Notre Dame 79, Stonehill 47

Basketball as therapy. A solid win gets me back in the right frame of mind after yesterday's disaster on turf.

I was sitting next to a friend of Randall Stallworth during the game. Interesting story about that guy. Received some interest from Seton Hall (his brother's alma mater) and other D1 schools out of high school, but went with the guaranteed free education and playing time at Stonehill. His high school coach knows 76ers guard Andre Miller through some camps and introduced Stallworth to Miller. Long story short, Randall spends his summers at Miller's mansion playing pickup with some guy in the neighborhood named Baron Davis. Just your average life as a D2 baller.

First half, the Skyhawks stuck around by playing solid methodical offense and letting the Irish miss a few layups under the basket. Notre Dame was a bit rusty from the start, but really took over in the second half.

First thought was how impressive Ty Nash looked. Nash has clearly established himself as the 8th man in the rotation. Lots of strength to play inside and has good fundamentals. He could step into the starting lineup next year.

Tory Jackson finished with 15 points and 7 rebounds. Two assists and two steals to go along with that. Nice solid overall game by the point guard with no turnovers. His shot has gotten a bit bitter, looking steady from the line and sinking half his shots from the field.

Kyle McAlarney waited until the second half to really start shooting. By not letting the shots fly early, he failed to establish a really good rhythm, but still was a solid 3-7 from beyond the arc for nine points. Missed a close layup, but was not the only culprit.

Ryan Ayers was not a great offensive force, with only eight points, but also grabbed three rebounds in 23 minutes. 3-7 shooting and 1-2 from long range.

Luke Zeller played very well in 24 minutes. 10 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists. Made half his shots from inside and outside the blue line and also tallied a blocked shot.

Harangody struggled a bit in the beginning with double teams, but got better as the game wore on. 21 points, 10 rebounds. Most importantly, the points came from a variety of looks. He will never look comfortable shooting from outside, but that awkward set shot is effective. His ability to step back and hit the jumper as well as anyone on the roster makes him a scary player. Reports have him turning into a reliable three point target as well. What can't he do?

Off the bench, Peoples was very good with 6 rebounds and 5 assists. No turnovers. The shot was not falling, but he did everything a backup point guard is required to do. Hillesland had 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists. Kind of a quiet game for him. Nash with 6 points and 5 rebounds in 11 minutes. That's a double double if he played just over half the game. Talk about production in a pinch. Scott, Kopko, and Andree all scored in the closing minutes. Abromaitis also got three minutes.

Overall, a very good second half in which we outscored the opponents 50-23 made this a fun game to watch. A little tight at the beginning, but the team never lost its cool and easily pulled away. I'll take that.

With the football team playing 6-3 Navy next week, I might be using Harangody and friends as my personal psychiatrist again. Hopefully they'll help me forget all about this football season by March.