Notre Dame bests Villanova in Eternal City Tip-Off basketball games

ROME — Notre Dame defeated Villanova in the D1 college basketball season openers on Sunday, Nov. 1, with final scores of 74-72 for the men’s game and 99-75 for the women’s. The Eternal City Tip-Off games, held in Rome, pitted two schools with “shared faith-based traditions and championship pedigrees” against each other in the historically Catholic capital of Italy.

Fans, students, faculty, staff, and alumni from Villanova University and the University of Notre Dame filled Rome’s Palazzo dello Sport, a massive arena that seats more than 11,000, to cheer on their men’s and women’s teams in a matchup that was inspired by Pope Leo’s election as the first American pope. After a weekend of welcome receptions, tourism opportunities, and scheduled events, including a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and a papal audience, energy in the stadium was high before the men’s tipoff at 3:30 p.m. local time.

Before the game, Villanova fans confidently expected a Wildcat win: Tom McKernan, a Villanova alumnus from Philadelphia, joked: “We’re not playing [Notre Dame] in football, so I think we have the upper hand. We definitely have more crowd support today, so I’m looking for a big Villanova…