NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In a season that continues to be anything but probable, Wednesday night’s Notre Dame – West Virginia basketball game at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center was anything by ordinary. Just four days earlier, the Irish did their best Rocky impersonation in Philadelphia-pulling itself off the canvass and overcoming a 20-point deficit for an overtime win over Villanova.
In Wednesday’s 71-44 win over the Mountaineers, the Irish played a little rope a dope for 20 minutes, but went for the knockout punch much earlier in the second half.
“We really defended in the second half,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said after the win. “I think we got them off the backboard after the first six or seven minutes. I thought our offensive efficiency was excellent in the second half.”
The Irish led just 30-28 at halftime after allowing WVU to shoot 40 percent (11-of-27) from the field. The game’s second twenty minutes though saw Notre Dame taking swings that would make Rocky proud.
Jab – The second half started with an old fashioned 3-point play by Eric Atkins to make it 33-28 – an early sting to the Mountaineers’ eye, but no real damage yet.
Left Jab-Right Cross – A breakaway dunk by Jerian Grant, who ended with a game-high 20 points, and then a three from the left wing by the sophomore soon made it 42-32 – WVU’s “eye” now starts to swell.
Hook – Uppercut - A jumper by Atkins makes it a 12-point lead – West Virginia rocks back on the ropes.
Body Blow - Scott Martin’s three makes it 47-32 with 14:06 to play – the knees are starting to buckle.
A Furious Flurry - Grant’s 3-pointer makes it 50-32 Irish with 12:58 to play – Knockout. There was still just under 13 minutes remaining, but the game was over.
“You know, when you have the chance to put somebody away,” Brey said of his prize fighters. “This group has shown a cruelty to go for the jugular. That’s what I really love about us and I think that could help us in March.”
The win is a program record ninth straight in Big East play as well as its ninth straight overall for the Fighting Irish (20-8, 12-3) who have now slugged their way to prosperity in a season that looked to be mired in despair just weeks ago.
“It’s very special…it really is,” Brey said as he looked for words to describe his team’s improbable run at history. “And they really wanted that record. It’s really special for this group to do it. I think it’ll be a great story in the history of our basketball program…we certainly want to see if we can keep riding it past nine. “
The Irish pounded their way to the win by not only shooting 15-of-25 (60%) in the second half, but also by holding West Virginia to a miniscule 6-of-27 (22%) from the field. To do that, they had to keep one of the best players in the Big East in check.
Cooling off Kevin (Jones)
West Virginia forward Kevin Jones is one of the top players in the Big East Conference this season, but he didn’t look the part Wednesday. The 6’8 senior came into the game averaging league bests of 20.4 points and 11.3 rebounds a game, while shooting just under 53 percent from the floor (210-for-415).
Jones finished his night with a respectable 15 points and eight rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting, but he was well below his season averages thanks in large part to the defense of Scott Martin.
“I just wanted to do my work early and not let him get in (the paint),” Martin said of guarding Jones. “I was giving up 40 pounds to him, so I tried to keep him as far from the lane as I possibly could. I got lucky, because they ran some stuff away from him today and he kind of relaxed o the weak side. I got a break every now and then.”
Jones had just six points and two rebounds at halftime. He did score nine second half points, but his point total was stuck at eight while the Irish were busy doing their damage in the opening minutes of the second half. Brey appreciated the job Martin did on Jones.
“He’s very fired-up for the Kevin Jones matchup twice,” Brey said. “He loves these challenges. He certainly defends them, and his offense is always pretty good on those nights. I am really proud of him, because he just has embraced all these challenges.”
Martin, who scored 15 points Wednesday night, helped keep Jones in check the first time the two teams played two weeks ago as well, when the NBA prospect finished with 14 points
Jones is WVU’s all-time leader in offensive rebounds. He is just five boards shy of 1,000 at the offensive end entering the floor for his career.
He has been named to the John Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 List and the Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Top 20 List.
Cooley Cooled…A Little
While Notre Dame’s winning streak continues, Jack Cooley’s personal streak ended Wednesday night. Cooley was on a roll of four straight double-doubles, but he fell short with 13 points and six rebounds against the Mountaineers.
Cooley was an obvious focus of the West Virginia defense all night, and that extra attention on the 6’9 forward allowed the Fighting Irish to hit 8-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“It was great, because I didn’t have to do anything,” Cooley joked after the game. “They (teammates) were hitting all the threes. I was just sitting back and watching them.”
Cooley was matched-up against one of the better physical specimens in all of the Big East, Deniz Kilicli, all night. Kilicli, who also stands 6’9, has a chiseled chin covered by a beard and has shoulders and arms that would make Ivan Drago jealous.
“He’s a big dude,” Cooley quipped of Kilicli. “He’s really a big guy, but he’s a surprisingly nice guy out there. He has good character. If he hits you, you can’t get mad at him because he apologizes. He’s definitely up there as one of the strongest guys in the league.”
Cooley’s four-game streak of double-doubles started with a 21 point, 12 rebound effort exactly two weeks ago against WVU in Morgantown. He was the first Notre Dame player to notch four consecutive double-doubles since Luke Harangody had four straight during the 2008-09 season.
Cooley has still registered double-doubles six times during Notre Dame’s current nine-game winning streak. He has a team-best 10 double-doubles this season, with eight in Big East play.
Technical Difficulty
A potential pivotal moment in the game came when Brey was hit with a technical foul with 10:58 to play in the first half.
The call came after Tom Knight was whistled for pushing-off a WVU defender at the offensive end of the floor. Just seconds earlier Martin appeared to have good position for a charging call and tumbled to the floor, but no call was made and Jones was credited with a layup.
The calls reflected the way the game was being played at that point, with touch fouls on the perimeter being called, while seemingly excessive rough play in the paint was being ignored.
Brey was asked after the game if his reaction to the Knight foul was “contrived”.
“It was a little bit of both,” Brey said. “I don’t really ever…I don’t get many. I’ve had what, four or five in 12 years. It was a physical game…you know?”
“I thought that was maybe not the greatest call in a physical game, but I was out of the box and I deserved it and I was close to getting thrown out, because he kind of turned his back after I said something after he “Teed” me the first time like a veteran official. If he threw me out I wouldn’t have had any argument.”
The immediate after effects of the technical was a six point Irish deficit, Notre Dame’s biggest of the game, after two made free throws, followed by a WVU bucket.
The long term affects though was a frenzied energy inside Purcell, both on the court and in the crowd. T
“Did it get our guys going a little bit,” Brey questioned out loud. “Maybe it got our building going a little I think. Maybe it was helpful from that standpoint but, we were in a little bit of a funk too.”
The flow of the game did seem to change afterward as well, with seemingly fewer and fewer touch fouls called as the first half and the game wore on.
Dominating The Mountaineers
Wednesday marked the 39th meeting all-time between Notre Dame and West Virginia. The Mountaineers have not won at Notre Dame since 1987. The Irish now lead the series 27-12, including 17-2 (13 straight) at home. The Irish are 18-8 against WVU since the two schools joined the Big East in 1995.
The Streak
Notre Dame has now won nine straight Big East Conference games to set a new program record. The last time ND won as many as eight straight in Big East play was 11 years ago.
The Irish look for their tenth straight win this Saturday when they travel to St. John’s. It’s been four years since a Brey squad last had a double-digit winning streak (Nov. 24, 2007 – Jan. 5, 2008). The school record for consecutive overall wins is 18 straight, which was set in the 1953-’54 season.
A Local Mountaineer
A member of the West Virginia coaching staff is a South Bend area resident. Longtime college basketball assistant coach Billy Hahn is a Mishawaka, In native who graduated from Penn High School. Hahn left the Michiana area in the early ‘70s and went on to play for legendary coach Lefty Driesell at Maryland.
Hahn is one of only two players in Maryland basketball history to play and coach in the NCAA tournament. He was also a part of two of the winningest teams in school history. He played on Maryland’s 1974-75 team that finished with a 24-5 record (.828 winning percentage) and coached the 1998-99 team that won a then-school record 28 games and went 28-6 (.824 winning percentage).
The 34 year college basketball veteran has been with Bob Huggins at WVU since 2007. He has previously been a head coach at Ohio University and LaSalle. Official title is Assistant to the Head Coach.
Faces In The Crowd
Chicago Bulls executive and former Notre Dame basketball player, John Paxson was on hand scouting the game. Notre Dame football players Kapron Lewis-Moore and Mike Golic, Jr. were among those cheering the Irish in the Notre Dame student section.
