Notre Dame 64, Saint Louis 52

Nice to get a win, but this one was a little too close against a mediocre Billiken team. Now it's back to playing cupcakes until UCLA comes to town on the 19th. Then again, the Bruins are 2-3...

Tory Jackson struggled a bit, as the Irish uncharacteristically turned the ball over 15 times. He scored 7, but was only 1-5 from the field. He picked up most of his points from the charity stripe. 2 assists with 3 turnovers in 35 minutes, as well.

Ben Hansbrough was much improved shooting the ball today, as he went away from the long range shot to attack the basket. That's something Kyle McAlarney was never able to do a year ago and will really benefit Ben down the road. He scored 14 and had 5 assists. I'd like to see him find a good mix of driving the basket to go with his outside game so we don't see another game like last night. After you miss two or three, take the ball to the hoop and get a little confidence back before going back to attempting contested threes. 4 turnovers were an issue, however. Aggressive offense is great, but you have to be in control.

Peoples was decent, definitely a step-up from his recent performances, but was once again outshadowed by Abromaitis. 5 points, 6 reounds for Peoples. He was 2-3 from the field, a nice shooting night. However, one shot attempt per ten minutes is not a very good contribution from any player, especially a starter.

Ty Nash was similarly ineffective on offense, but came through with a very nice night on the boards. He recorded only official two shot attempts. Fouled on multiple occasions, he showcased another very frustrating night from line, missing half of his eight shots. He really has to figure that out. What very well could been a double-digit scoring performance was watered down because he could not figure out how to accomplish the most basic of basketball tasks as well as a fifth grader. Spend some more time in the gym, kid. On the plus side, he did finish with 10 rebounds, 3 on offense. That's his game. If he can be the most aggressive player on the court in going after loose balls, he can play a very important role for us.

Harangody played went back to basics a bit, which was nice to see. He did attempt two three pointers, but made one so it's hard to be too frustrated about that tonight. 18 points, 9 rebounds (4 on offense). Once again, I want to point out the improvement on the offensive glass. This is a very important aspect of the game in which we struggled mightily a year ago. Of course, Saint Louis' Willie Reed was much better in this category than anyone in a Notre Dame uniform, but we still showed a little closer to the effort I'd like to see.

Abro had another nice night. 12 points, 4 rebounds, made half his shots from the field and all of his attempts from the foul line. Seven straight double-digit scoring games, the only guy other than Harangody who can boast that stat. Carleton Scott had only 2 points and rebounds in a pretty ho-hum 14 minutes.

The Irish defense held Saint Louis to only 30% from the field, partially due to poor Billiken shooting, but it's always worth mentioning when Notre Dame plays devent defense.

Last game of the Charlie Weis era tonight. Good riddance, let's hope we land someone who can take us to the next level.

EDIT: The only thing worse than this season was watching Stanford rush the field after beating a 6-6 team...