There are no ties in basketball, and there isn’t a column in the standings for moral victories. The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish now stand at 9-1 on the 2017 season after falling 66-74 to the top-ranked and defending National Champion Villanova Wildcats. It is impossible not to be bummed after watching ND lead for over 30 minutes of the game and holding a lead as large as 11 in the first half, but there are a lot of positives to draw from the toughest test Mike Brey’s team has faced this year.

Jersey Tough

If you had a time machine to go back 12 months and tell ND basketball fans that Steve Vasturia played a great game, and scored 18 against the defending champs, you would get a lot of nods and reasonable agreement. Vaturia was rock solid thought the game and put out an excellent whole-floor performance. He remains the steady veteran of the bunch. If, however, you’d now start telling people how Matt Farrell stole the spotlight, leading his team with 18 points, 6 assists and 2 steals thoroughly outplaying Villanova’s Jalen Brunson, you might get some crazy looks. For a guy who was lost a year ago, Matt Farrell’s ascendency to the starting PG position on this team has been nothing short of remarkable. The Jersey swagger that comes out when Farrell has a chance to get back east is a huge part of why this team is sitting back in the top 25 and the Irish are a real threat every time they step on the floor.

Josh Hart

We don’t have a Josh Hart. The Villanova senior had 37 points on 10-14 shooting, including 3-4 from behind the arc. He was a beast and took advantage of some generous whistles by going 14-14 from the charity stripe. He had 11 rebounds and 4 assists to lead his teams in each of those categories as well. Josh Hart is a national Player of the Year candidate, and he proved it in every way versus Notre Dame. He put his team on his back in the second half and carried them to a hard fought victory. Give credit to Jay Wright and the Villanova staff for picking up the pace in the second half. The only time the Irish had a chance to slow Hart down was when they could set their defense and let Rex Pflueger get in front of him.

Rex Pflueger

You’re think that any stat line that includes an opposing player going 10-14 and attempting 14 FT’s would mean a brutal defensive performance, but Rex was outstanding. His fundamentals and effort are exactly what we’ve been discussing here at 18Stripes. If you want to know why this team has a chance to be special, even after losing multiple pros over the last 2 years, watch Rex’s defensive effort.

Of course, it is also nice when he can do this too:

Martinas Geben

There have been so many times I’ve written off the Lithuanian big, but he was great Saturday afternoon. He opened the scoring with a big 3 point play, and while he was only credited with 3 rebounds, he was a significant presence on the interior for Notre Dame. The Irish played well with him on the floor and he contributed nicely. Geben’s emergence as a viable defender, rebounder, and movement guy on the block gives Brey and his staff the flexibility to engineer different match-ups for Bonzie Colson. This will certainly pay dividends down the road.

Temple Gibbs

It was nice to see freshman T.J. Gibbs step in to the fold without missing a beat. The stage and competition didn’t overwhelm Gibbs and he looked very solid on the floor. While it will be tough to have Farrell off the floor, Gibbs gives Brey an excellent insurance policy for those times Farrell might find some foul trouble or need a breather. The 2 PG’s also played well together in a lineup that threatens opposing defenses with multiple drive and kick options on the perimeter.  Again, this is encouraging headed towards the ACC grind.

Junkyard Bonz

Junior big man Bonzie Colson did some work. He made a few great plays and finished the afternoon with 11 points overall. He continued to make his FT’s. If you asked Colson right now about his performance, he’d quickly tell you he left a few on the floor tonight. At least twice, Colson had crucial looks around the basket, but brought the ball down or took an extra dribble that cost him. When you’re undersized inside, you tend to either rush to get a shot off quickly or play it really slow to ensure you have space. Bonzie got caught in between a few times Saturday and it cost him.

Some Struggles

I really thought Matt Ryan could be the X-factor in this game. Since Nova doesn’t play traditional bigs, I thought the sophomore sharpshooter had a chance to contribute and open up the floor. To their credit, Villanova executed the scouting report perfectly against Ryan and he had zero shot attempts and a turnover in very limited minutes. Ryan seemed too content to float on the offensive end. Brey has talked about using Ryan Ayers to help Ryan be more decisive and athletic in his cuts and movement. There was certainly some regression on that front Saturday.

I’d be accused of whitewashing this review if I don’t dedicate at least a sentence or two to the performance of V.J. Beachem. The Irish needed their senior swingman to show up to have a chance to take down the Cats and he just couldn’t get going. Beachem was 2-11 from the floor, including 0-5 from deep. A lot of those were in-and-out misses that looked great, but just didn’t drop. My biggest concern is that after a number of good rebounding efforts from Beachem, he was beat for put-backs in critical moments in this game. Everybody has off shooting nights, but you have to still box out and help your team any way you can. I don’t blame Brey whatsoever for sticking with Beachem in this one. That jumper is so pretty, and we just needed one to fall, but it didn’t.

Late Game Execution

Villanova played with a champion’s confidence. There was no panic in Jay Wright’s squad, as they stared down a double-digit deficit. They were great. The Irish managed to keep things to a single possession late, but when they were down two with 90 seconds left, they couldn’t deliver. Colson had 6’2” PG Jalen Brunson on the block during a crucial possession, but Notre Dame never recognized the mismatch and failed to make the entry pass. Getting back to tied with a good post touch seemed like the right play, but instead, the Irish settled for perimeter jumpers and quickly fell down 4 and more as things slipped away.

Final Thoughts

There’s a lot to like here. Losing sucks. Losing when you had a good lead sucks more. It is impossible not to be disappointed and say to yourself, “We had them!” However, tournament games are won in March, not December, and this was a great learning experience for the Irish. Matt Farrell and Marty Geben should be coming back to finals week brimming with confidence that they can deliver on the big stage. Not many teams have a Josh Hart, and he was the single biggest difference in this game. V.J. Beachem didn’t need to match Hart’s performance, but they needed to be with in 10-12 points of each other, and it didn’t work out that way. It was a one possession game coming out of the final media TO versus a top-ranked team in a more-road-than-neutral setting – that’s a good sign of things to come. V.J. isn’t shooting 20% for the rest of the season, so it isn’t worth hyperventilating over that.

Instead, Irish fans, I’ll ask you this: What has been our biggest complaint about this basketball program over the last few years? No, other than lack of practice facilities and fan support. Yes, you got it: DEFENSE. This Irish team did an excellent job containing a fine offensive squad and it took a herculean effort from the leading national PoY candidate to beat us on the road. If this team can figure out a way to stitch together a competent defense to go with its lethal offensive efficiency, the Irish have a chance to make noise again this March. For my money, Saturday proved they have the talent and togetherness to play on the biggest of stages. It isn’t going to be easy, but this Notre Dame team has the fight in them to be relevant nationally. Don’t let a nice 9-0 start move the goalposts on you. This was a good test, and even though the Irish don’t come home with the W, they come home with the building blocks for continued national relevance. Now they get a week of finals and preparation for a big test vs. Purdue in Indianapolis. Let’s hope we can use this Saturday as a springboard into a statement game next Saturday.

Here’s the highlight package with Screamin’ Jack’s call…

I’ll be checking back in with the comments once I have some time to absorb the stat line and 4 factors, but I can tell you that Nova making 22 FT’s to our 6 will be a big one.