Notre Dame tops Villanova in college basketball game honoring Pope Leo XIV

ROME — Villanova had Pope Leo XIV's support and many more traveling fans. Notre Dame scored the most when it counted, though.

The Fighting Irish produced a late comeback for a 74-72 win in the men's game that opened the college basketball season in Rome on Sunday.

Brady Koehler scored key baskets down the stretch for the Irish, who trailed for most of the second half.

Villanova standout Tyler Perkins fouled out with 16.3 seconds to go. He led the Wildcats with 18 points.

Both teams are unranked in the preseason AP Top 25.

Koehler and Braeden Smith led Notre Dame, which has 10 new players, with 16 points each.

Up next is a women's game between the two Catholic universities. The doubleheader, dubbed the Eternal City Tip-Off, was created to honor the first American pope, who was not in attendance for the games.

But Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV did receive all four teams in an audience at the Vatican on Saturday.

"I've been a part of some really cool things and this is right at the top of the list of experiences," Notre Dame men's coach Micah Shrewsberry said. "We played two road games in the (preseason) and it came in handy because the Villanova fans were loud."

At the Vatican a day earlier, Leo told the teams from alma mater Villanova and fellow Catholic university Notre Dame that in matters of sport, the pontiff was neutral.

Then the pope, who was born Robert Prevost, said his former self might disagree.

"Prevost has another opinion, but we won't do that now," he said to laughs during a whooping, cheering audience of 7,000 people from both schools — players, coaches, fans and their families — in the Vatican audience hall.

Inside the basketball arena, many Villanova fans wore Wildcats jerseys featuring the name of "Pope Leo" and a "XIV" for his number.

Leo graduated in 1977 with a bachelor of science in mathematics from Villanova, the Augustinian school near Philadelphia. He was born in Chicago — not all that far from Notre Dame, which is located in South Bend, Indiana.

Villanova fans also held aloft a banner featuring Pope Leo depicted wearing a Villanova jersey reaching out to the university's president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, in a playful scene reminiscent of Michelangelo's fresco in the Sistine Chapel.

"We just had a (tough) loss, but this has been a phenomenal experience, a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Villanova men's coach Kevin Willard said.

"To see (the pope's) love for Villanova. To see what he's done for the Catholic Church and really for people all over, it was, I don't have the words to be perfectly honest with you, that's how special it was. And we're just blessed that it happened," Willard added.

The games were being played at the 11,000-seat Palazzo dello Sport, which is located about a half-hour drive from the Vatican. Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who was considered a candidate for pope until Leo was elected last year, was at the arena.

The schools also brought their team chaplains to Rome.

The women's game features the only ranked team of the day in No. 13 Notre Dame.

The games are being played on All Saints' Day — a major Catholic holiday.

Before tipoff, there was a moment of prayer and the U.S. and Italian national anthems were sung.