Never in doubt, which is nice for a change. The Irish fired on all cylinders on offense throughout and put the game away early with some really good defense. IUPUI shot below 40% from the field for the game and wouldn't have been within 30 if Nobles and Young hadn't shot well from beyond the arc.
Tory Jackson was able to play, which was great to see. He wasn't terribly effective, but that knee might still have been bothering him a little bit. He'll have to suck it up again with a game on Saturday, but then will get a full week to rest before UCLA. 5 points and 4 assists, but his shot was off all night, even from the foul line.
With Jackson a little dinged up, the team did a great job spreading the ball around. Five guys finished with at least three assists. Ben Hansbrough had 5. He also shot very well, his first really good game from three point range since St. Francis, the second contest of the year. He had a season high 22 points on 6-8 shooting.
Tim Abromaitis was great once again. He joined in with Hansbrough in attacking the zone with deadeye long range shooting. He scored 18 and made half of his three point shots. After the game, he talked about how the team was able to play high-intensity defense from the get-go and keep this from turning into another fight. Indeed, that was nice to see. We're not going to hold every team to 22 in the first half, but good defense can really set the tone from the tip.
Ty Nash played pretty well again. He's not going to be a star out there, but he focused on playing a big role in the paint and was did his part. He had a decent night on offense with 8 points on 4-6 shooting and pulled down 5 boards.
Luke Harangody was successful against IUPUI's smaller forwards, but really didn't have to do too much. That's a good sign for Notre Dame. 16 points on only 12 shots, his fewest attempts of the season. He took what the defense gave him, but allowed our other players to contribute. The more we can spread scoring around, the better the Irish will play against good competition. On defense, he finished with 5 blocks which ties his career-high. Also 11 rebounds, as ND controlled the boards very nicely.
Off the bench, Peoples wasn't too bad. He had 6 points and 6 rebounds, but was very cold on a few three-point attempts. Carleton Scott had 4 points, 4 rebounds, and showed off that athleticism with a few blocks. With Jackson healthy, the rotation stayed pretty much the same until mopup time. Broghammer played seven late minutes and had a couple nice dunks. Joey Brooks picked up 5 quick points as well. Cooley had a couple assists and we even saw the walkons for a couple minutes a piece.
Whereas the Irish showed a complete inability to attack Northwestern's 1-3-1, they played IUPUI's matchup zone well all night. Panther coach Ron Hunter said we were the best team they've played all year, a nice compliment considering that Kansas State is a pretty solid team. He also mentioned how Hansbrough and Abro will keep teams from doubling Harangody.
The preview played itself out pretty well. Nobles and Young both shot well. Glenn picked up 19 points, but had his second worst shooting night of the year. He's a talented player and probably would have had more if we hadn't gotten him into foul trouble. Still, nice job overall on defense. The Irish held IUPUI twelve percentage points lower than their season average and grabbed eight more rebounds. Twenty-two assists, another nice sign of spreading the ball around, double-digits in team blocks. Great game all the way around.
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5 comments:
"#23 Robert Glenn is a skinny 6'7" forward. Good luck living up to your 18.3 points per game with a 195 pound body against a Big East team"
This was a bold statement, considering ND doesn't really play defense that is up to par with other Big East defenses.
"Glenn picked up 19 points, but had his second worst shooting night of the year. He's a talented player and probably would have had more if we hadn't gotten him into foul trouble."
Valiant attempt to save face ;)
Good win though!
Your thoughts on the Big East sputtering after their strong start in non conference?
Louisville is the big disappointment with losses to UNLV and charlotte.
Uconn couldn't get it done against Duke or UK which wasn't great for our image either.
IUPUI was flat out terrible - that team gets beat by many D2 and NAIA teams. Brey, to his credit, actually let off the gas a little bit. The sideline histrionics of their coach were annoying as well. Sit down and take your beating and paycheck pal. Where are the students? I'd say there were maybe 100 there last night.
I'll keep saying it - Brooks can play, at least get him some spot minutes. I liked the combination of Scott and Nash in the game at the same time. It would be interesting to see Abro at the 2 (you would probably have to go zone). Paper says 7,600 there last night - that's a good one.
Ha, nice catch on the preview. I was feeling a little overly competitive, which led to some premature smack talk.
I think the Big East bit off a bit more than it could chew early. It's fallen to the third-ranked conference in the country now, which is probably closer to the truth. These nonconference upsets happen to everyone, but we have gotten a bit of a boost with Syracuse beating Carolina and Villanova and West Virginia holding serve. The conference is definitely down from last year, but it's still pretty respectable.
I definitely thought IUPUI would give us more of a game than they did, but I'd like to give the Irish a little credit for making them look so bad.
Abro at the 2 would be interesting. This would be a big lineup and could create some good opportunities for him to get open on the wing. Of course, it would create a bit of a defensive liability and I don't trust our ability to play consistent zone against good teams.
About the student attendence... I tend to be a bit more accepting of it than most. It's cold, we're playing a bunch of cupcakes right now, and finals are coming up. Yeah, those might be weak excuses but the place will fill up against good competition.
It appears that Swanagan's presence is creating positive results. The team is much tougher on the boards and more sound fundamentally (blocking out, setting picks). They are also blocking shots much more than last year. Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott are showing much better understanding of low post play and offensive moves. Keep up the good work Harold.
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