Baylor 68, Notre Dame 64

The Irish folded in an extremely disappointing way tonight. At least one Notre Dame team has to disappoint right?

Awful shooting overall and poor decision making down the stretch killed the team against Baylor. Tomorrow's opponent will be Georgia Tech, not the rematch with Winthrop as had been hoped.

Luke Harangody got absolutley no help from his teammates, scoring 22 of the team's points. He shot 9-14 from the floor, one the only two ND players over 50%. 8 rebounds, 3 fouls. He did have 4 turnovers, but still finished as the only ND starter with a passing grade for the everning's performance.

Rob Kurz was surprisingly quite disappointing. 13 points on 2-11 shooting is not acceptable for a post player of his caliber. Adds in 5 rebounds, but had 4 fouls that really held him back.

Kyle McAlarney played almost the entire contest, with very very little to show for his efforts. 1 of 11 shooting from the floor. 1 for 11. That's not what we need from the guy expected to replace Colin Falls as a three-point threat. It's a bad night to be sure, but most of the time you could count on someone else to pull the team up. Not so tonight.

Tory Jackson picked up 2 early fouls, which limited his 1st half play, but still finished 2-8 from the floor. 0 for 4 from three-point range. Did have 3 assists and 3 steals, but could not put the ball in the basket.

Correction on the earlier comment about Zeller and Harangody being the only two who made half their shots. From the early Game Tracker statistics, it looks like Ryan Ayers was 3 of 6. 3 of 5 was from three point land. Good for him. 3 rebounds and 3 fouls to go with it. Not a great overall effort, but the shooting was quite solid.

Zeller was the third with 50% shooting. Made 2, shot 4. 6 points, 3 rebounds in 15 minutes. One of his better performances statistically in such few minutes.

Peoples was very solid having to sub for Jackson most of the 1st half. 20 minutes overall. 2 assists, no turnovers.

Hillesland had 5 rebounds, not much else.

Saddest about tonight was how the team folded down the stretch. Baylor did not lead until the closing minutes and the Irish simply could not answer when they needed to. It's not as big an upset as some of the other major teams have faced, but this is simply unacceptable.

The numbers are pretty bad. 33% shooting. 3 less rebounds than Baylor. Only 22 defensive boards. 4 players with 3 fouls, 2 with 4. Play like that against a legitamite Big East foe and we will get run out of the gym.

This team must win against Georgia Tech tomorrow to get anything out of this trip. Forget the big win against Monmouth, losing 2 games in a tournament with this weak a field should not happen. The Yellow Jackets are probably the 2nd most talented team in the field, next to the Irish. They are lead by Anthony Morrow, who averaged 24 ppg prior to today's loss. Jeremis Smith and Alade Aminu both contributed 13 a game. Morrow and Aminu are the top rebounders. Four players average three assists. Georgia Tech lost 83-74 to UNC Greensboro to start the season and are 2-2 after today's game. They will certainly come out fighting.

If we can pull off a victory tomorrow, one can hope that watching Winthrop or Baylor lift the trophy will inspire the team to play even harder the rest of the year. Either way, today's disappointing loss has ruined the squad's vacation to the Virgin Islands. No more beach parties. It's time to take care of business.