Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/605097
MEN'S BASKETBALL BY JORDAN WELLS H e's rarely awarded the headlines, but junior guard Steve Vasturia performs night in and night out for head coach Mike Brey's pro‑ gram. Take Notre Dame's 86‑78 win over Milwaukee Nov. 17 as a prime example. Junior guard Demetrius Jackson led all scorers with 20 points on 8‑of‑15 shoot‑ ing, and junior forward V.J. Beachem stole the show with 19 points on 7‑of‑12 shooting while also snagging a team‑ high eight rebounds. Two other starters — sophomore forward Bonzie Colson and senior forward Zach Auguste — fin‑ ished in double figures scoring. While reporters gathered postgame around Beachem to record his reaction after his big outing, and Jackson fielded questions about his aggressiveness on offense, there sat Vasturia waiting pa‑ tiently in his chair. He scored 13 points on 4‑of‑9 shoot‑ ing from the field and a 5‑of‑5 effort at the free throw stripe. He also dished out four assists, tying a career high, while registering only one turnover in 35 min‑ utes of action. The usual level of produc‑ tivity from Vasturia, followed by hardly any of the spotlight. "My role is doing whatever it takes to help this team win," the junior guard said. "Getting to the basket, scoring and playing good defense. What I love most about playing for this team is that every‑ body just wants to win, and they're go‑ ing to do whatever it takes to do that." One person who doesn't overlook Vasturia's impact to the win column is Brey. In the preseason, the head coach noted he bumped into North Carolina head coach Roy Williams and Virginia head coach Tony Bennett on the recruit‑ ing trail this summer, and naturally they discussed their teams among numerous topics. Brey said the first player both coaches brought up when discussing the Irish was Vasturia, and how he does all the little things for the team on the court. "Against Milwaukee tonight, never did he make a defensive mistake," Brey said following Notre Dame's 2‑0 start to the season. "If you look at the threes we gave up — and they made some tough ones — but when we did break down, Vasturia was never involved. That's why we put him on No. 34 to start the game, just so he didn't get roll‑ ing, because that guy is an unbelievable weapon. "Steve is amazing defensively. He makes the extra pass. The one thing that he is doing, he's driving the ball more ROCK SOLID Steve Vasturia's all-around quality play has been crucial for the Irish