Demetrius Jackson Returns To Help Irish Roll Deacons 85-62
He’s back.
After sitting out the Jan. 28 loss at Syracuse with a pulled hamstring, junior guard Demetrius Jackson returned to the starting lineup on Sunday at home against Wake Forest and helped the Fighting Irish (15-6 overall, 6-3 ACC) to an 85-62 win over the Demon Deacons (10-11, 1-8 ACC).
In addition to Jackson’s return, senior forward A.J. Burgett picked up his first start of the season, joining Jackson, junior guard Steve Vasturia, junior forward V.J. Beachem and senior forward Zach Auguste in the opening lineup. Head coach Mike Brey said he decided to give Burgett the nod after freshman guard Rex Pflueger tweaked an ankle in practice, among other reasons.
“I thought about how young we looked the other night at Syracuse, what was coming up and how we’ve been practicing, and I just thought to myself, ‘We’re getting him reps,’” head coach Mike Brey said regarding Burgett. “And I mentioned that Friday in practice, and we got him reps. He got reps again yesterday.
“But we went through the scouting report and I didn’t have him as a starter. I’m walking from mass to the car to go to Bonefish, and I’m thinking, ‘We should start him. Rex Pflueger hasn’t practiced in two days, Matt Ryan is trying to figure things out. I just want an old guy on the floor right now.’”
That decision gave Notre Dame maybe just the spark it needed after never really challenging in the Syracuse game. Burgett grabbed both defensive rebounds on Wake Forest’s first two possessions, and even chipped in a three-pointer in between in his first start, helping the Irish to a 7-3 lead at the first media timeout.
Jackson’s first basket in his return was a three-point make at the 15:08 mark, extending the Notre Dame lead to 10-3. Burgett also threw in a block on Deacons senior forward Devin Thomas — who has always played well against Notre Dame — which led to a transition layup by Beachem, giving Notre Dame a 21-13 lead around the midway point of the first half.
“Burg is such a smart defender,” Brey said. “Look how he flies in on defensive rebounds, too, with his athletic ability. Burg is really a position guy; he knows how to help. He’s been in our system for four years.
“And I wouldn’t even worry about him shooting; I didn’t talk to him about that. He’s a great conveyor of the ball and he’s easy to play with, on both ends of the floor, because you know what you’re going to get with him. And then he’s making open shots; man, that’s just another level.
“He deserves it man. I felt guilty at times not getting him in there and investing in some other guys, because he’s just super. Never hangs his head. He’s never gotten into it with me about playing time. He helps guys. We lose at Virginia and he doesn’t see any time, and Zach has a tough day. He comes to see me and the next day wants to know how he can help Zach. Are you kidding me? He deserves it.”
Notre Dame eventually grew the margin to as much as 17 points at the 4:02 mark of the first half before leading 46-29 at halftime. Fittingly, Jackson nailed a beautiful buzzer-beater jumper as the first-half clock expired to deliver the Irish its 17-point intermission lead.
Jackson showed little rust in his game, finishing with 14 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals. He did commit five turnovers — including a couple rare strips at the top of the key — but the junior wouldn’t attribute that to any tentativeness with his injury.
“I thought we were trending to get him back,” Brey said. “Even the way he was moving on game day Thursday at Syracuse, they put him through a workout and we weren’t going to play him there, but he was moving where he was going to be better by today.
“It sure feels nice having the best guard in the country back. God, I’m a way better coach when that guy is around.”
Notre Dame opened the second half extending its 17-point lead to 20 at the first media timeout, punctuated by a driving layup from Burgett entering the stoppage for his seventh and eighth points of the day. Wake Forest never seemingly made a big dent into the Irish lead — the Deacons trailed 62-43 at the 11:52 mark and 73-51 at the 8:00 mark before the eventual 85-62 final.
A bit lost in Jackson’s return and the play of Burgett was the strong performance by Auguste. The senior dominated the glass for the Irish, especially in the first half and early in the second period. At the 11:52 mark of the second half, he had snagged more offensive rebounds (five) than Wake Forest as a team (four), in addition to making all seven of his free throw attempts.
Auguste finished with a team-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass.
“He was unbelievable,” Brey said. “Fearless. And you know what helped him? Having his roommate [Burgett] playing with him.
“That’s not lost either, that group dynamic. Burg playing, they’re buddies. They knew we were going to play Burg because we had talked about that on Friday, but last night I said to heck with it, he’s starting. Zach’s body language, and even the freshman who were losing the potential to start were like, ‘Yeah.’ Guy deserves it man. If it helps Zach, great.”
All five Irish starters — including Burgett — finished in double figures scoring.
Brey’s squad next travels to Miami Feb. 3. Tipoff is schedule for 7 p.m. ET, and it will be televised live on ESPN2.
Box Score: LINK.
Game Notes:
• Auguste recorded his 12th double-double of the season, and the win marked his fifth straight game with 10 or more rebounds.
• Notre Dame has now won 11 consecutive times following a loss, dating back to the end of the 2013-14 season, including five victories following a defeat this season.
• The Irish improved to 2-3 all time against the Deacons.
• Head coach Mike Brey evened his record to 2-2 in his Notre Dame career versus Wake Forest.