The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team kicked off their Maui Jim Maui Invitational experience late Monday evening (and into Tuesday morning for those in the Eastern and Central time zones), losing a close one to the Saint Mary’s Gaels by a final score of 62 to 59.
The tournament, which the Irish won in 2017 to earn the invite back this season, was moved from Maui to Las Vegas due to COVID restrictions in Hawaii. With the loss, the Irish will not be competing for a repeat title this year.
Notre Dame was led by Cormac Ryan, who scored 16 points and added 5 rebounds on the evening while shooting 3-for-5 from three-point range and 5-for-10 from the field overall.