SOUTH BEND, Ind. — It was a little bit before 6 p.m., Eastern time Sunday, when the career of Notre Dame guard JJ Starling was officially launched.
With the Fighting Irish struggling to find a way to put away the Horizon League’s Youngstown State (2-1) team, the heralded freshman from Baldwinsville, N.Y., found himself in the corner with the ball in his hands and relatively alone.
He didn’t look to any of the four grad seniors on the floor for help. He rose up, drained the 3-pointer, and brought an appreciative Purcell Pavilion crowd of 4,940 to its feet with 1:58 to play while putting a dent in the Penguins’ hopes.
The shot gave ND a 79-73 edge and after a Youngstown State bucket on the other end, Starling was still feeling it. He took a swing pass at the top of the 3-point line and let fly with another attempt — and drained it.
Suddenly, Notre Dame (2-0) was up 82-75 to play with 1:17 to go and on its way to an 88-81 victory.
His 17-point performance and aggressive approach was a big step up from the more reluctant, nine-point, three-turnover effort in last Thursday’s season opener against Radford.
“Yeah, in my first game, I was a little in my own head — you know, first game as a freshman coming in, you want to perform,” said Starling. “And then my guys, they just told me to continue to be myself and be more aggressive, and I just came in with that mindset today.”
Starling finished 6-for-13 from the field, many of those shots coming on drives in traffic.
“In the first half, I was missing shots, and they still were in my corner, making sure I was aggressive, because they know that they can trust me and I can trust them,” he said. “I'm glad to be back, hitting big shots and getting to the rim, because I know that's what I can do well and my teammates trust me to do that.”
He wasn’t the only freshman to impress on Sunday.
Look for Ven-Allen Lubin, a 6-8 forward, to have plenty of big days. He delivered nine points on 4-for-4 shooting, along with four rebounds and two blocks in 23 minutes.
“He is really gifted, as you can see,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. “And I mean, that's a big 3 he hit (with 11:26 to go), and he can block shots. We don't have a guy like that. But he's good with the ball and really, he and JJ, they really have a high basketball IQ. And that's why the old guys love them, because they don't upset the applecart. They know how to play the right way.”
There was nothing wrong with the way the Irish shot the ball. Led by Dane Goodwin’s 9-for-14 effort that produced a team-high 20 points, the Irish finished 33-for-55 for 60%. They went 8-for-15 from the 3-point line.
They also earned a 32-24 edge on the boards.
But what they didn’t do well was protect the ball against a capable Youngstown State defense.
Multiple turnovers kept the Irish from surging after edging out to a 43-36 lead in the first half.
They had five turnovers in the first six minutes of the second half and finished with 14 for the game.
It kept the Penguins in the hunt. A 3-pointer by Brandon Rush with eight minutes to play made it a one-point game, at 63-62, and though the Irish never lost the lead, it was down to a point again at the 4:39 mark.
“We had our chances,’’ said Youngstown State coach Jerrod Calhoun, in his sixth year at the school. “We just missed a couple of shots … they (Irish) are very balanced and played much better tonight than they did (against Radford).”
Notre Dame got another fine performance from guard Trey Wertz, who had 18 against Radford. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting, most on strong drives to the basket, including a layup with 38 seconds to play for an 84-77 lead.
Wertz has picked up a lot of extra minutes with Marcus Hammond sidelined by a knee injury. Brey doesn’t expect the 6-foot-4 grad transfer from Niagara back until at least the Bowling Green game on Nov. 22.
“I can't say enough about Trey Wertz and his steadiness,’’ Brey said. “He's getting us in stuff. He's getting to the basket. He's been a better defender.
“He's our quarterback. And that's kind of what I found out the other night (against Radford), which excited me … He's been a loyal seventh man for two years. So now we’re giving him a bigger bite of the apple, and he's developed and he's delivering.”
The Irish didn’t have much luck containing the Penguins’ Adrian Nelson. The 6-8 grad student and Northern Kentucky transfer went through and over the Irish for 27 points on 12-for-18 shooting and 10 rebounds.
The Penguins shot 48.4% for the game, 3-for-9 from the 3-point line.
The Irish were 14-of-15 from the free throw line to Youngstown State’s 8-for-10.
ND’s Nate Laszewski had his second double-double of the season, with 14 points – 12 in the first half – and 10 rebounds.
Cormac Ryan was the fifth Irish player in double figures with 13, going 6-for-6 from the line.
Though it’s not much of a sample size, or much of a surprise, it looks like the season will feature a lot of close calls. The good thing about a veteran group is that the confidence will be there when they come.
“We know if we stay poised in the last 10 minutes or whatever it is, and play our game, that we're eventually going to pull it out,’’ said Goodwin.
Next up for the Irish is a home game against Southern Indiana (1-1) at 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
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