Irish Beat Wildcats 74-72 in Rome

Seventy-four points separated the final scoreboards in Rome on Sunday, as Notre Dame edged past Villanova 74-72 to open the college basketball season.

The Fighting Irish trailed for much of the second half before mounting a late comeback. Brady Koehler and Braeden Smith each scored 16 points for the Irish, who field a roster that includes 10 new players.

Villanova’s Tyler Perkins led the Wildcats with 18 points. He fouled out with 16.3 seconds remaining in the game. The loss was a setback for a team that brought a large contingent of traveling fans to the Italian capital.

The matchup served as the men’s game for the Eternal City Tip-Off, a doubleheader created to honor Pope Leo XIV. The pontiff, who was not in the arena, had received all four participating teams in a Vatican audience on Saturday.

During that audience, Leo addressed the players and families from the two Catholic universities. He stated that in matters of sport, the pope remained neutral. He then noted with a smile that his former self might disagree, referring to his own history as a student athlete.

The pope, born Robert Prevost in Chicago, graduated from Villanova in 1977 with a bachelor of science in mathematics. Villanova fans in the arena wore jerseys bearing his name and the number 14. They also displayed a banner depicting the pope in a Villanova uniform reaching out to university president Peter M. Donohue.

Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana attended the game. Turkson was a candidate for the papacy until Leo was elected last year. The 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport hosted the event about a half-hour drive from the Vatican.

Micah Shrewsberry, the Notre Dame men’s coach, said the team prepared for the loud environment by playing two road games in the preseason. He called the experience one of the best of his career. Kevin Willard, Villanova’s men’s coach, described the loss as tough but the overall trip as a once-in-a-lifetime event.

The event took place on All Saints’ Day, a major Catholic holiday. A moment of prayer and the singing of the U.S. and Italian national anthems preceded tipoff. A women’s game between the two schools is scheduled next, featuring No. 13 ranked Notre Dame.

Both men’s teams entered the game unranked in the preseason AP Top 25. The audience hall in the Vatican held 7,000 people during Saturday’s meeting, including players, coaches, fans, and families from both institutions.