Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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us on both ends. We gotta keep you out there.'" The Irish fell out of both polls after the defeat at the hands of the Missouri Valley Conference opponent, but Brey is more concerned about how the team reacts. So far, so good, he said. "Your sense of urgency goes up when you get beat like that," Brey said. "We've got guys that have been around Three-Point Play 1. Notre Dame's assist-to-turnover ratio of 13-to-16 against Indiana State marked a rarity for the program under head coach Mike Brey. Praised nationally for their consistency with offensive efficiency, the Irish rarely overcome poor ball-handling efforts. In last year's 76-58 NCAA Tournament drubbing at the hands of Iowa State, Notre Dame finished with just nine assists while turning the ball over 17 times. In the 69-57 loss to Louisville in the Big East Tournament, the Irish committed 16 turnovers compared to just 12 assists. Outside of those postseason losses, Notre Dame protected the ball well even in defeat a year ago, with those two losses marking the only times it recorded more turnovers than assists. 2. The Irish looked sluggish and were often a step slow in getting out to defend three-point shooters in the ugly loss to Indiana State. The Sycamores took advantage with an 11-of-20 (55.0 percent) performance from beyond the arc. While the loss could prove to be nothing more than an early-season struggle against a pesky non-conference opponent, Notre Dame's perimeter defense needs to improve quickly or it will get burned in upcoming non-conference tests against Iowa, Indiana and Ohio State. More importantly, however, is perimeter defense in ACC play. The conference is a guard league and will present a new challenge to the Irish after the transition from the physical Big East. A year ago, the conference shot 35.3 percent on three-pointers, but that figure should rise this year with more impact guards in the league. 3. There has been much angst from Irish fans — not to mention Brey — regarding the play of Notre Dame's frontcourt in November. Righting the ship with fifth-year seniors Tom Knight and Garrick Sherman for now is a better option for the Irish than handing over the reins to more athletic sophomores Zach Auguste and Austin Burgett. Knight and Sherman are not the talents of recent forwards Jack Cooley and Luke Harangody, but they are capable of holding their own in the ACC. With those two performing, the sophomores can make much more of an impact in the right spots as substitutes than they would in the starting lineup. But it still could become a fluid situation. — Andrew Owens ILLUSTRATED 2013 Holiday Gift Guide For dozens of great gift ideas, visit BlueGoldOnline.com