Mike Brey talked a lot this last week about using the lessons from the loss to Ohio State last Saturday to get his player’s attention against Boston University this Saturday.
It became obvious early against Boston that the message must have gotten lost in translation, because throughout a difficult tussle with the Terriers, all the problems that hurt Notre Dame against the Buckeyes were on full display against its American East opponent.
No. 12 Notre Dame survived a noble attempt at a Boston upset in a stressful 74-67 win. The Joyce Center winning streak is now at 41 games, if even just barely.
“I’m really proud of our guys because we were on the ropes a number of times against a good team,” Brey said of a game that featured five ties and 12 lead changes “And I wondered why I scheduled them the more I watched tape of them all week.”
The homecourt streak appeared in jeopardy throughout this one – a game that was supposed to be a laugher, not a thriller. And if the Brey’s message didn’t get across last week, there’s plenty more ammo to try again this week.
Notre Dame trailed 66-64 with just three minutes left in the game before making a late push to finish with a 10-1 run to hold on for the win. Ryan Ayers hit the biggest shot of the night when his three-point shot from the left wing finally gave Notre Dame the lead for good at 70-67 with 1:20 left in the game.
“I want to be a guy who can make big plays at key times, and it obviously does something for my confidence,” said Ayers who finished with 10 points and five rebounds. “I feel like I can do it, anybody on our team can. We thrive on that kind of pressure. We’d rather not be in it, but we can be in it.”
It was clear early on that this was going to be a survival test for the Irish. Notre Dame went through motions in the first half, allowing Boston to win all the hustle categories, most notably rebounding and loose ball battles. The Terriers jumped to a 15-5 lead six minutes into the game with a 9-0 scoring run, a decisive advantage in rebounding and five Irish turnovers.
The Irish made only two of their first nine shots as it fell behind. They climbed back in it and took a brief lead, before Boston responded with a 7-0 run to finish the half for a 33-27 halftime lead. It was a season low for points in a half by the Irish.
“They got out of the gate fast and we were scratching and clawing the whole game,” Brey said. “I’m glad we were in one of these and found a way to win it because I know in league play, we’re going to be in this kind of stuff a bunch.”
The indifference in the first half for Notre Dame was stunning, and with it, Boston grew more confident and ornerier the longer it stayed in the game. This one wasn’t supposed to feature two ties and four lead changes in the last six minutes of the game.
“We knew it was going to be tough, we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, even when we scouted them,” said Irish junior Tory Jackson. “We knew it was going to be tough but we did a good job of just sticking to our gameplan and just pulling a tough one out.”
With seven minutes to go in the first half, Boston – a team that was getting beaten by four rebounds a game before Saturday – held a 22-11 rebounding advantage on Notre Dame. Adding to the frustration was that better rebounding was a point of emphasis for the Irish during the past week.
At the break, Notre Dame trailed Boston in rebounding 29-16, and allowed the Terriers 13 offensive boards. Boston missed 25 shots in the first half and Harangody was the only Irish player to secure more than two rebounds. For the game, Notre Dame was outrebounded 44-37 and Haragody secured 15 of the boards while the rest of the Irish combined for 22.
“Always a concern, continually,” Brey said when asked about the rebounding issues the last two games. “We miss old Rob Kurz in there right now. It is something we are going to have to comeback and address.”
We’ve talked a lot on BlueandGold.com this week about the formula teams use to beat the Irish (7-2). Smother Kyle McAlarney on the perimeter, keep the score down, and outwork the Irish on the boards are the three primary ingredients, and Boston (5-4) was able to do all three through essentially the entire game, and the result was a near upset that would have been tough to explain on Selection Sunday.
The Irish improved on the boards in the second half, played better offense to take a couple of brief leads at 43-42 and 49-48. But the feisty Terriers countered with a barrage of terrific three-point shooting that never allowed the Irish to hold the lead for more than a possession until late in the game.
To the credit of Notre Dame, the Irish remained poised down the stretch, outscored Boston 47-34 after halftime and got good contributions and key plays from a variety of players.
Led by Harangody with 23 points, Notre Dame had four in double figures, including Zach Hillesland with 11, McAlarney with 16 and Ayers.
Notre Dame can count its blessings as it enters a light week ahead with final exams. It will return to action Delaware State Dec. 20 and Savannah State Dec. 22, before opening conference play Dec. 31 at DePaul.
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