Notre Dame 86, North Florida 65

Very, very good win to start the year. North Florida did outscore the Irish by ten in the second half, but a 47-16 lead at the break allowed Coach Brey to play every guy on the bench, including Mike Broghammer and Jack Cooley for nine minutes a piece.

Tory Jackson was just about flawless from the point guard position. 9 points, 7 assists running the offense. He only turned the ball over once and shot 3-4 from the field, all three point attempts. He was only on the floor for 27 minutes, his second shortest non-injury shortened stint since sophomore year. It's nice to see our floor leader get a break out there for once.

Ben Hansbrough really impressed with his ability to knock down three pointers. The whole team was on fire today, but Hansbrough led the way with a 5-5 outing. 19 points in the contest, plus 4 assists to boot. If he can continue to stretch the defense with outside shooting, our additional athelticism in the rotation could lead to a more potent offense overall than last season.

Jonathan Peoples earned another start and played rather well. 11 points, 3 assists with some solid three point shooting, as well. This is about as good as it gets for Johnny, however, and I hope to see Tim Abromaitis get more playing time after a very strong game today.

Ty Nash had a bit of a ho-hum performance in the post. 4 points, 3 rebounds in 24 minutes. He did grab 3 steals and looked like one of our better defenders out there all day. He did miss half of his free throw attempts, a major problem last year.

Luke Harangody also struggled a bit with his scoring, which just made our 21-point win all the more impressive. 19 points and 7 assists, but most of his scoring came from the charity stripe. In sharp contrast to Nash, 'Gody was silky smooth from the line, knocking down all nine shots he attempted. That's what a veteran big man does when his game is a bit off (5-12 from the field). He drew fouls, picked up some free points for the team, and kept the Ospreys from ever making this a close contest.

Off the bench, Abro looked great. 13 points, 4 rebounds in just 21 minutes. He shot 3-4 from beyond the arc and also knocked down a couple shots inside the arc. More opportunities for this guy, please. LaPhonso Ellis, our radio commentator who will soon be moving to ESPN, has liked him from the start. I would not be surprised to see the Alumni Hall resident in the starting lineup before the beginning of conference play. Carleton Scott struggled a bit, missing his three attempts from long range. It is increasingly looking like only Tim has a shot of knocking Peoples out of the starting lineup. Broghammer and Cooley played rather well in their nine minutes a piece, some good experience for both guys. Joey Brooks played four minutes, the walk-ons two. Thomas Knight did not see the floor, I have to think he will redshirt.

Next game is Monday. Another easy win and wide playing time distribution will put us on the right track for the Chicago tournament.

North Florida Preview

We started playing the Ospreys a couple years ago because former Irish assistant Matt Kilcullen was their longtime head coach. He has since been reassigned into the administration. So hopefully this will be a nice homecoming for him and the Irish clean up once again.

Last season, North Florida really struggled, finishing 8-22. This year, only one double-digit scorer is back. That's #23 Eni Cuka. He scored 13.2 points per game and knocked down 37.5% of his three-point attempts last season, his first as a significant player in the rotation. Stan Januska is back as well, a 6'6" wingman who played 28 minutes a contest a year ago. After those two, the minutes distribution seems to spread out a bit, with several guys who played about 20 minutes a game last year return. Their eight-man rotation is much more evenly dispersed than what we have been accustomed to watching at Notre Dame.

This game should be on a pretty similar level to what we have seen already in exhibition contests. Get an easy win, play a couple of the freshmen, and let's go 1-0 on the young season.

Notre Dame 77, North Florida 58

A very snowy New Year's Eve in South Bend. As previously mentioned, I was unable to attend tonight's game, but I'll give the basic statistical rundown.

The Irish got off to a slow start, holding only a one-point lead eight minutes into the contest. The first half was highlighted by little offense for both teams, Notre Dame holding the 27-18 advantage.

In the 2nd half, an 18-0 run got the Irish enough room to breathe and the team cruised to the 19 point final margin.

Kyle McAlarney was very cold, shooting only 1-9 from three point range. He ended up with nine points, but killed some possessions with bad shot selection. Ryan Ayers definitely needs to step into a bigger scoring role when Mac's shots aren't falling.

Tory Jackson did very well distributing the ball, finishing with 10 assists and grabbing eight rebounds, but fouled out. With no points tonight, I am beginning to worry whether we will ever see his scoring ability again, like in the Georgetown tournament game last year. He's another player who needs to be able to create his own shot when other guys cannot.

Ayers had another solid overall night, 10 points and 6 rebounds. Again I would like to see him be more proactive with a cold McAlarney, especially on a night when Zach Hillesland is out with a mild ankle sprain (precautionary reasons, will be in the lineup Thursday).

Luke Harangody was good with 22 points and 6 rebounds. Was held down by four fouls, which may have hindered his play on the boards.

Rob Kurz was the clear player of the game, 23 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. Nice to see him take control after being quietly solid for the past few contests.

Jonathan Peoples had six points and two assists in 22 minutes. Luke Zeller had seven and three boards. Nash and Abro got a minute each. A little surprising not to see them receive more playing time in Zach's absence, but Coach Brey mentioned previously that he would stick to the normal rotation today. I assume that against a tougher opponent we would see more of the freshmen with only seven active veterans.

Shot 43% from the floor, 30% from three-point range. Only outrebounded the Ospreys by 5, had a too-high number of turnovers (12), and three guys with 4 fouls or more. Not an overwhelming performance, but it go the job done. As long as we improve for the West Virginia and UCONN games, we should be in good shape.

That's it for 2007, I'll start some Big East previews tomorrow. Have a good one.

New Year's Eve

Good morning, all. There is a game today against North Florida which should be a fun last tuneup for the boys. UNF is 0-10 against Division 1 opponents this season and has an RPI of 339. There are 341 teams in Division 1 basketball. We should see a lot of minutes for the freshmen and walkons today, maybe for the last time this season.

It's a great opportunity for the team to get their act together before Big East play commences this week. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend, so I will try to do a limited game recap with the box score and whatnot late this afternoon or tonight.

Have a happy last day of 2007. Here's to a new year filled with peace, tranquility, and wins for the Irish.