Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL over UMass Lowell Nov. 21. "I think he's getting there," Brey said. "He missed some shots today, but I thought he was pretty good de- fensively. "He was flying around again. He was taking shots. " H e ' s c o n f i d e n t when he's putting it on the floor and mak- ing some drives, and I thought he did that. I think he should feel good about himself. He's a key guy and a starter." Junior point guard Demetrius Jack- son also touts the potential of a confi- dent Beachem this year. They were both four-star recruits in the class of 2013 — Rivals ranked Jackson as the No. 38 overall player nationally and Beachem was listed at No. 86 — and they've talked about how far they want to take the program since that recruiting class was put together as prep seniors. "He's playing at a really high level," Jackson said. "He's a great shooter. He has high basketball IQ and makes great decisions. I'm looking forward to him playing and starting going forward. We're playing better competition, and he'll need to raise his intensity level and his level of play. It will be a great opportunity for him to step up. "We talked about this when we were recruits, being in this role we are now. He's finally been able to do it, and he's stepping up great. I think he'll continue to step up for us all year long." Even including the games where Beachem suffered his "slump," he shot 41.6 percent from long distance during the 2014-15 campaign. With his new- found confidence entering this year, he could be a major asset for the Irish. ✦ Three-Point Play Just like last year's team, Notre Dame started the 2015-16 season 3-0. Head coach Mike Brey's squad opened with an 87-56 win over St. Francis (Pa.) Nov. 13, an 86-78 victory over Milwaukee Nov. 17 and an 83-57 defeat of UMass Lowell Nov. 21. Here are three takeaways from the early games. 1. Small Ball Still Works — Notre Dame's starting lineup this year returns senior forward Zach Auguste, and junior guards Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia from last season's squad. Junior V.J. Beachem has moved into the starting lineup, and with former star Pat Connaughton departed for the NBA, sophomore forward Bonzie Colson now starts at the four spot. Colson is much more of a post player than Connaugh- ton, who could play on the perimeter and was a capable threat from long distance. That's led to some early stagnation at times with the offense and its spacing when the two post players are in the game at the same time. When Notre Dame "downshifts" to playing smaller, including rotations with sophomore guard Matt Farrell and freshman forward Matt Ryan off the bench, the offense seems to operate better. Look for the Irish to use the non-conference schedule to work out the kinks with the current starters and continue experimenting with the smaller lineup. 2. Strong Duo — It was clear in the preseason that Jackson would have to elevate his scoring for the "I KNOW I HAVE THE ABILITY TO STEP UP AND TAKE ANY SHOT AND MAKE ANY PLAY." BEACHEM