska Anchorage on Saturday but was forced to hold on in the second half of a 71-65 victory.

Pope, Dantley Walker, Braden Koelliker and Grant Dressler each scored 12 points to lead the Silverswords, who will be hard-pressed to keep up with Irish. Chaminade's Erik Scheive scored 19 points in the season opener.

Notre Dame's offense also thrives on balance. Senior forward Bonzie Colson, an All-American, and point guard Matt Farrell are the catalysts. Colson is averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds. Farrell is averaging 15.3 points.

Gibbs, who is contributing 17.7 points per game, has added another element to the Irish attack.

"I've said from the beginning of fall practice that T.J. shoots the ball better than people think," Farrell said. "Some teams will key on Bonzie and me, and that will open up shots for others. We have confidence in them, and they have confidence in themselves."

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey likes the team chemistry.

"They have a great feel for each other," Brey said. "Matt and Bonzie have gotten T.J. more confident. I thought he'd be a good shooter when we recruited him."

Chaminade is 7-87 all time in the Maui Invitational.