It’s no secret that the Notre Dame hoops team has been taking its lumps lately. Four consecutive losses took the Irish from a team with a top-15 ranking nationally to a team unsure if they could finish above .500 in the ACC. This drastic downturn left Tuesday’s home game against Wake Forest, perhaps an inconspicuous-looking matchup a few weeks ago, seeming like an absolutely crucial one for the Irish. Lose, and we would be relegated to bubble discussions. Win, and we could hope to get this once-promising season back on track.

The game got off to an oddly slow start considering it was a matchup of two top-20 teams in terms of offensive efficiency. The Irish particularly seemed to lack the requisite energy to turn around their losing ways. Mike Brey was unhappy at the ACC’s lack of accommodation in rescheduling this game to Wednesday, and the amount of front-rimmed 3’s the Irish missed early made it look like his concerns were valid. Wake Forest was able to feed the fantastic John Collins early, and he exploited his considerable height advantage over Bonzie Colson to give Wake a lead throughout much of the first half.

The game felt particularly foreboding with the way the first half ended. The Irish lost out on some key loose balls, a recurring frustration in the past couple of weeks, preventing them from truly making a run. Wake’s Bryant Crawford hit a tough contested 3 to end the half with the Demon Deacons up 5.

The second half started out with much of the same, with the Irish failing to score for the first 3:44. However, everything started to turn around largely due to the efforts of one man—Bonzie Colson. In consecutive possessions, the Bonz made a lay-up, successfully contested a Collins attempt on the other end, and then hit a corner 3 to give the Irish their first lead of the half. As Bonzie screamed and high-fived the fans in the front row, the Irish finally seemed to have some of their swagger back.

Of course, Wake Forest wouldn’t go away without a fight. A kick-out from John Collins to Bryant Crawford for a corner 3 tied the game up with 9 minutes left, tightening things up again. After the Irish pushed the lead back up to 8, Matt Farrell fouled Mitchell Wilbekin on a 3-point attempt. 3 free throws and an Austin Arians deep ball pulled Wake to within 2 again.

The Irish were able to counter with a Matt Farrell baseline jumper followed by a Steve Vasturia 3. Wake fouled Bonzie Colson on a rebound, sending him to the line after the under-4 timeout with 1:45 left on the clock. From there, Wake Forest went into desperation mode, and the Irish did their business from the free throw line, eventually icing it at 88-81.

 

 

LINEUP CHANGE

For the second consecutive game, Mike Brey tinkered with his starting lineup. With Martinas Geben and Austin Torres not offering much as the token starting 5s, Brey opted to go small right from the start, giving Rex Pflueger his first start of the season. Torres and Geben ended up getting a mere 6 minutes combined, signaling Brey’s increased leaning towards living and dying by his small-ball lineup.

Pflueger responded quite well to his promotion, coming up with 3 blocks, 2 steals, and some much-needed effort defending the post and scrapping for rebounds. While he didn’t offer a lot offensively, his willingness to dive to the floor and go all out attempting to grab every loose ball was sorely needed by the Irish.

Despite some murmurs of a possible John Mooney unleashing last week, he amassed another DNP. Matt Ryan recorded a 3 trillion, and while his time on the court was brief, the Irish continued their struggles with Ryan out there. While we know Brey doesn’t like to go too deep into his bench, he is also not afraid to tinker with his rotation late in the season. With Geben and Torres’s roles diminishing by the game, the back end of the rotation remains a situation to keep an eye on.

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES

This was a big one for the Irish’s “Big 4,” with each of the group putting up at least 16 points.

It all started with Bonzie Colson, who had probably his best game of the season. Starting at the 5, he had his hands full trying to guard John Collins in the post. Collins was able to be his usual effective self, but Bonzie was able to outdo him offensively. Colson flashed his wide array of post moves to get 7 buckets in the paint. One of the biggest moments in the game came in the second half. Bonzie missed a pair of free throws, a usual strength of his game that he has been struggling with a bit. On the next possession, he stepped confidently into a 3 from the top of the key and knocked it down. His fight and consistency on the offensive end was instrumental to this win.

VJ Beachem continued his resurgence shooting the ball, knocking down 5 of 12 from deep en route to 19 points. As great as the points are, I was even happier with the fact that he got 12 quality attempts off. Gibbs and Farrell were able to find a handful of wide-open catch-and-shoot 3’s for VJ. He also was able to face up some defenders and shoot over them. Throw in the 4 blocks, and it was a nice day for Beachem.

Matt Farrell had some uncharacteristic lapses at times, including some bad turnovers and a particularly egregious foul in the first half when Wake was in the bonus. However, he was able to turn it around in the second and turn in a solid overall performance. His pull-up 3 with 1:14 left was a dagger, despite being a tough look.

Finally, welcome back Steve Vasturia! Three straight single-digit performances had everyone worried what was ailing the Irish ironman, and he was able to put that stretch behind him tonight. He shot 3-5 from deep, which is particularly crucial as his jumper had been looking extremely flat over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully his 17 and 7 tonight will get him going for the season’s homestretch, and the last three games will be a minor blip on Steve’s fantastic career.

 

 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

This was a big one for the Irish. The second half of the UNC game was an encouraging performance, but the Irish were in need of actual victories rather than their moral counterparts. This wasn’t the most confidence-inspiring victory, but it showed a few key things. Foremost, the Irish have a damn high offensive ceiling. Shooting 13-27 from deep while having Bonzie go to work down low is a good recipe for success.

Secondly, the Irish were able to withstand a rebounding deficit and win anyway. This has been a fairly common story for Notre Dame in the past few years, but Brey will likely be quite happy with his smaller lineup’s ability to absorb this margin and just out-offense the opponent. John Collins grabbed 9 offensive boards, but not many were the backbreaking variety that UNC grabbed continuously. If the Irish can continue to rebound as a team at least decently, Brey will continue to be able to give Gibbs and Pflueger more minutes.

The Irish have an opportunity to grab a huge win on Saturday, as they’ll attempt to get some revenge on a Florida State team that edged them out in Tallahassee. The ‘Noles have had some odd results of late, getting blown out at Georgia Tech a couple of weeks ago, and crushing Clemson by almost 50 on Sunday. All three of their ACC losses have come on the road, so the Irish will hope to harness some Purcell Pavilion magic and get a big-time résumé win this weekend.