Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1547512
54 NOV. 14, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED R arely does an offseason plan come together in Game 1 as well as it did for Notre Dame men's basketball Nov. 1 in Rome, Italy. Think about everything that happened after the under-four timeout of the sec- ond half — a half in which the Irish trailed until the final minutes, but managed to stay within striking distance of Villanova. Braeden Smith bailed them out of a bad possession by drawing a foul in the act of shooting a three-pointer, and he made all his free throws. Ethan Roberts gave himself a natural pick in the form of Logan Duncomb and cut to the basket for two, sparking a previously stagnant offense. Smith grabbed a missed shot and sprinted down the floor in transition, made a beau- tiful pass between two defenders and watched as Brady Koehler baptized (get it?) the Wildcats' leading scorer. Smith came off a ball screen and dropped it to Duncomb, who fired from distance (all right, that wasn't part of the original plan). The first three-ball of his career gave Notre Dame its first lead since Villanova went ahead with 12:38 remaining in the first half. Then at the other end of the court, Koehler closed out on a would-be open shooter in the corner and used all of his 7-foot-3 wingspan to knock it away. "We talked about his length early in the game," an astounded Bill Raftery said on the call for FOX. "What a close- out! Ooh! Spider-like!" Much has to go right, but there is a path to Notre Dame fielding a competi- tive men's basketball team with this roster. The game you saw in Rome is it. That's the path. There's a long way to go, but Notre Dame's 74-72 upset win against Vil- lanova put fourth-year head coach Mi- cah Shrewsberry's vision for his remade roster on display for all to see. For the roster to work, Koehler had to blossom into an out-and-out star. If his sophomore debut is any indication, that box is checked. The 6-foot-10 forward scored 16 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and compiled 4 "stocks" (2 steals, 2 blocks). Had he avoided foul trouble — and credit Shrewsberry for subbing him out for de- fense and in for offense midway through the second half to steal him some extra possessions with 3 fouls — his numbers would look even better. "Brady Koehler's a beast," Shrews- berry said after the game. "He was so good late and down the stretch for us, defensively and offensively." Smith (who transferred from Gonzaga but played his best seasons at Colgate), Roberts and Duncomb had to become quality starters after transferring from mid-major schools, too. Check, check and check. Roberts scored 11 points, but do not discount the significance of that dive cut. In the past, Notre Dame's offense couldn't buy a bucket when it got bogged down like that. Roberts' maturity as a scorer changed the game. The fifth-year Penn transfer did it off a pass from Duncomb, who, despite playing just 21 minutes amid foul trouble (and he was clearly hampered by his left knee injury), finished with 4 as- sists and the game-winning three. Duncomb had never made a shot from beyond the arc in college before, but the Irish knew he might have to because of the amount of drop coverage Villanova would run. That shot would be there, so Duncomb practiced it. Again, maturity from a sixth-year veteran. Duncomb's three came off a pass from Smith, who assisted on both of Notre Dame's game-swinging buckets. His maturity mattered most of all down the stretch. Smith scored 16 points himself and went 10 of 11 (90.9 percent) on free throws. The rest of the Irish went 9 of 14 (64.3 percent). When Notre Dame's offense struggled to find open space in crunch time, Smith — a fifth-year vet- eran — knew how to draw bailout fouls. When asked why Notre Dame was able to close the game out after so many similar ones slipped away over the past three years, Shrewsberry nodded his head in the direction of Smith. "I think it's this guy right here," Shrewsberry said. "The poise that he has. He kind of wills you to the right moments. I can be talking to somebody that's subbing in, but he's got the other four guys huddled, and we're all on the same page late game. I thought we did a good job of handling those situations." Smith also had 4 of Notre Dame's 14 steals, which are its most in a single game in the Shrewsberry era. The Irish also totaled 17 offensive rebounds, the second most in the Shrewsberry era. For once, Notre Dame appeared to un- derstand that it can't win by out-talent- ing marquee opponents. It has to win by out-hustling and out-executing them. Obviously, it's just one game. The challenge has been maintaining this level of play for 32 games, responding to adversity when it hits and, crucially, staying healthy. This is not a team built to withstand an injury to one of its starters, even if freshman guard Jona- than Sanderson and sophomore Tommy Ahneman — who very much looked like they were playing their first games of college basketball, because they were — get better as expected. But after months of dismissal, apathy and outright anger at the mere mention of Notre Dame men's basketball, Irish fans saw the path. On Nov. 1, it was the path to 1-0. Shrewsberry hopes it's the path to much more. ✦ Sophomore Brady Koehler, a 6-foot-10 forward, shined in the win over Villanova with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER The Blueprint Is Real Staff writer Jack Soble has covered Notre Dame athletics for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2023. Contact him at Jack.Soble@on3.com. OFF THE DOME JACK SOBLE