For the first time in their history, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team sits at 4-0 in conference play. Mike Brey’s team surged late to break the Miami Hurricanes’ 22 game home winning streak. Following the pattern of the preceding three games, this one featured stretches of brilliance, periods of frustration, and clutch delivery down the stretch. When it came to winning time on Thursday, the Irish made plays and Canes turned the ball over.

If you go back eleven years, you can recall a time where the Irish couldn’t win the big one. In 2005-06, Brey’s side lost three double-OT games, two OT games, and three one-possession games. It was a team that couldn’t make the big play in the big moment. It was a talented group, with future NBA’ers Rob Kurz and Chris Quinn. They struggled to close. You could almost sense a little panic in them late. The buzz on Brey for years was that he couldn’t win the big one and early tournament flame-outs were inevitable.

The 2016-17 version of the Fighting Irish have a steady calm about them. Perhaps it is the mellow nature of their senior captains. Perhaps it is the Jersey confidence of their starting back-court. Perhaps it is the confidence that comes from being the only program in the country to visit the Elite Eight the past 2 seasons. Whatever is causing it, Notre Dame is building a reputation of delivering in the clutch. Wednesday night was a perfect example.

In a game that featured runs and streaks, Notre Dame found themselves down four with 2:56 remaining. Brey spent his final timeout down 57-61. He said afterwards that his team was extremely calm in the huddle. Without panic, they worked out what they needed to do, and went back to work. From that point on, the Hurricanes scored a single point. Matt Farrell converted a great drive out of the TO, Bonzie Colson cashed in at the line to tie it on the next trip. A head scratching Miami turnover led to a gorgeous V.J. Beachem back-cutting lay-up to give ND the lead with a minute remaining. Miami splits a pair of FT’s, and Steve “Onions” Vasturia once again makes the play that breaks open the game late. His driving layup late in the shot clock with eleven seconds remaining pushed the Irish up three. Miami makes another inconceivable turnover, and Farrell is able to ice the game for the final margin.

Was it a beautiful night of gorgeous basketball to watch? Hell no. It was, however, a clutch win to keep the Irish atop the ACC standings with Florida State. Early in the game, the Irish dug themselves a few holes, but defensive adjustments allowed them to grind to a 28-all tie at halftime. The second half opened with ND able to create some distance, as much as eleven points. Unfortunately, the Irish found one of their funks with ten minutes remaining in the game, and that lead quickly evaporated and turned in to Miami’s four point lead. In a seven minute stretch, the Irish went from a 93% win-probability to a 12% win probability.

The Miami run was fueled by a number of missed jumpers. Some of them were clean looks that just wouldn’t drop. Others were fantastic defense by an athletic Miami team that blocked twelve shots. When those shots stopped falling, the Irish defense relaxed too. A few weeks ago, the buzz on this Irish team was that they were talented, but flat 2nd halves doomed them against top-tier competition. Fast forward to Friday morning, and the buzz is that Notre Dame is as clutch as they come.

As much as it loathes me to repeat anything that comes out of Dick Vitale’s mouth, he did have a point. The Irish don’t turn the ball over, and they make their FT’s. Thursday, they had a single TO in the second half and went 12-14 overall from the line. Compare that to Miami’s 8-14 from the line and two of their 13 overall turnovers in critical late-game situations. In the end, that decided the game in Notre Dame’s favor.

That the Irish were able to turn the game in their favor is a small miracle. I’m continuously amazed by their mental strength in the face of blatant officiating errors. Yet again, the ACC officials working the game seemed determine to follow the consistent pattern. Anything close is going the other way. Whether it was granting continuation or inconsistently allowing contact around the rim, this crew was deplorable. I was shocked Brey didn’t go get himself a T to make a point. I’m glad he didn’t. The foul calls eventually evened out to ND 11, MIA 12, but a film study tells an entirely other story.

Four Factors

Statistically, this was an interesting game. At 1.036ppp, this was the second least efficient scoring game for the Irish this season. Even still, it was the 4th best offensive effort versus the Miami defense this season. It might not have been pretty, but it worked. The Irish shot a season low 41.0% eFG. There were a ton of blocks inside and several threes that were in and out. This was a rare ND win where the opponent outshot the Irish. Miami managed 42.9% eFG. The turnover battle was critical for Notre Dame, winning that factor 9.3 to 20.1. That helped overcome a 33.3 to 44.2 offensive rebounding percentage deficit. Miami got a lot of second and third chance looks at the rim. The fourth factor is deceiving. The FTA/FGA numbers actually favor Miami 20.9 to 22.2, but Miami made just 8 of their 14 attempts, while the Irish cashed in 12.

Going back to the end of my previous post, while we all spend time talking about offense, the real story here is the defense. The Irish opened the second half with a “kill” (three consecutive stops), and once again, closed the game on a defensive run. Miami’s 0.959ppp is their 4th worse performance on the year.

Using the 2-3

I’ve been a zone-hater my entire basketball life. I believe you need to teach young players good defensive fundamentals. Getting down in a stance and staying in front of your man is a critical skill to have. In the past, I’ve lamented Brey’s retreats into the 2-3 as laziness or capitulation to an inability to defend. For previous Irish teams, lack of defensive motion in the 2-3 sometimes led to lack of motion on the offensive end.

Thursday night, the 2-3 zone again proved to be a disruptive weapon. Whoever is playing up top, the Irish guards are doing a great job disrupting the opponent’s early stage offense. Guys are aggressively fighting over screens and communicating wonderfully to push the opponent up the floor. The back line is doing a great job working together to spot shooters and keep the ball out of the paint. Because the guards are applying great ball pressure, teams aren’t finding an early entry pass. If they do work it in to the paint, the Irish are digging back with active hands and turning teams over. Rebounding will always be an issue in the 2-3, but the sheer will of Bonzie Colson is making up for it. He picked up another nine defensive boards to go with his 2 on the offensive side.

Transition Offense

Pile on yet another way to make an opposing defense pay. When the Irish secured a turnover or a long rebound Wednesday, they quickly got their heads up and looked to run. Three times on the night, the Irish were able to get lay-up’s by advancing the ball with urgency. Credit to the staff for spotting something in the Miami tape and coaching the guys to take advantage.

Individual Performances


Screamin’ Jack Nolan loves to call Steve Vasturia the “Babyfaced Assassin.” Of course, in these parts, he’s simply known as “Onions.” Once again, the senior captain lived up to his reputation in the clutch. As Mike Brey said in the ESPN postgame interview (when Vitale would shut up and let him talk), Vasturia does it all. He’s asked to guard the best wing player, get 10 efficient points, ring up 6 assists, and make the winning play when it is needed. That’s all. No big thing. Brey is talking Vasturia up as a ring-of-honor level guy, and it is really hard to argue with. Vasturia just wins.

Matt Farrell led the team in scoring with 15 points in 36 minutes of work. He had a single TO against his six assists, and picked up 3 defensive rebounds. He was only 2-6 from deep, and he was visibly frustrated by his shooting on the evening. Despite his challenges at the rim and from deep, he still led his team to victory. In particular, his no-look to Beachem on the back-cut for the lay-up to give the Irish the lead stands out.

V.J. Beachem also struggled from deep. Only one of his five long-range attempts went down, but he managed to go 3-6 inside the arc and make 4 of his 5 FT attempts. It is great to see VJ getting as many FTA’s as 3FGA’s. He needs to stay aggressive. My only ask of the talented senior is that he hit the defensive glass a little harder. The Irish need more than 2 DR’s from him.

Before the game, I predicted Bonzie Colson was in for a Junkyard Bonz kind of night. It was the junior’s birthday Thursday, and other Irish teammates had stepped in to the spotlight recently. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be. Bonzie went a shocking 1-10 inside the arc for his worst shooting night of his career. The length and athleticism of the Hurricanes clearly bothered Colson. He made all three FT’s and stroked one of his two three point attempts to contribute eight points. While it wasn’t his usual double-double monster, his eleven rebounds and two steals were critical in the win.

Martinas Geben continues to roll along with solid performances. Geben only got 15 minutes of run, but scored 6 points on 3-4 dunking. His movement off the screen-and-roll with Farrell continues to be excellent. For a few stretches, Notre Dame was running their offense through Geben in the post. In the second half, there was a beautiful possession where Geben screened for Farrell. Miami made the ill-advised 1-5 switch and Geben immediately took the smaller man to the block. Farrell got Geben the ball, and when the defense collapsed to help, Geben fired a perfect pass out for an open 3. It didn’t go down, but it was excellent execution and maturity from the Lithuanian big man. I was calling for him to get back in the game when Colson was struggling and Miami was making their late run.

If there’s a better 6th man in the country than Rex Pflueger, I’d like to see him. Rex plays starter’s minutes (24 Thursday) and closes the game. His stat line doesn’t jump out at you: 5 pts, 1 reb, 0 ast, 2 stl. Much like the officiating situation, you need to look at the tape to understand Rex’s contribution. First, he’s far more disruptive on defense than those 2 steals indicate. Second, he makes a lot of “hockey assists” on offense. His motion or ball reversal keeps the Irish offense flowing. In the last few possessions, go back and look at how Rex communicates with VJ on the weak side to keep moving/exchanging. This keeps the help side defense occupied and opens up things like Vasturia’s drive from the corner.

T.J. Gibbs continues to delight. Granted, this is a very different team than the one Demetrius Jackson debuted with, but Gibbs seems ahead of where DJ was at this stage. He didn’t shoot the ball well Thursday (1-5), but he found 2 assists and didn’t turn the ball over at all. He’s so active atop the 2-3 and isn’t afraid to step up and take the shot or drive the ball. Let’s hope this young man keeps growing and maturing, because his upside is phenomenal.

Matt Ryan could go down as the most snakebitten Irish player of all time. He did exactly what was asked of him in his four minutes. Both his attempts from deep looked dead on, but just rattled out. Credit to Brey for continuing to go back to him. My only hope is that Ryan’s confidence can survive the “heat check, then out” role Brey has assigned him.

Austin Torres earns the coveted final position in this recap. The red-shirt senior was wonderful Thursday. Torres managed a remarkable point-a-minute contribution with eight points on 4-5 shooting. He gave Brey critical minutes and energy on a night where Miami’s athleticism threatened to intimidate the Irish. For those asking, eight points is three off of Torres’ career high of eleven versus Purdue two seasons ago. Regardless, his contributions were key on a night the front-line mainstay was struggling.

Big Picture

Winning Thursday night in Miami pushed the KenPom “chance of unbeaten record” in conference from 0.01% to 0.02%. Woo! Double up!

Before conference play opened, most Irish fans looked at the opening to the season and worried that January could be a blood bath. Trips to traditionally difficult locations like Pitt and Miami loomed large. Louisville and Clemson represented emerging powers with prodigious athleticism. Sitting at Christmas dinner, most Irish fans would have taken 2-2 through these first four to the bank. Now, Brey sits at 4-0 and has a massive stack of house money to play with.

The next 4 games are nothing short of torturous. Notre Dame has to quickly turn around and travel to Virginia Tech, who has been sitting around in flannel jammies since Tuesday and hasn’t traveled in over a week. After that, the Irish head back to Florida for a Wednesday night tilt versus league-leading FSU. Notre Dame gets Syracuse in the JACC that Saturday. Another quick turnaround brings Virginia to South Bend on Tuesday the 24th.

The KenPom predictions, put the Irish at 1-3 through this difficult stretch. Both games against the Virginia schools are essentially coin flips. Only FSU is projected to be a multiple-possession loss (82-76). The Syracuse game on a Saturday is the first time students can have their presence felt in ACC play.

The league could look very jumbled by the end of the weekend. The Irish travel to Blacksburg and Seminoles visit Chapel Hill. Should both teams survive tough tests, it sets up for an epic clash in Tallahassee Wednesday. If that comes to pass, the winner will sit at 6-0 and have a commanding position atop the league.

From a realistic perspective, this 4-0 start has raised the ceiling on this Irish team. I can’t blame anyone for dreaming of a double-bye in Brooklyn to set up another magical run. There’s absolutely no reason for the Irish to fear anyone in this league (although FSU getting Duke by 16 is damn impressive). My only worry is that I haven’t significantly raised the floor yet. Our four “pushover” games versus BC and GT suddenly look like legitimate challenges. We’ve got FSU on the schedule twice with Virginia, Duke, UNC, and Louisville to go. Asking for more than 2 wins out of group that is challenging.

This is a really fun bunch of guys to watch. I try to channel my inner Mike Brey and say, “One game at a time.” Rather than get hung up in the big picture, I’m choosing to appreciate these guys for who they are: a fun, admirable, hard-working team that loves to play together. Thursday night was another night to appreciate and celebrate this team. Here’s to hoping for many more in the future.

Brey Press Conference