Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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can reroute a season once bereft of expectations. It gave the Irish some moxie that survived even after back- to-back losses to Connecticut and Rutgers. Notre Dame went on to stun then-No. 1 Syracuse, 67-58, Jan. 21 in South Bend. The Irish got past a dangerous Seton Hall team, 55-42, before exacting some revenge against No. 24 UConn, 50-48, on the road. On Feb. 4, the Fighting Irish knocked off No. 15 Marquette, 76-59, at Purcell Pavilion. Including the clash with Louisville, Martin averaged 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per contest in an eight-game stretch from Jan. 7 to Feb. 4, during which the Irish went 6-2. "Thankfully, I felt like I always had my defense to rely on, and I was play- ing well at that end," said Martin, who has taken an average of just over one charge per game. "Offensively, the shot was struggling, and I under- stood that, and tried to get extra shots in. But I knew it would turn around. Hopefully it's turned around now for good." It's no coincidence that Notre Dame, 15-8 overall and 7-3 in the Big East, went from what Brey thought was an outside shot at the National Invita- tional Tournament to fourth place in the 16-team league. Martin averaged 5.3 points in the team's six losses be- fore the clash with the Cardinals. "If he can be a double-double guy, which he's gotten into that rhythm, that's kind of maxing out Scott Mar- tin," Brey said. Martin admitted how tough Tim Martin averaged 10.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per outing during an eight-game stretch from Jan. 7 to Feb. 6, during which the Irish went 6-2 and upset four ranked teams. which he appeared this winter prior to the upset over Louisville, the former Valparaiso (Ind.) star had connected on only 39 of 116 shot attempts (33.6 per- cent) and 12 of 54 tries (22.2 percent) from three-point land. Not only were his shots not falling, Martin looked un- comfortable with the ball in his hands. Averaging just 8.1 points per game, PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Martin's 4-of-14 shooting effort at Louisville was far from spectacular, but it seemed to be a moderate break- through. "I think Coach [Brey] believes in me Abromaitis' season-ending knee in- jury in late November was for the pro- gram to accept and overcome, and that the nature of their relationship made the loss that much more diffi- cult. Having missed the entire 2009-10 campaign with the same injury, Mar- tin also knew exactly what his room- mate was going through. "It definitely was a blow," he said. he remained in the starting lineup, continuing to hustle on the defensive end of the floor and scrapping for 5.1 rebounds per outing. Head coach Mike Brey allowed his veteran to ride out the cold streak without adding additional pressure. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com and he wants me to shoot when I'm open," Martin said after the game. "We've definitely not discussed it or anything like that. We both know that I've been in a struggle, but I'll lift my- self out of it, and he knows that." That he has. As a result, the Fight- ing Irish have remarkably become an NCAA Tournament-worthy outfit. The victory over Rick Pitino's squad was exactly the medicine that "It was as much mentally as it was him not physically being out there. Just having that guy out there with you all the time, it's a comforting feel- ing. It definitely took some time — and still taking time — to get over the fact that he's not going to be out there. "The great thing is we have other guys stepping up and we're getting comfortable with each other. Hope- fully we can keep building on this." During an amazing Irish rebuild, Martin remained a cornerstone. ✦ MARCH 2012 69