Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKEBALL Three-Point Play News and views from Notre Dame's first week of regular-season action 1. Notre Dame's No. 1 question mark heading into the season was junior forward Zach Auguste. While the first three games will hardly remove any doubt surrounding the junior, in many ways he looked like a completely different player while the Irish cruised to a 3-0 mark during the season's first week. In each of the first three games, Auguste set a career high in points, with 19, 20 and 21, respectively. In the 21-point effort, he made all nine of his shots from the field and admitted he is much more confident now that he is the starter. "I knew I was getting my free throws," said Auguste, who made all three of his attempts from the charity stripe in the 104-67 win over Coppin State Nov. 19. "I didn't know I was perfect from the field. "This was good. I'm playing at a high level. I'm confident and I'm determined." Auguste converted on 14 of 17 (82.4 percent) free throw attempts in three games after struggling mightily in that department last year at 48.3 percent. Not only has he been knocking the free throws down, his form has looked superb while doing so. The challenge will be maintaining that consistency throughout a grueling season. 2. The other major question mark from the 15-17 campaign a year ago was point guard Demetrius Jackson. The sophomore has been elevated to the starting lineup and has efficiently guided the Irish offense while also smothering opponents with his on-ball defense. Jackson averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 assists in the trio of home games to begin the season. Most importantly, he committed only six turnovers in those three games while doing what any talented point guard does: put his teammates in the right positions to succeed. "I think he's really coming," head coach Mike Brey said. "He doesn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders, he doesn't have to carry us, we've simplified the role. He's done a fabulous job of unselfishly doing that." 3. In three blowout victories to open the season, Notre Dame's bench played many minutes, but a pair of key contributors sparked the lineup in the first half. In the 92-53 win over Navy Nov. 16, the Irish led by one point 13 minutes into the first half when sopho- more forward Austin Burgett helped preserve and extend the lead. Within just one minute, he recorded a steal and block on the defensive end on his way to finishing with five points, one rebound, one block and one steal in the victory. "[He is a] great lift for us, no question," Brey said. "He can score for us and he needs to. … He's a really good defender and easy to play with. He gets people open and he makes impacts on the game in a short time and he's good to play back and forth with [Auguste]." In game three, it was sophomore wing V.J. Beachem's turn. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native scored a career-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a 5-of-6 effort from beyond the arc. Brey said he considers the sixth man to be a sixth starter for the Irish. Junior forward Zach Auguste set a career high in points in each of Notre Dame's first three games, with 19 versus Binghamton, 20 against Navy and 21 versus Coppin State. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND