Notre Dame played its first of two exhibition games Friday night, rolling to a 103-64 victory.
Mike Brey stated in his preseason press conference that his team has plenty of leadership to help maintain an even keel in the face of enormous national expectations (the Irish are ranked No. 9 in the Preseason USA Today Coaches’ Poll). That was reiterated symbolically when Brey named four captains for the season.
The two toughest, grittiest players not only on the Irish but in the nation are juniors Tory Jackson and national Player-of-the-Year candidate, Luke Harandgody.
NAIA entrant Briar Cliff provided the competition in the exhibition opener. They did not show up and lay down for the Irish. In fact, they got the better of the play early in the first half and enjoyed a 19-18 lead.
From there, the Irish turned up the defensive pressure and ran off nine straight to gain control of the game. After suffering through a few bouts of stagnant offense and utilizing very few screens in the first outing since the graduation of Rob Kurz (who used to do a majority of the dirty work), the Irish used crisp passing to get a series of easy baskets.
On defense, Notre Dame yielded too many open three-point looks when sitting back in a 2-3 zone, and Chase Vander Feen and Drew Hanson made them pay with two and three early treys, respectively. Jonathan Peoples entered the game and gave the team a boost of energy with his stifling defense.
Hillesland missed the contest as he recovers from a preseason injury. He was replaced in the starting lineup by Zeller (12 points, 6 rebounds).
Harangody scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. He looked to work on his offensive game in its totality, which he hopes will include the three-point shot, even though he could have scored at will in the low post. He was 0-2 from long distance.
“Shooting from the perimeter is something that I am looking to add to my game, but my bread and butter is still working under the basket,” he said after the game.
All five starters scored in double figures, led by Ayers’ 21 and Jackson’s 18. Brey liked Ayers’ aggressiveness.
“He took it to the basket a little bit tonight. He is getting more selfish with his shots, which is what we need him to do,” Brey said.
The statistic with which Brey was most pleased was the free throw shooting. The Irish converted on 18 of their 21 attempts (85.7%).
“That is such a great weapon for this team.”
Notre Dame led at halftime, 46-34, and collected assists on 20 of their 38 field goals in the game. Brey wants the Irish to lead the nation in assists per game this year, as they did last year with more than 18 per contest. Jackson led the way with 7 and McAlarney (11 points) chipped in with 4.
The most interesting battle for playing time outside of the top seven rotation (Jackson, McAlarney, Ayers, Harangody, Zeller, Hillesland and Jonathan Peoples) that Brey plans on using is for the eighth and perhaps final spot in that rotation when the games are still in doubt.
That battle features sophomores Tyrone Nash (2 points), Carleton Scott (6 points, 6 rebounds and a blocked shot) and Tim Abromaitis (8 points and 4 rebounds). Scott was the first one off of the bench and both he and Nash played five minutes in the first half while Abromaitis didn’t play at all. Scott played early in the second half and sparked the team with shot blocks on consecutive defensive trips and a basket on the other end in between.
Abromaitis made his first appearance with 9:06 to go in the second half and immediately hit a baseline three. A few trips later, he completed a traditional three-point play off an offensive rebound and a foul on his put-backfield goal.
Nash sat out the final 10 minutes of the second half while icing his right ankle but the injury did not appear to be serious.
The Irish host Stonehill next Sunday at the Joyce in their final exhibition game.
Notes:
*The night began with a moment of silence for Father James Riehle, who passed away this week.
*Recruit Thomas Knight (6-foot-8, 240-pound power forward) was at the game on his official visit to Notre Dame.
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