By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Matt Ryan put bookends on a 10-0 run midway through the first half, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish grabbed a 36-30 lead over the Princeton Tigers going into the locker room of their NCAA Tournament first round matchup at Key Bank Center, Thursday.
Trailing by two, Ryan finished in the lane. Teammate Bonzie Colson followed with two of his 10 first -half points. Steve Vasturia scored back-to-back buckets before V.J. Beachem found Ryan cutting in the lane for two and a 25-17 ND advantage.
Colson finished with 10 points on three of seven shooting from the floor and four of six from the free throw line.
Matt Farrell connected on a pair of three-pointers and added eight points for the Irish. Ryan has six points.
Princeton’s Spencer Weisz leads all scorers with 11 points.
The Tigers scored on six of eight possessions to take a 17-15 advantage with 11:24 to go in the half.
Notre Dame switched to zone defense and held Princeton without a point for the next seven possessions.
Beachem leads all players with five rebounds. The Irish have a 23-14 advantage on the boards. Beachem has handed out three assists.
Princeton’s Myles Stephens has three helpers as well.
Notre Dame has outscored Princeton in the paint (22-14) and on second-chance points (7-0). The Irish bench has outscored its opponents. 8-7.
Princeton has a 5-3 edge in points off turnovers.
The Tigers average 72.1 ppg on 45.2 shooting from the floor. ND held the Tigers to 30 first-half points on 37.5 shooting in first half.
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