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Irish offense finally warms up in defensive struggle with Jacksonville

Niagara transfer Marcus Hammond scored a season-high 15 points Tuesday night for Notre Dame against Jacksonville.
Niagara transfer Marcus Hammond scored a season-high 15 points Tuesday night for Notre Dame against Jacksonville. (Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports Network)

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An odd finish to the halftime break Tuesday night might say a little bit about the current confounding condition of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team’s offense.

There was no brief shootaround, no practice shots from the free-throw line.

Instead, Mike Brey had his team running its half-court offense, five on zero, as if it was the first day of practice.

“I don't think — I don't know if I've ever done that,” Brey said. “We weren't moving much, we weren't cutting. … My guys are looking at me like ‘What the hell?’ We are still working on things, obviously.”

It may not have solved everything, but it did at least get the Irish almost twice as many points in the paint in the second half — 22 vs. 12 — of a 59-43 victory over Jacksonville, Tuesday night in front of 6,151 in Purcell Pavilion.

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The 8-5 Irish took 16 3-pointers in the first half, going 0-for its first dozen and making just two (12.5%) against the defensive-minded Dolphins (7-4), whose season includes a win over VCU and a 71-44 loss to Duke in their season opener.

“We're open, we’re gonna take it. We have shooters on the team,” said Irish freshman JJ Starling, who was 1-for-3 on 3-pointers and 5-for-12 overall for 11 points. “You live for open shots like that.

“We know that normally we're gonna knock those down. Things weren’t falling, but we know next game those shots are gonna fall, and we're gonna put more points on the board.”

The encouraging news amidst all the offensive struggles was the emergence of grad student Marcus Hammond, who appears to be finding his way after missing the first seven games with a knee injury — he came in averaging 4.6 points after averaging 18 in his senior season at Niagara.

“I just had a rough stretch trying to get going with the guys,” he said. “They already had been in the flow, so I was just trying to get accustomed to everything. But I was bound for a good game.”

Hammond had nine of ND’s points as the Irish lurched to a 21-19 halftime lead — “the ugliest half in the history of college basketball,” Brey called it.

Hammond wound up 6-for-11 from the field, knocking down three 3-pointers in seven attempts, for a team-high 15 points.

Having another scorer couldn’t come at a better time with the Irish starting their run of 18 straight ACC opponents with No. 14-ranked Miami (12-1) coming to town on Friday for a 2 p.m. clash.

Brey, who has said Hammond was his most efficient offensive player in the preseason, was hopeful the real Hammond is back for good.

“He's a scorer and he's really gifted,” Brey said. “You know, I think he was thinking too much. And he was thinking about the brace (which is now off) when he came back. He's really gifted and, man, he’s played a lot of basketball. So I'm thrilled for him. He deserved that (kind of game). And, hopefully, we got him back.“

Against a team with 11 transfers that plays a more deliberate offense, the possessions were at a premium Tuesday night. Jacksonville was allowing teams only 59 points a game and 38.2% shooting.

It was a tough man-to-man for the veteran Irish to crack, though they stayed in form by committing just seven turnovers. They ranked second in the country in fewest turnover per game coming in, at 9.3

Still, Notre Dame trailed 34-30 with 13:30 to play following a 3-pointer by Kevion Nolan.

Hammond gave the Irish a little momentum with a 3-pointer, and his assist on a Cormac Ryan three-point play gave ND a 36-34 lead. An impressive Dolphin alley-oop to Omar Payne, who finished with 10 points, evened the score at 36 before the Irish finally asserted control.

Ryan, after going 0-for-6 from the 3-point line, finally drained one to start a 9-0 run. At the 6:42 mark, the Irish still had taken as many 3s as 2s before Starling went into overdrive scoring three times in slices to the bucket over the final 4:43 to make sure Jacksonville didn’t threaten.

“Because I have a bigger frame, and I want to be able to use that, I've been attacking (the rim),” said the 6-foot-4 Starling, who added a team-high eight rebounds. “I know I can get downhill. So, when shots aren't falling outside, the easiest thing to do is to go get a layup.”

Notre Dame coach Mike Brey (right) has a word with freshman JJ Starling (1) during a 59-43 Irish victory on Tuesday night.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey (right) has a word with freshman JJ Starling (1) during a 59-43 Irish victory on Tuesday night. (Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports Network)

Grad senior Dane Goodwin, struggling lately for consistency in the offensive mix, wound up with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting.

Brey also saw some good signs defensively.

Jacksonville shot 34.7% for the game and just 26.7% from the 3-point line. Finding extra possessions has been a significant issue. Notre Dame came in ranked 351st in the country, among 352 teams in turnovers forced at 8.0, but the Dolphins had 17, five over their average and they didn’t have a field goal over the game’s final 7:31.

“Again, Friday will be the ultimate challenge with (Miami’s) guards,” Brey said. “But they (Jacksonville) had guards that were going hard, and we were more together on that end of the floor and switching and putting our chest on people. We've done it some, but we have not done it enough.”

No question, though, for the Irish to have a chance against Miami, it will need more from its offense.

Only once in the last eight years has a Brey team finished with a lower scoring average than the 71.5 mark it had entering Tuesday’s game.

“Yeah, we'll get challenged,” Brey said, “because this is one heck of an offensive group (Miami) rolling in here Friday.“

NOTRE DAME 59, JACKSONVILLE 43: Box score

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