Monday, November 24, 2008

Notre Dame 88, Indiana 50

Boy, that was fun.

In the series that dates back to 1908, the Hoosiers lead 47-21. Tonight was payback. Yes, Indiana is down in its first year under Tom Crean. Yes, they are picked last in the Big Ten and made up almost totally of Jucos and freshmen. This win doesn't mean a whole lot in the long run, but it feels really really good.

To the box score (note: I use ESPN.com, which is notorious for inaccuracies. Any help on getting quick stats would be much appreciated).

As mentioned at halftime, Tory Jackson is becoming one of the best point guards in the country. He took control of the game tonight, scoring 21 and pulling down eight boards. You forget how impressive he can be when he takes over a contest. I'd love to see that intensity tomorrow night matched up with A.J. Abrams.

K-Mac certainly is back. 6-11 from beyond the arc for 18 points. He also used that shooting ability to help out his teammates, shot fakes and three assists off the dribble.

Ryan Ayers finished with 13 and 5. 5-7 shooting overall, a very nice line. I mentioned that I wanted him to step into the game a little more and he was more aggressive with the shot today (though there were more to go around). 1-3 from the free throw line was indicative of poor foul shooting overall as a team.

Zach Hillesland fell into foul trouble early and was taken out of the game. Only two points and three rebounds. This would be more of a disappointment if Luke Zeller wasn't so impressive. If you can get a double-double out of a combination of the two guys, it's a good night.

Luke Harangody only finished with 14 points and five rebounds. What a disappointment. Time to bench him. I kid, of course, and it was nice to see the Irish play so well with a "down" game for Harangody. You know he is good for 20 and 10 most nights, so an easy workload in this rout means good things for the rest of the tournament.

Luke Zeller cooled off a bit shooting in the second half. However, a first double-double of his career was well-earned. Hats off to the guy who has struggled so much in his promising career. While Harangody nabbed his first double-double in his second collegiate contest, the former Indiana Mr. Basketball has had more trouble in his transition to college post play. Congratulations, Luke. You have always worked hard and given your all for the University. Here's to your career finishing out on a high note.

Peoples has a rough game shooting, but contributed under the basket with three boards. Ty Nash grabbed four, including three offensive rebounds. Carleton Scott impressed with his athleticism, as usual, but missed a breakaway dunk. Andree and Kopko both scored.

Great win to start the week. Foul shooting (2-7) needs to improve, but we have been steady in previous years. Outrebounding the Hoosiers by eleven is a good sign, as is holding IU under 40% shooting and 1-12 from beyond the arc.

We play Texas tomorrow after their win. If is at 7 Eastern. The Longhorns are very talented and ranked #7 in the country. It will be a test, but a win gives the team a shot at UNC. It will be interesting to see how both squads play in a tough early season contest.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

tory had another productive game, his penetration and keeping the dribble are adding another dimension. Kyle is coming out of his shooting slump. Watch out. Luke H. was Luke H. Ayers is underated. Peoples didn't do much. Zellars keeps getting better. Zach rebounds well but other than an occasional screen,needs to do more. Ty is coming around. Scott is athletic. Kopko shows he could be a suprise.

MJenks said...

I know you said that the World Wide Leader's stats can be off, but Inside the Hall had the rebounding disparity at 40-23.

Also, Indiana has a LOT of walk-ons. Their only returning players are walk-ons. But, hey, that's the price you pay when you hire a known scoundrel like Sampson.

Anonymous said...

Texas will be interesting.I think at this point in the season we have the edge due to experience. Tory really is on fire so far this season - 8 boards, 6 assists and 21 points. Gotta love that.

Don't worry about the foul shooting. They'll get it on track.

I also have to say, Kmac looks a lot better on defense this year.

MJenks said...

Could the foul shooting simply have been an artifact of them playing a far inferior team? I mean, I like Indiana and all, but they're a freaking JV squad. At best.

I guess we'll see how this goes tonight. Should be one of the best games here during the early season, and then Syracuse and Kansas going at it later.

Anonymous said...

We at Marquette would like to congratulate ND for crushing Tan Cream by 38. Crean loves these early season tournaments because he likes the hype he gets. Even though he knows IU isn't much this year, this absolute beatdown will still get under his skin. May you have long-time and glorious success against your intrastate rival.

BlackandGreen said...

Good to know we have the respect and support of one of our biggest hoops rivals. At least we can agree on one thing this basketball season.

As for the foul shooting, it could be a simple lack of concentration, but I think it is more of a result of early season jitters. This is a good free throw shooting team and they will turn it around.

Golden Monkey said...

My prediction....

Ayers or Zeller will disappear tonight, maybe both. We'll have trouble rebounding and probably get beat. I sure hope I'm wrong but I have to be honest.

GO IRISH!

Anonymous said...

Just an aside, there was an interview with Barnes [the Texas coach] during the Notre Dame game... all I can say is he sounded dead scared about playing ND.

BlackandGreen said...

This is a good test, a second weekend-type of game. Certainly a game we should hope to win, but I wouldn't be surprised with anything tonight.

Anonymous said...

i hate indiana. loved that we beat them so badly-- only thing im upset about is that they even scored!