Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 16, 2019 47 MEN'S BASKETBALL lina, Brey's first loss in a regular-season opener in his 20 tries at Notre Dame. Brey pointed to the 9-of-31 three- point shooting, which included a 3-of- 14 effort in the second half, as the pri- mary reason for the 11-point defeat. "We had some great looks and we've got to make more of them to beat a team like that," he said. "We had great looks." The starting Irish backcourt of se- nior T.J. Gibbs and sophomore Pren- tiss Hubb provided Notre Dame with nearly all of its offense. Hubb had a career-high 22 points with six assists, while Gibbs added 19 points and four assists. Together, this duo combined for 9-of-15 three- point shooting. The rest of the Irish went 0 of 16 from long range. With nothing falling from the out- side, Mooney struggled on the inside with 10 points on only 5-of-13 shoot- ing to go with his eight rebounds. "They kept fresh bodies on him," Brey said of North Carolina's defen- sive strategy. "You can get him low- post touches and they loaded up on him. I thought he did a good job of finding open people because they were aware of him. "Those open guys, for us to escape [with a win], you have to make some more of those." LITTLE HELP, PLEASE! Much of the talk during the pre- season was how Brey's celebrated sharpshooting recruiting class of 2018 was now a year older, more bat- tle tested and on an upswing. In 39 minutes against North Caro- lina, the four members of the now sophomore class who came off the bench and played — forward Nate Laszewski, and guards Dane Goodwin, Robby Carmody and Chris Doherty — combined for 4-of-19 shooting (0 of 11 on three-pointers), 11 points and nine rebounds, with almost all of that pro- duction coming late in the second half during mop-up minutes. Even with the poor shooting ef- fort from this group, which was also evident last season (Notre Dame finished 11th in the ACC in three- point shooting at 31.5 percent), and through the first three games this season — the two exhibition games included — Brey told his troops to keep slinging. "We stepped up and fired, we even took a couple that were bad and quick," Brey said. "The way our system has been built through the years is we move it, drive and kick it. If you got it, pull up and take it." Heading into the home opener against Robert Morris Nov. 9 — again, with the two exhibition games added to the loss at North Carolina — the Irish were only 16 of 67 (23.9 percent) from three-point range. Take out Hubb's solid 11-of-22 effort from long range and the rest of the Irish were a troubling 5 of 45 (11.1 percent) through their first three outings. Brey said the sample size remains too small to make any rushed judg- ments on whether the college three- point line being extended out about an inch and a half this season con- tributed to the sluggish shooting. "I didn't want to say anything about it when we started practice," Brey said. "Good shooters shoot from deeper than this line too." ✦ 2019-20 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 6 at North Carolina* L, 76-65 Nov. 9 Robert Morris^ W, 92-57 Nov. 12 Howard^ 7 p.m. Nov. 15 Marshall^ 7 p.m. Nov. 18 Presbyterian 7 p.m. Nov. 21 Toledo^ 7 p.m. Nov. 26 Fairleigh Dickinson 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at Maryland# (ESPN/2) 7:15 p.m. Dec. 7 Boston College* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Dec. 10 Detroit Mercy 7 p.m. Dec. 14 UCLA 7 p.m. Dec. 21 vs. Indiana& 2 p.m. Dec. 29 Alabama A&M 7 p.m. Jan. 4 at Syracuse* (ESPN2/U) 4 p.m. Jan. 8 at NC State* (ESPN2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 11 Louisville* (ESPN) 2 p.m. Jan. 15 at Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 8:30 p.m. Jan. 22 Syracuse* (ESPN/2/U) 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at Florida State* (TBA) 12 p.m. Jan. 29 Wake Forest* (ACCN) 9 p.m. Feb. 1 Georgia Tech* (RSN) 12 p.m. Feb. 5 Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 6:30 p.m. Feb. 9 at Clemson* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 11 at Virginia* (ESPN2/U) 9 p.m. Feb. 15 at Duke* (TBA) 4 p.m. Feb. 17 North Carolina* (ESPN) 7 p.m. Feb. 23 Miami* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 26 at Boston College* (ACCN) 9 p.m. Feb. 29 at Wake Forest* (RSN) 4 p.m. Mar. 4 Florida State* (ESPN2/U) 9 p.m. Mar. 7 Virginia Tech* (ACCN) TBA Mar. 10-14 ACC Tournament$ (ACCN/ESPN) TBA * ACC game; ^ Men Against Breast Cancer Invi- tational; # ACC/Big Ten Challenge; & Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis; $ at Greensboro, N.C.; ACCN — ACC Network Fighting Irish Rebound From Loss To UNC By Crushing Robert Morris Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said after his team's 92-57 dismantling of Robert Morris Nov. 9 that the Fighting Irish coaching staff wanted to see something slightly different offensively than what it had in the two exhibition games and a season-opening 76-65 loss to North Carolina Nov. 6. In those first three games, the Irish were forcing — and not making — their three-point shots, going 16 of 67 as a team (23.9 percent). Instead of relying on the three-point shot, Notre Dame built its offense around a greater emphasis on interior play, and the improved results were dramatic, in both shooting percentage and free throw production. The Irish shot 23 of 32 (71.9 percent) on two-pointers and 22 of 25 (88.0 percent) from the foul line — while going 8 of 22 (36.4 percent) from beyond the arc — in what was a better-balanced performance. "We are trying to drive it a little bit more," Brey said immediately after the win. "And we have drivers, so driving was part of it." Sophomore guard Dane Goodwin paced the Irish with 18 points on 6-of-8 shoot- ing, while senior guard T.J. Gibbs added 15 points and sophomore guards Prentiss Hubb and Robby Carmody each scored 13. Senior forward John Mooney recovered from a tough shooting night against North Carolina with 10 points and 10 rebounds. All told, five Irish players scored in double figures and seven had at least eight. "We really wanted to have that balance. That way everybody is getting in- volved," Goodwin said. "We did a good job of that today. That's really something we can build on moving forward because that balance is going to be a big part of our team success this season." Notre Dame took control of this game with a 15-0 run that carried over from the end of the first half into the beginning of the second half. — Todd D. Burlage