Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said defensive breakdowns from the opening minutes set the tone for No. 18 Notre Dame’s 93–54 loss to No. 14 Michigan on Saturday in the Shamrock Classic in Detroit, the program’s largest margin of defeat in more than 20 years. The Fighting Irish fell behind 7–0 before scoring, and Michigan led wire-to-wire at Wayne State Fieldhouse.

“The offense we can fix,” Ivey said, as reported by Eric Hansen of On3. “It’s not about the offense. It’s not about the offense. That comes with time or comes within the game. We know we have capable scorers, but it’s the defensive part that I think is where we fell apart today.”

Ivey pointed to the opening minutes as decisive.

“We always want to start the game with a defensive-mindset intensity, and we didn’t start — it was

See Full Page