Great fight to the final minute.
We are just getting started. pic.twitter.com/JOZQ69solW— Notre Dame MBB (@NDmbb) December 10, 2016
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.
Notre Dame’s Matt Farrell may be the most improved player in the country. Legit.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) December 10, 2016
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:
Kris Jenkins vs. Rex Pflueger
This round goes to Pfluegerhttps://t.co/csMv62xYet
— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) December 10, 2016
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.
At halftime I thought we’d regress in terms of our shooting (I think we shot ~55% in the second half); I thought we’d compensate with better rebounding. Alas, we did not, and we lost the game. O Reb % will be a big differentiator, as well as FTM/FGA. Otherwise, I was quite pleased with first shot D.
To half a chance to win this game with a less than stellar night from one of our key guys was remarkable – shows the depth of this team, and has me modestly optimistic for the rest of the season. Let’s use this lesson and take the boards away from a long Purdue team next Sat.
Free Mooney- he at least has the size to make it tougher to go over his back.
I could be dead wrong, but this is looking like a lost season for Matt Ryan.
You really can’t play him at the 4 and ND has 5 better options at 1-3 spots.
Next season, Ryan can have a Farrell like improvement in play.
I agree that the zebras were sympathetic to Hart in the 2nd half, but Beachem’s poor shooting night and our inability to rebound just killed us. Still, this is a fun team to watch and soothes the pain of the gridiron pain we felt this year.
Keep in mind Purdue is a VERY different kind of game. This was a game against a mirror image, and Purdue is a much different kind of team. Very long and built to pound. Instead of a similarity of styles, Indy will be a clash.
Disappointing loss but still a great effort.
V.J. just seemed out of sync the entire game.
Farrell continues to be a pleasant surprise, nice to get props from Bilas.
We need to be much tougher on the boards next Saturday and definitely need a good defensive effort from Geben. Haas and Swanigan will be a load.
Ugh VJ. What a disappearing act. Would have also been nice if the officials hadn’t let Nova hang all over Bonzie, preventing us from getting him much action on the low post.
Is Ryan fully healthy? If so, our bench isn’t going to be nearly as strong as I hoped, because he got absolutely no separation today. Unfortunate.
Finally, this was a great effort against a great team. But we will need all of our players to step up on the offensive end, because defensively we can’t stop great scorers. Regardless, I have much higher hopes for this team than I ever could have imagined preseason.
Really thrilled with two things that have been a huge struggle for this team for many years: depth and defense. Can you imagine in 2012 if we knew that we’d have bench presences such as Gibbs, Pflueger, Torres, and Ryan? That we’d be near the top of the league in steals and would have the ability to play lock down D? The loss sucks, but this just further cemented how far we’ve come in these key areas to me.
One (expected) gripe: I went to the Syracuse game in 2014 in Metlife and it was a 75% ND crowd. Sucks that most of those people don’t care enough about basketball to go to a neutral game against a number one team. I think if we had a neutral crowd, we would’ve won the game. Similarly, I went to the Shamrock Series game against Purdue in Indy in 14 and the Crossroads game against IU last year and the disparity was the same. Thus is life for an ND basketball fan, I suppose.
As I thought we would win, I was wondering if we are turning into a basketball school. Brey seems to be in the mold of Dantonio. Doesn’t recruit a lot of elite players but turns his teams into top-notch group (now for the 3rd year running) with just enough talent and develops enough of that talent. What a fun stretch of basketball.
I think VJ was pretty unlucky. I counted three 3s that defied physics and rattled in and out, including one down the stretch after which I think ND would have won if it had gone down. He needs to pick it up on the boards, but I think a lot of people are writing him off too harshly and too early. He’ll bounce back; he’s a really good shooter and is still feeling out his broadening offensive game.
Vasturia looks completely rejuvenated from the version we saw late last season. I do wonder if he can continue it all the way through this season, but he looks like a totally different and remarkably well-rounded player.
This team does seem to have a first half/second half problem. I’m not sure why that is, but it seems like they are playing at a different pace in first halves that suits them. I’m not sure if the data would show that to be true. I’m not sure if there is a “running out the clock” attitude or fatigue or what, but they seem to be trying to be overly methodical and precise, which is making the offense go a little too stagnant in second halves. I hope the assistants are investigating that this week while Brey is out recruiting.
Love the minutes for Gibbs and that he was given actual responsibilities during them. That’s going to be very valuable for his development.
Do you get the sense that Brey is “burning” to limit possessions when they hit a double digit lead and things look good? That’s my biggest worry right now. This is a very good running team that can find an open 3 in transition any time it wants.
I can see not wanting to get in track meet with Hart and co, but one easy way to get VJ going is to get im early clean looks. It also helps draw fouls early, which was an issue Saturday.
I wish they’d keep their foot on the gas.