NOTRE DAME — Michael Kibiloski knows his role for the Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne men’s basketball team.

It is the 6-foot-7 junior forward and Elkhart Memorial High School graduate’s job to come into a game and give the Mastodons a spark.

“I’m kind of an energy guy,” said Kibiloski Monday after IPFW’s 74-62 loss to Notre Dame. “I can come in and take charges and I am capable of knocking down the 3.”

Playing before as many as 100 friends and family members in attendance at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, Kibiloski logged a season-high 25 reserve minutes — 14 in the first half — and wound up with four points (on 1 of 4 shooting, including 0 of 3 behind the arc), three rebounds, one assist and one turnover.

“Other than the couple of shots I missed, I think I played pretty well,” said Kibiloski, who saw the Mastodons fall to 5-7 with their third straight loss.

“Kibby is a hard-playing guy,” said IPFW coach Tony Jasick. “He’s a skilled (No.) 4 (player). He can stretch the defense. He’s a guy you can count on. That’s a value that’s taken for granted.”

As a junior on a fairly young team, Kibiloski is looked to for his leadership.

Kibiloski, who entered Monday’s contest averaging 6.2 points. 4.0 rebounds and 18.4 minutes per game, missed the season’s first six games with a knee stress fracture.

“I’m about 100 percent now,” said Kibiloski, who mixed it up with ND’s size and muscle. “They are a lot bigger and stronger than we are so we have to come out and be exact in what we want to do. We weren’t tonight. But we are capable of coming out and beating someone like this. We just have to be exact on every play for 40 minutes.

“What I take from tonight is that you have to play hard for 40 (minutes) and you have to be physical,” he said.

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey was pleased to see sophomore swing man Pat Connaughton show his improved ability to drive to the basket while scoring a season-high 18 points — 11 in the first half.

“Last year, we had the one-dribble rule for him,” said Brey. “He’s gotten much better with the ball. I like the way he curls, cuts and finishes.”

As the Irish (10-1) head into Wednesday’s game against Kennesaw State, coached by former ND assistant Lewis Preston, Brey sees his team’s offense beginning to catch up with a defense that was solid from the first game.

After Wednesday’s game and Friday’s home game against Niagra, the Irish will be off until the Jan. 5 Big East Conference opener against Seton Hall.

IPFW, which got 11 points each from Luis Jacobo and Joe Edwards, plays host to Kenesaw State Friday.

ND used a 12-5 run to build its biggest lead of the first half at 14 points (37-23)

Kibiloski played 14 minutes in the first half and scored two points — on a layup at the 3:36 mark — and grabbed three rebounds (one offensive).

The Irish were hot from the floor, making 15 of 27 attempts (55.6 percent).

At the same time, the cold-shooting Mastodons made just 12 of 38 (31.6 percent).

“(Notre Dame) made a number of shots at the end of the shot clock when we were playing pretty good defense. That kept us from making a deep run at the lead,” Jasick said.

“I really like the fight in our team. ND was up 19 with 13:35 to go and a lot of teams would have packed it in and started looking to the next one. We’re not playing our best, but we’re heading there.”



No. 22 NOTRE DAME 74, IPFW 62

IPFW (5-7)

Jacobo 4-10 1-2 11, Hines 5-10 0-0 10, Bland 1-1 0-0 2, Gaines 2-14 2-2 7, Harden 3-7 0-0 8, McCray 1-8 1-2 3, Kibiloski 1-4 2-2 4, Reed 2-6 0-0 6, Edwards 4-5 2-2 11. Totals 23-65 8-10 62.

NOTRE DAME (10-1)

Cooley 5-6 4-7 14, Atkins 2-7 0-0 5, Martin 5-8 0-0 13, Grant 3-9 0-0 6, Connaughton 7-9 3-5 18, Biedscheid 1-8 4-4 6, Auguste 1-1 0-0 2, Crowley 0-0 0-0 0, Sherman 4-7 0-0 8, Burgett 0-0 0-0 0, Knight 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-56 11-16 74.

Halftime—Notre Dame 40-28. 3-Point Goals—IPFW 8-22 (Reed 2-2, Harden 2-4, Jacobo 2-4, Edwards 1-1, Gaines 1-5, Kibiloski 0-3, McCray 0-3), Notre Dame 5-16 (Martin 3-5, Connaughton 1-1, Atkins 1-4, Grant 0-1, Biedscheid 0-5). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—IPFW 34 (Harden, Hines 5), Notre Dame 37 (Cooley 8). Assists—IPFW 11 (Bland, Harden 3), Notre Dame 20 (Atkins 7). Total Fouls—IPFW 15, Notre Dame 11. A—6,755.