Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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tougher. I learned a lot from offensively, defen- sively, how he talks to people on the court. He just wants to get the job done and win. Purcell Pavilion with a 111-52 runaway win over Quincy, a Division II program in Quincy, Ill. Notre Dame shot 62.3 percent from the field (43 Notre Dame's exhibition slate opened Oct. 29 at of 69) and tallied 30 assists. Six Irish players finished with double-digit point totals, while sixth-year se- nior and last year's Team MVP Scott Martin tallied nine points. Senior forward Jack Cooley, an All-Big East pre- season selection, led Notre Dame with 21 points. Junior guard Jerian Grant had 19 points and eight assists in 29 minutes, while junior point guard Eric Atkins was nearly flawless. In 31 minutes he had 13 assists and zero turnovers, plus five steals. He also converted all six of his field goal attempts, including three beyond the arc. Sophomore swingman Pat Connaughton turned in to carry it on. I'm more mature now and want "I'm just trying now Irish Cruise In Exhibition Games the Fighting Irish got mixed up in a surprising slug- fest before eventually wearing out the Wolves for a 70-56 victory at Purcell Pavilion. In one of the most impressive three-point shoot- ing performances ever inside the Joyce Center, Stritch junior guard Jeremy D' of his attempts from behind the arc and finished 9-of-9 shooting for a game-high 26 points. "I'd say the last time I saw a performance like that Amico drained all eight was Kyle McAlarney against Syracuse [school-record nine triples on Feb. 25, 2008]," Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "The kid just shot the heck out of it." The teams went into intermission tied at 34 points 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists. "He's such an all-around basketball player and he's made such great strides defensively," Irish head coach Mike Brey told UND.com after the game. The "sixth starter," according to Brey, is 6-10 senior Michigan State transfer Garrick Sherman, who in just 20 minutes had 12 points and eight rebounds. Brey is excited about the prospect of having Sherman and the 6-9 Cooley on the floor at the same time in either high-low situations, or where Cooley can clean up on offensive rebounds — his forte — off the weak side. However, he is concerned about the transition defense with the two big men on the floor. Freshman swingman Cameron Biedscheid also will be heavily in the mix. He played 22 minutes, and even though he didn't shoot it as well (4 of 13, with two treys) as he usually does in practice, he had a quick 10 points off the bench in the first half and finished with 12. In the team's second and final exhibition game Nov. 2 against NAIA Division II squad Cardinal Stritch, apiece, but Notre Dame came out with an 8-0 run to start the second half and set the tone for the rest of the game. Cooley and Atkins each had 15 points, with Cooley adding 10 rebounds. Biedscheid came off the bench and chipped in 11 points, mostly in the final 20 minutes. The rookie had a high-flying jam off a lob pass from Atkins that helped put some distance between the Irish and the Wolves. "I'm very impressed with Cameron Biedscheid being part of that run with the veterans," Brey said. "That was a big night for him. We are quick on the perimeter, especially with Jerian, Eric and Cameron out there — I don't know if any of my teams have had that kind of look. We got some stuff in transition with that group to give us some breathing room, and Cameron was a big, big part of it." The Irish, who kick off the regular season against Evansville Nov. 10 in a Coaches Vs. Cancer opening round game in South Bend, shot 52.4 percent for the game and 53.3 percent from deep. Atkins knocked down three of his four attempts from behind the arc, and sixth-year senior Scott Martin sank a pair of triples en route to six points and a team-best six assists. — Wes Morgan