Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 14, 2016

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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48 NOV. 14, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY MATT JONES I n the opinion of 17th-year head coach Mike Brey, it was a classic Notre Dame performance. The Irish assisted on 26 of their 41 field goals, shot 62.1 percent from the floor and had no trouble with Division II Mercy College in a 119-58 victory in the team's first exhibition game of the 2016-17 season. "I love our unselfishness," Brey said. "Our culture's our culture, mov- ing the ball, making the extra pass." Senior wing V.J. Beachem led all scorers with 18 points. Freshman point guard T.J. Gibbs added 16, while junior forward Bonzie Colson and junior point guard Matt Farrell each had 14, and junior forward Mar- tinas Geben scored 12 for the Irish. Geben, a first-year full-time starter, led the team with nine rebounds. Far- rell, also a first-year starter, had a team-high 10 assists. But it was Gibbs, who played 19 minutes, who stood out. The Scotch Plains, N.J., native was a perfect 4 of 4, hit both of his three-point attempts and made all six of his free throws. "Nerves quickly went away," Gibbs said. "Talked to Matt briefly right be- fore the game and he told me to stay calm and just play like we've been playing in practice." Gibbs saw minutes alongside Far- rell to give the Irish a speed dynamic. "It's two Jersey guys, I've seen him play for a while now and it's great to finally get with him instead of play- ing against him," Gibbs said. "The thing about both those ball handlers is they're both shot makers, too," Brey said. "They can get off the ball and give you a scoring threat." Farrell, a vital figure in the NCAA Tournament run last season, liked what he saw out of his backcourt mate. "He has a really bright future. Really smart and he's really smooth," Farrell said of Gibbs. "I love the way he plays. We love playing together, so hopefully that is something to look forward to. Special guy and he shot the [expletive] out of the ball today. I've seen him shoot, but not shoot that well." PREVIEWING THE ROTATION Notre Dame went with its expected starting lineup of Farrell at point guard, senior Steve Vasturia at the other guard spot, Beachem on the wing, and Colson and Geben at the forward positions. The Irish went small with their first substitutions. Like Brey did much of last season, Geben was replaced by a wing, in this case sophomore Rex Pflueger at 15:04 of the first half. Senior forward Austin Torres and Gibbs entered with 14:07 left in the half. At the 7:29 mark, freshman for- ward John Mooney and sophomore forward Elijah Burns — who missed all of last season recovering from ankle surgery — appeared for the first time. Freshman guard Nikola Djogo re- placed Beachem at the 4:57 mark. The final two players off the Irish bench were junior forward Matt Gregory, at the 1:51 mark of the second half, and graduate forward Patrick Mazza, with 1:20 left in the game. Sophomore wing Matt Ryan suf- fered a stress reaction in his right foot during the preseason but is back at practice with the team. He is ex- pected to be ready for the season opener against Bryant Nov. 12. DOING THE DIRTY WORK The 6-10, 255-pound Lithuanian Geben played 17 minutes while run- ning the floor well and moving the ball with aplomb on offense. He also was on the bench for stretches when Brey went with his smaller lineup. "I want him to just feel good about playing and starting and playing ma- jor minutes," Brey said of Geben. Geben, Notre Dame's most physi- cal big man, picked up three fouls in the first half. While not ideal, the fouls aren't a major concern to Brey. "He's going to need to be physi- cal," Brey said. "We've got other bod- ies and he was pretty solid for us. He got on the backboard, got some big offensive rebounds and kicked it out. That's a body we can use like that. "We're not trying to save him, be- cause we've got some other guys, but he does a great job screening and getting people open. He's got to do a little dirty work for us, and some- times that means fouling." ✦ NO MERCY Irish come out of the gates firing on all cylinders in 119-58 exhibition victory Freshman point guard T.J. Gibbs scored 16 points in Notre Dame's 61-point exhibition win over Mercy College Nov. 1. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS NOTRE DAME MISSES ON DARRYL MORSELL Notre Dame's main priority for the 2017 class is to ink two wing players to replace departing senior leaders Steve Vasturia and V.J. Beachem. Head coach Mike Brey and company achieved half of that goal Sept. 20 when Hy- attsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic Rivals four- star forward D.J. Harvey committed to the Fighting Irish. After Harvey, the Irish focused their sights on one player to fill the last void: Baltimore Mount St. Joseph Rivals four-star guard Darryl Morsell. In fact, Morsell was the lone player they were in good shape to land and were making a priority. On Nov. 2, however, Mor- sell elected to stay home and committed to Maryland. Missing on Morsell puts Notre Dame in an interesting spot given there are no remaining targets on the board at the wing position. The Irish will need to evaluate some underrated seniors this winter, and will try to find a late bloomer or a diamond in the rough. Another option could be adding a fifth-year transfer in the spring. — Corey Bodden

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