SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Even as Fort Wayne made a run Tuesday night, No. 23 Notre Dame stayed calm.The Fighting Irish saw a 27-point lead in the second half whittled down to nine with under 3 minutes left, but they hit their free throws down the stretch to close out an 87-72 win over the Mastodons.Bonzie Colson had his sixth straight double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Steve Vasturia scored 21 points for the Fighting Irish (9-0). They are off to their fastest start in coach Mike Breys 17 seasons -- and the schools best since opening 12-0 in 1973.We handled our business, Brey said. I thought we were poised and knew we werent going to get beat. We just kind of adjusted and figured it out.IPFW used a 20-5 run to get within single digits with 2:48 to go after Charles Ruise Jr.s one-handed floater in the lane.Four straight free throws by Matt Farrell, including a pair following a technical foul on Fort Wayne coach John Coffman, helped seal it for Notre Dame.We knew they were going to have their run, Colson said. We just stayed composed and stayed together.Fort Wayne native V.J. Beachem added 14 points, Farrell had 12 and Colson hit a career-high three 3-pointers.Hes a special guy, Brey said of Colson. He just is really confident and growing. Some of the stuff hes doing outside the arc, step-back 3s, stepping up. I just want to let him keep blossoming.Mo Evans scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half to lead Fort Wayne (7-3), which had won six straight -- including an upset of then-No. 3 Indiana in overtime. John Konchar added a season-high 18 points to go with nine rebounds for the Mastodons.Bryson Scott, who came in averaging 16.9 points and was shooting better than 62 percent from the floor over his last six games, missed all 10 of his field goal attempts and finished with two points.That is a really stingy defense that sits in gaps and really makes you work to get good shots, Coffman said. I dont think we put our best attack and toughness out there on the floor.Seldom-used reserve John Mooneys putback dunk with a second left gave the Irish a 41-23 lead at the break, the fewest points Notre Dame has allowed in the first half this season.A 10-2 Irish run over the first 4 minutes of the second half pushed their lead to 27.In a matchup of the nations No. 10 scoring offense (Notre Dame at 89.1 points per game) and No. 11 scoring offense (Fort Wayne at 88.7 ppg), it was the Irish defense that gave the Mastodons fits early.IPFW entered ninth in the country in field goal percentage, but started cold, hitting just four of its first 15 shots while the Irish built a 14-point lead 12 minutes into the game.I just think our focus level wasnt where it should have been, Evans said. We came out and we dug ourselves a hole.The Mastodons made only one of their first 14 tries from 3-point range, but shot 58 percent from the field in the second half to fuel their comeback.POLL IMPLICATIONSThe Irish will have a chance to make a major rise over the next two weeks, with ranked teams Villanova and Purdue coming up on the schedule. Fort Wayne received one vote this week, but likely wont factor into next weeks poll.FAIR SHOOTINGMartinas Gebens missed free throw early in the second half snapped a string of 31 straight makes from the foul line for Notre Dame. The Irish, who came in leading the country in free throw shooting at 85.8 percent, finished 20 of 23 from the line.Its definitely a weapon, Vasturia said. Its been a great advantage for us to get in the bonus early.BIG PICTUREFort Wayne: Was the win over Indiana on Nov. 22 just a fluke? After crashing back to reality against Notre Dame, the Mastodons will try to right the ship in their final three non-conference games before Summit League play starts.Notre Dame: The Irish, the last undefeated team left in the ACC, did what the Hoosiers could not in putting away Fort Wayne. Now, Notre Dame heads into its big matchup against No. 1 Villanova with plenty of momentum.UP NEXTFort Wayne: Before beginning a stretch of eight days between games, the Mastodons return home Saturday to face Austin Peay, a team they already beat once this season, 103-99 in Clarksville, Tennessee.Notre Dame: The Irish face their toughest stretch of the season to date, heading to Newark, New Jersey, to meet No. 1 Villanova on Saturday, followed by a matchup in Indianapolis with No. 18 Purdue a week later. Clay Matthews Packers Jersey . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. 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The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. OKLAHOMA CITY -- Russell Westbrook is a multi-millionaire basketball player, far removed from the rough community he came from in the Los Angeles area.When the Thunder All-Star learned about the recent police shootings of Terence Crutcher in Tulsa and Keith Scott in Charlotte, his mind went right back to his old neighborhood.Me growing up in the inner city and being able to see different things on a night in and day in, day out basis -- it hit home for me, just being able to see the different things thats going on globally, and giving people across the world an opportunity to see it, Westbrook said at Thunder media day on Friday. Now, its getting to a point that theres something that needs to be changed in that aspect. Im going to use my voice as much as possible to relay that aspect.Crutcher, 40, was shot Sept. 16. Police say the unarmed black man was shot by a white police officer, Betty Shelby, who has been charged with manslaughter. Tulsa is just a two-hour drive from Oklahoma City. Westbrook said the impact goes way beyond the incidents themselves.A lot of people dont realize the families of all these young men, Westbrook said. Their mothers, brothers, sisters, uncles. I think its very important that we understand how the families feel throughout these situations.Westbrook said he plans to use his platform to help find solutions.Me, being an African American athlete and having a voice, I think its important that its important that I make a stand that something has to change, he said. I think that -- obviously, I dont have an answer. Nobody has an answer. If that was the case, we would have fixed it. But its important that we try to figure out what we can do to help improve the things thats going on.Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot in Charlotte on Tuesday by a police officer. Both menn are black.dddddddddddd Thunder player Anthony Morrow, who is from Charlotte, was shaken by the shooting in his hometown.Obviously, Im sad, that being in my own personal city, he said. Its a very unfortunate, sad situation. Its a sad and unfortunate time that were in right now. It really hit home with me with it being Tulsa, then the next day, Charlotte. Its just something that, weve got to continue to pray and try to find the right answer or medium, because right now, its kind of all or nothing. So Im praying for my city and Tulsa and everywhere else.San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has chosen not to stand during the national anthem, saying he wouldnt show pride in the flag of a country that oppresses black people and people of color.Earlier this week, NBA players received a memo from the league and the National Basketball Players Association saying both were working on finding substantive ways to take meaningful action and effect `positive change.Neither Westbrook nor Morrow revealed whether they would stand for the anthem. Morrow said he has no issue if an athlete protests.If youve got a voice and youve got a stage and you feel like expressing yourself, I totally understand that, he said.Thunder general manager Sam Presti said Wednesday that, though hed prefer the players stand, he respects their right to free speech.We want to learn how we can help them take the symbol (flag) and try to create platforms for action, Presti said. And I think thats one of the great roles that any organization can play, especially here in Oklahoma City, which is great, given our relationship with the community.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP ' ' '