Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Notre Dame 80, Idaho State 70

Final score was much too close for a cupcake game like this, but the Irish were leading by 20 with two minutes to go. To be honest, I'd rather have the final score make the contest seem competitive if that is the price for a freshman or two getting serious playing time.

This game mirrored Kennesaw State a bit. First half was very disappointing, but the team looked rejuvenated coming out of the break with improved defense. This may have been our best game on offense of the year, so it is a little disheartening that the reserves slacked off a bit in the final minute to take away from what should have been a decent margin of victory. To be fair, the Bengals did well to knock down their shots in the last seconds.

Tory Jackson was kind of quiet. He picked up 8 points and 3 assists in 30 minutes with 2 steals and no turnovers. Went 3-7 from the field for a solid night, but nothing spectacular.

Ben Hansbrough made most of his 14 points from the charity stripe. Not a great night shooting from the field, but grabbed 3 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. I like how he can contribute in a variety of ways outside of just shooting three pointers. He's in a bit of a different mold from our last few shooting guards.

Jonathan Peoples was disappointing once again. Hopefully he is ok after sustaining what looked like a bad fall on his neck. He did earn 4 assists to just one turnover, but was dreadful on defense. Contributed nothing shooting the ball, as well. There are times when he looks like the slowest guy on the court.

Ty Nash continues to see his minutes cut by Abro and Scott. He did perform pretty well tonight with 7 points and 4 rebounds. 3-5 from the field. Made one of his two free throw attempts.

Luke Harangody becomes the first player in Irish history with 2000 points and 1000 rebounds. Congrats to him. 27 and 12 tonight, with a couple steals to boot. Drained both of his three point attempts and shot 71% overall. Just about flawless.

Abro and Scott both played over 20 minutes, which was nice to see. Tim had his first single-digit scoring game of the year, but still dropped 9. He was not hot from three point land, but was still able to be successful inside the arc. Carleton scored 8 on a perfect shooting night. Mike Broghammer played 9 minutes and earned 3 points and rebounds. He needs to cut down on the fouling, however. Some experience for Brooks and Cooley, 4 and 3 minutes each.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Abro and Scott should clearly be starting. Peoples did not draw iron on his 2 shot attempts, 0 points for a starter is unacceptable. Luke looked good last night - quick and active inside. He should have had 30 if the refs would have called a couple of fouls where he was hammered. Tory played good defense last night on their guards. ISU's guards were very quick and I thought Tory dug down and played well last night.

Meghan said...

Was anyone else watching on the und.com feed and notice how Jordan Cornette seems to be a huge Peoples fan?

I was glad to see Luke playing to his strengths - needs to keep that up.

BlackandGreen said...

I really don't understand why anyone would be a huge Peoples fan. Coach Brey has mentioned how he has been the most improved player in practice and even been complimentary about his athleticism. All I see when I watch the games is the same old slow and uncoordinated Johnny Peeps.

Anonymous said...

Apparently Noie hinted last night on twitter that we could be seeing Abro and Scott in the starting lineup soon because Brey thinks we're starting too slowly... Would love to see that FWIW.

Anonymous said...

The game was much closer than the score shows. A few more selfish shots, especially airballs from Hansborough, and we would have not be in game at all. I agree Abro and Scott should start, but so should Peoples. Ben is the problem. He has kept Lukes scoring way down, and clearly is a frustration for Tory on the floor. He is not his brother.