ESPN, the tournament committee, seemingly the entire student body, and even NBA scouts when Duke comes to town and Jerian Grant is on display. The Notre Dame men’s basketball team is now squarely on the radar of just about everyone in College Basketball America, propelled by a home win over the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils. While most fans, prognosticators, analysts and message board commentators alike knew of Jerian Grant and the Fighting Irish, it was the Wednesday Night Hoops win that has now firmly shifted the conversation from “this team is very good”, to “this team could be special”. After all, many took note when Demetrius Jackson stuffed a slam down the throat of Purdue’s 7” 1’ center in a 30 point blowout win, or when Jerian Grant flew directly from a phone booth with part of his business suit still on but his cape flowing to throw down against Georgia Tech. It was on the backs of overtime wins and road conference wins that the Irish climbed as high as number eight in the country. Now, after besting one of the all-time-great programs and coaches, it seems that everyone is willing to believe. We’ve gone from “top-five ACC finish” to “could win the ACC”, or from “potential three-seed” to “the ingredients to make a deep run”, seemingly overnight. How did we get there?
Holding Court, Mounting Comebacks, and Confidence
The Notre Dame basketball program is no stranger to quality home wins. On Wednesday, Mike Brey took on his old boss, Coach K – fresh off his 1000th victory if you’ve been under a rock or on the moon – for the third time as Notre Dame’s head coach. The Irish prevailed for the second time in a row with another balanced scoring effort. After Jerian Grant’s monster of a stat line (I’ll touch on that later), August, Jackson and Connaughton all scored in double-digits, and Pat pulled down 12 boards on his way to a double double. He also probably has a bit of a headache today after jumping over a Plumlee (Duke still has a Plumlee) and landing hard. He would go to the bench but return to help seal off the game, exemplifying this teams’ toughness along the way. Bonzie Colson also chipped in eight points, with the highlight being a pump-fake and pivot for a score on Duke’s all-world center Jahlil Okafor. The most dramatic of the supporting cast on this evening, however, was Steve Vasturia. After going 0-4 from the floor with only four free throws to show, Vasturia stepped up and hit the biggest shot of the night, a corner three, that put the Irish up four late in the game.
The Irish won a game by storming back from a double-digit deficit yet again, which is another reason many believe this Notre Dame team is different than teams of years past, especially when it comes to playing games in the month of March. They’ve shown enough resolve, toughness and firepower to get back in the game against even the very best opponents on the schedule, as well as on the road, and therefore should not waver in the face of a deficit in the NCAA tourney. While this isn’t the course of action I personally would recommend to aspiring basketball teams, it certainly is a nice trait to have.
Is there a confidence about this team that we haven’t seen before? It’s certainly a confidence we did not see last year at all, or in March tournaments past. Look no further than Demetrius Jackson, who despite hitting some shots had a rough first half against Duke. He came back in the second half and took it to the likes of Duke guards Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones. That’s the type of player that I feel great running my team, ball in his hands, for the next year or two if I’m Mike Brey. On the other hand, Vasturia’s corner three took STONES to take and make at that juncture in the game, and Bonzie Colson and Zach Auguste didn’t look a bit afraid of Jahlil Okafor. Bright lights, prime time game, and no one flinched. The whole team is confident.
Jerian Grant is Just a Magician
Speaking of confidence, it apparently makes you magic. Huge stat lines are seemingly just another night out for Jerian Grant these days, but scoring or assisting on more than half of your team’s points? For a top-ten team? In a win against another top-ten team? It almost feels like, Dan Shulman, you’re selling Jerian short when you say things like “Okafor, best player in the nation, and Jerian Grant something something something”. In his defense, Mr. Shulman did mention that Grant could potentially win the ACC player of the year.
The stat line: 23 points, 12 assists, six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. A highlight-reel three pointer, from the Shamrock or Mishawaka or a speeding car on the turnpike or whatever you want to call it, with 17 seconds on the shot clock. That was outside of Kyle McAlarney’s range, I want to say. The twisting, loose-ball floater as the shot clock expired late in the game. Taking it to the hoop and scoring on Jahlil Okafor countless times. The game-sealing block. Jerian Grant’s performance was as impressive as it gets in college hoops.
Then he went all “you shall not storm the court” on the ND students. That’s confidence, too. It’s also an attitude that says, “we expect to win these games”, which in my opinion signifies what Mike Brey has done for the program and what he will continue to do, considering his contract situation and his apparent dedication to Notre Dame.
Defending Okafor
All-world, likely lottery pick Jahlil Okafor got his in this one. 22 points and 17 rebounds, which is a monster stat line from a guy who, for a while, could score at will against the Irish frontline. I thought Auguste and Colson acquitted themselves well, however. It seemed to me that not double-teaming until the opportune moments may have been Mike Brey’s plan going in to the game, and it paid off when Okafor turned the ball over at a crucial spot, with Duke clinging to a lead late in the second half. On the other end, Okafor was abused on D a few times by Auguste and then once or twice by Colson.
“We Played Well, and We Lost”
For all of the big-time wins, clutch moments and come-from-behind victories, I find that paraphrased quote from Duke guard Tyus Jones to be the real reason for confidence. A top-five team came to your house and played well. The spotlight was on. They didn’t have a down night; they didn’t miss a lot of shots they usually make. Their star went off for 22 and 17. And they lost. To me, that says something.
This weekend, the Irish travel to the familiar and typically unfriendly confines of the Peterson Events Center to take on the Pitt Panthers, losers of three straight. Pitt lost at Duke; forgivable. A home loss against Louisville, fine. Lose to Virginia Tech? What’s going on at Pitt (no offense, Hokies)? The Irish will have to be careful to avoid a let down, but these guys are no strangers to a challenge night-in-and-night-out. They’ve shown the ability to turn it on and pull away from inferior teams.
At 8-1 in the conference and 20-2 overall, the Irish stand alone in second place of the ACC standings, halfway through the conference season. Virginia, the conference leader, plays Duke this weekend, and hopefully the Irish have made Coach K’s squad just mad enough to win that one. With another date at Duke in just over a week and a looming clash with Louisville, the season is just getting interesting. Stay tuned, folks.
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