A nice solid win in the final game of the regular season sends the seniors off on a high note but reminds us of what should have been this year.
Thge Irish shot 50% from the floor, but more importantly held the Red Storm to 29% shooting (a decrease from 45%) to avoid a second loss to St. John'.
Tory Jackson did not start, both an attempt to send a message to the off-and-on point guard and an opportunity to let captain Luke Zeller start his final regular season game. Tory responded well with 9 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists. Most important stat of the day was Jackson's lack of turnovers.
Kyle McAlarney played more point guard than usual, resulting in 5 assists, and scored 8 points following an emotional Senior Day ceremony. Mac clearly was the fan favorite and gave the students in attendence a nice little wave.
Ryan Ayers shot very well. 15 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds. 4-6 from beyond the arc. Brother and recruit Cameron was in attendence today and stood on the floor for the ceremony alongside Ryan and mom.
8 rebounds for Zach Hillesland as he returned from injury. That is his second highest total of the Big East season. Added 6 assists and 3 steals to offset just scoring 4 points. Where has this overall production been all year?
Luke Harangody was back at full force. 31 points, 12 rebounds. 13-22 from the field. Perhaps most importantly, 2-3 beyond the arc. If he can show that consistent soft touch from outside, he will earn a living at the next level.
Luke Zeller started but only played 18 minutes. 5 points, nothing else. Ty Nash gave us 4 rebounds in 15 minutes. Only 5 minutes for Peoples and mop-up duty for Scott and Andree.
17-13 (8-10). That's where we stand after a long season of basketball. By the end of this weekend, everything will be wrapped up for the Big East regular season and we can focus on the tournaments. Let's see what happens.
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4 comments:
How did we lose to St. John's? That team is terrible.
Officiating needs to be addressed by the NCAA. Quite simply, those guys mailed it in last night. No travels called that I can remember and rough play under the boards that was not controlled. These guys are calling games every night all over the country. The NCAA needs to set a limit on # of games per week that they can work.
St. John's fans behind their bench were entertaining - joining in the ND cheers and having byplay with the students. I commend them for staying in good spirits. Watching St. John's all year could not have been fun.
i think we make the tourny if we win our first 3 games:
Rutgers,WVU, Pitt/Louisville
that would leave us at 20-14
with wins over: Providence, Texas. Louisville, Gtown, Lville/Pitt, WVU
It's possible, especially since the loss would come to a top-notch team. We haven't even won two BET games in a row yet as a program, so history is against us.
Had we beaten St. John's in January, I'd feel a lot better about our chances. You can't drop gimmie games in this league.
As for last night, however, I completely agree about the refs and the fans. We've seen a couple brawls this season and fatigue has to be a factor. If 18-22 year olds only play twice a week, 60 years olds shouldn't be held to a higher standard.
St. John's had a great support group behind the bench last night, best I have seen all year. They cheered loudly, but were not obnoxious and took catcalls from the ND student section in good humor. Big tip of the hat to them.
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