With Notre Dame’s Cole McCormick, a sophomore 3-point shooting star, trying to will his team to a comeback win on the road, Baylor’s Eli Sparkman helped seal the deal in his home gym Friday night.
The senior point guard sparked a 9-0 run early in the fourth quarter of the Red Raiders’ 42-28 win against Notre Dame at Duke Arena. During the pivotal stretch, Sparkman made his third 3-pointer of the game, assisted Cameron Sparks on a great touch pass over the top and crashed to the floor after drawing a foul on a difficult left-handed layup.
The 6-foot floor general also made a 30-footer in the second quarter, and Baylor’s stingy defense was vital to the victory as well.
“To be able to hit that long-range shot early was good to get the crowd back,” Sparkman said of his extra-deep 3, which gave Baylor (12-4) a lead it did not relinquish. “We had a lot of people come out to see two good teams in our area play. I have been working on my game a lot, and when opportunities come my way, I have to take advantage of them.”
McCormick tied Sparkman with a game-high 17 points as he shot 4-of-9 from 3-point range for the Fighting Irish (13-6).