Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY ANDREW OWENS W hile North Carolina State built an 18-point lead during Notre Dame's nightmarish first half Jan. 25 in Raleigh, N.C., soph- omore guard Demetrius Jackson heard a Wolfpack fan yell that the visitors were going to need the luck of the Irish to pull out the victory. "Maybe it was a little lucky," admit- ted Jackson of Notre Dame's eventual 81-78 overtime win. Luck, however, might have little to do with it. During ACC play, the Irish are doing it so often that it appears to be more of a trend than a fluke. Rather than let a frenzied atmosphere affect the confidence of the Irish — who were 22-4 overall and 10-3 in the ACC through Feb. 10 — head coach Mike Brey's group made one of the pro- gram's more memorable comebacks in recent years. "We've showed great resiliency and toughness and belief and maybe the biggest thing on the road is poise," Brey said. "We just really don't panic as bad as it was in the first half. "With our offensive efficiency, ability, spurtability, we can close the gap fast on people." Brey cited the pair of Mohegan Sun matchups with Massachusetts and Providence in late November as signs that the 2014-15 Irish carried the men- tal resolve to pull off such comebacks, even if the Friars handed Notre Dame its only non-conference loss (75-74). "We're down against UMass, that was kind of our first challenge," Brey said. "And instead of panicking, we finished the half well and put them away in the second half and did some defensive stuff to win the game. "And the Providence game, we thought we were going to win that the whole time. We were just really disap- pointed because we had our opportuni- ties and we made big plays, big shots, poise plays to have a chance to win it. I thought that weekend was a weekend of growth for us." On several occasions, Brey has pointed out that his players can con- structively criticize each other without creating locker room conflicts or hurt feelings. "It was tough to say something to other people on the team [in previous years]," senior guard Jerian Grant said. "A lot of guys, including myself, felt some type of way when someone said something to you, but this year we defi- Comeback Kids The Irish have made a habit of overcoming double-digit deficits during a strong start to ACC play