NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame Basketball team’s last loss was 30 days ago at Rutgers. That loss continues to become a distant memory, as evidenced by Wednesday’s methodical 71-53 revenge win over that same Rutgers team at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
“We really challenged our group to do a better job defending them this time than in New Jersey,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said after the win. “I’m very pleased with the end result. I thought our defense was fabulous and that was the key. We could not guard them a month ago…overall I really like our defense.”
Rutgers was 20-of-50 (40%) from the floor in the loss, which wasn’t much worse than their 24-of-55 (43%) performance in their win over the Irish last month. The biggest difference for the Scarlet Knights came from behind the three-point arc, where they were 7-of-15 (46%) in the Jan. 16 win, a stark contrast from their3-for-14 (21%) performance in Wednesday’s loss.
“I thought our team defense was excellent, helping out (and) rotating,” Brey added. “We got a couple charges tonight, which were big plays. We switched-up on the perimeter when we had to. I think tonight was a night were you could really rely on your teammate defensively. (That was) not the case a month ago.”
Brey’s defense has been holding teams to just 55.7 points a game during the team’s current seven-game winning streak, all of which have come in Big East play. A win at Villanova on Saturday would tie the ND school record for consecutive Big East Conference wins.
The win is also Notre Dame’s first as a ranked team this season, after joining the national rankings this week at No. 24 in AP and No. 25 in Coaches’ Poll.
Overcoming A Slow Start
Notre Dame’s first seven possessions saw the team go 0-for-3 from the floor and netted just three points on 2-of-3 free throw shooting by Scott Martin. Jack Cooley had two turnovers in that stretch. The first was a travel, while the big man was called for traveling on the second one.
The Irish were fortunate to find themselves tied 3-3 at that point, because Rutgers was just 1-for-7 from the floor in that same span.
Irish also have turned the ball over just 10.7 times a game in Big East game and 10.3 overall this season, but had three turnovers in the game’s first seven minutes.
“It was hard to get in a rhythm a little bit, because they were fouling a lot,” Jerian Grant said of ND’s first half struggles. “We were at the free throw line a lit, but, you know, as the game went on we figured out how to get into a rhythm.”
Notre Dame went 6:06 into the game before finally hitting its first field goal of the game – a three pointer from the right wing by Grant. It came after Cooley grabbed an offensive rebound after the Irish had already missed two shots on the possession, making ND one for its first seven from the field at the 13:54 mark.
Eric Atkins drilled a three on ND’s next possession and Alex Dragicevich nailed another the next time down the floor to end a 14-1 Irish run that put the team up 14-3.
After two more misses from the field, the Irish were shooting 3-of-12 (25%) overall, but 3-of-6 from beyond the three point line. Pat Connaughton hit another trey and converted a four-point play after a foul moments later to make it 4-of-16 overall and 4-of-8 from long range.
Notre Dame’s first two-point basketball didn’t come until Jack Cooley’s inside shot with 6:07 remaining in the half. The only other two-pointer of the half came on a dunk by Grant.
“I was frustrated with myself at halftime,” Cooley said. “My teammates had been getting me looks, and I really just wasn’t finishing. Coach told me we were gonna keep going to the post and I started making my shots.”
The half time totals read 8-of-27 (29%) overall from the floor and 6-of-13 (46%) from distance, while making 11-of-14 (78%) free throws. Rutgers was a solid 12-of-29 (41%) from the field in the half, but just 1-for-6 (16%) from behind the three-point line.
Cooley Keeps Cranking
After a pedestrian first half that saw him shoot 1-for-4 with four total points, Cooley got the second half started on a different note, hitting a two-point shot just :46 into the half and he then made another about 1:20 later.
Cooley went on to dominate the second half, finishing the night with game-highs of 22 points and 18 rebounds. The rebound total is also a career-high. His previous best was back on Nov. 18 in a win over Delaware State.
“Certainly Jack in the middle was a beast,” Brey said of his big man. “We like throwing it in to him. Their speed bothered him at first. They got underneath him, but he does a good job of playing-off of Eric (Atkins) and Jerian’s (Grant) drives and we certainly want to go to him.”
Cooley’s free throw with 16:53 remaining in the second half to make it 38-33, and also got him to his third straight double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds at that point.
“He’s the go-to guy when he gets offensive rebounds, you know,” Brey said. “He gets us extra possessions…I think our perimeter guys do a great job of finding him. We’re throwing it over the top and finding angles, because if you get it near him he’s gonna catch it.”
Cooley is already the reigning Big East Player of the Week after averaging 21.5 and 13.0 in wins over West Virginia and DePaul last week. He shot 17-of-21 (81%) from the field in those games.
The 6’9 junior has now posted three straight double-doubles and has turned the feat in five of Notre Dame’s last seven games. Probably not coincidentally, all seven of those games have been Irish wins.
“The more focus there is on me, the less there is for my teammates,” Cooley said of his presence in the paint. “Everyone forgets that Jerian and Eric are just knock-down shooters. The reason that I’ve been scoring is probably because they’ve been focusing on them so much. That’s fine by me, because then those guys will go for 20 each. It’s gonna work out well for our team.”
Cooley, who had just nine points and nine rebounds in last month’s loss to Rutgers, was 7-of-9 from the floor over the game’s final 20 minutes. He sat down for the last time Wednesday with 1:54 remaining in the game.
The junior is Notre Dame’s first Big East Player of the Week this season.
Light On The Deuces
With the exception of Cooley’s second half shooting two point field goals were hard to come by for Notre Dame for much of the night. Grant and Cooley were the only two players to hit two-point shots for ND in the first half. It allowed Rutgers to outscore Notre Dame 12-4 in the paint in the first half…while outrebounding the Irish 23-17.
“I was letting myself get pushed around a little bit more in the first half. In the second half there was another play where I get myself shoved to the floor again…it kind of lit a fire under me and it helped me out a lot.”
Atkins finally hit another with 11:57 to play to make it 48-36 ND. It made the count 12-of-33 from the field and 6-of-13 from 3-point land. Cooley was 5-of-8.
Cooley’s second half resurgence helped the Fighting Irish outscore the Scarlet Knights 18-10 in the paint in the second half, while also allowing them to slowly blow the lead up to as much as 19 points.
Reversal Of Free Throw Fortune
Notre Dame shot just 5-of-13 (38.5%) from the free throw line 30 days ago in its 65-58 loss at Rutgers. The five free throws made and the percentage were both season-lows. Those numbers changed drastically in Wednesday’s win.
“It was a game where we were gonna get to the line,” Brey said. “They were very physical and the foul line was a great weapon for us. We got to the bonus quick and we feel it’s a big weapon for us. It was great. I just thought we did a great job.”
The Fighting Irish eclipsed both the attempts and made free throws in the first half alone, going 11-of-14 (78.6%) in the first 20 minutes. They would go 24-of-32 (75%) in the game, including 13-of-18 (72%) in the second half.
“We as a team being real smart know when they get six, seven, eight, nine fouls, you know, and that’s when we start to attack more,” Grant said of his team’s ability to get to the line. “They bumped us and we get free throws, and we knock ‘em down.”
ND’s season-best free throw totals came in a 27-of-34 night back on Dec. 19 against Sacred Heart.
Dishing It Out
Notre Dame had 16 assists on 20 made baskets on the night. While Eric Atkins finished with 10 points on just 2-of-9 shooting, he dished-out a game-high eight assists. Scott Martin had three assists to go with his seven points, and Grant had three assists as well along with his 11 points.
Pat Still Perfect
Notre Dame improved to 9-0 in games freshman Pat Connaughton has started, including all seven in current winning streak.
The Notre Dame-Rutgers Series
Notre Dame vs. Rutgers is known as one of the fiercest rivalries in the Big East when it comes to women’s basketball, but that has not been the case on the men’s side. As typical Big East games are known to be, Wednesday’s game was hard-nosed and physical, but it was far from bitter.
Players from both teams helped their opponents up after hard hits all night. That would not necessarily have been the case if Muffet McGraw and C. Vivian Stringer had their squads together on the floor.
Wednesday’s game did mark the 31st all-time meeting between the two teams though. The Irish now lead the series 18-13. Notre Dame has won seven of the last nine meetings in the series.
The Scarlet Knights are 2-11 all-time at Notre Dame. Rutgers has dropped its last seven games inside Purcell Pavilion. The last Rutgers victory at Notre Dame was a 72-70 decision during the 1998-99 season.
The Irish are 15-10 against the Scarlet Knights since both teams joined the BIG EAST in 1995.
Shrinking Of The Green
Wednesday’s game was the first weeknight home contest for the Irish since their Jan. 10 60-49 win over South Florida. The green clad student section had been nearly full for the last three Saturday games against Syracuse, Marquette and DePaul, but that was not the case for Wednesday’s Rutgers match-up.
Of the four lower bowl sections reserved for Notre Dame students, only two were close to being full. The other two (one occupied by the ND band) were filled to less than half capacity. The upper level sections on that side of Purcell Pavilion had just a smattering of fans in the seats for the game.
The night’s official announced overall attendance was 7,557.
Getting To Double Digits
The victory not only runs Notre Dame’s current overall and Big East winning streak to seven games, it also improves them to 10-3 in Big East play. It’s the third straight season the Irish have won at least 10 Big East Conference games.
The current seven-game Big East winning streak is the third longest in program history. The record is eight games by the 2000-01 team during Mike Brey's first campaign along the Irish sidelines. Last season's squad put together a seven-game win streak en route to a 14-4 final regular-season conference record.
