Notre Dame Hands Alabama A&M Lopsided Loss
Notre Dame wasted no time Sunday afternoon against overmatched Alabama A&M making sure to right all the wrongs that plagued it about a week ago in a heartbreaking two-point loss to Indiana.
The Irish (9-4) started fast, never trailed and were never threatened in a thorough 82-56 blowout win over the Bulldogs (3-8).
About the only thing that didn’t go right came early in the second half when senior forward Juwan Durham went down with an apparent knee injury, a setback this team would be unable to sustain.
But Irish head coach Mike Brey calmed fears in the postgame, saying he expects Durham back at practice on Tuesday after a day off and to be full go this week.
“It’s just a little slight strain and bruise,” Brey said. “I think he was a little scared because it looked like a hyperextension but I don’t think there is anything there, thank God.”
Balanced scoring and a quick start — two elements that were sorely missing against the Hoosiers — were the storylines in Sunday’s win.
Senior guard T.J. Gibbs paced five Irish in double figures with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Sophomore guard Dane Goodwin added 12 points. Durham and sophomore guard Prentiss Hubb each had 11.
Senior guard Rex Pflueger didn’t score double-figures but he played the most complete game of any Irish player with seven points, four rebounds, six assists and four steals.
With 16 points and 18 rebounds — which tied his season high — senior forward John Mooney recorded his seventh straight double-double and his 10th overall, which ranks third in the country.
“We got off to a pretty good start and we took care of business,” Mooney said. “That was kind of our motto coming into the game.”
The Irish parlayed 2-of-18 shooting from Alabama A&M to start the game into a 14-2 scoring run and eventually a 36-18 halftime advantage.
Only twice in the entire first half did the Bulldogs score consecutive baskets. It was the fewest points scored in the first half by an Irish opponent this season.
“The most important part for us was our play on the defensive end,” Gibbs said. “As you can see, a lot of our good possessions on offense came from our good defense. When our defense leads into our offense, that’s when we’re at our best.”
Offensively, Brey celebrated the way his team moved the ball, recording 23 assists on 33 baskets with only nine turnovers. It was the fourth time his Irish have tallied at least 20 assists in a game this season.
“I love how we pass the ball, man, we really move the ball and that’s going give us a chance,” Brey said.
Goodwin Good Again
It’s been a little more than three weeks ago now since Notre Dame was coming off consecutive losses to Maryland and Boston College and Brey summoned Goodwin into his office for a chat.
Goodwin was coming off of two miserable performances in the losses where he scored 10 points total on 3-of-17 shooting, and Brey wanted to know what could be done.
Goodwin’s answer was simple, “work and ride me harder.”
The chat and ensuing adjustments worked.
In the four games since the player-coach meeting, Goodwin has averaged 17.5 points, including a career-high 27 points Dec. 10, against Detroit Mercy.
He’s shooting 54 percent from the field (26 of 48) and 50 percent from three-point range (13 of 26) during this four-game span.
“I think the lightbulb is on,” Brey said of Goodwin. “I really believe he is in it, he gets it, he’s aggressive. Right now, I love his frame of mind.”
Goodwin is actually emerging as one of the best bench players in the country. With a 13.0 scoring average this season, Goodwin trails only Vanderbilt’s Saban Lee among reserve scorers from power conference teams. Lee, a junior guard, averages 17 points a game for the Commodores.
Let The Games Begin
Notre Dame expectedly rebounded nicely Sunday with the 26-point win over Alabama A&M, a team is was favored to beat by 25.5 points.
That was the easy part. The difficult task lies ahead because following Sunday’s tune-up win at home, Notre Dame opens its full-time ACC schedule with road games against Syracuse on Saturday and NC State on Jan. 8, before coming home to face No. 3 Louisville on Jan. 11.
Adding to the challenge of this three-game ACC stretch over eight days, the Irish are already 0-2 in the league after losing at North Carolina then being upset at home by Boston College.
Up Next:
The longstanding series with Syracuse that dates back to 1914 and spans 50 games through both Big East and ACC league play resumes Saturday at the Carrier Dome (4 p.m., EST) in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Orange lead the series 29-21 and have won eight of the last 11 meetings, including a 72-62 victory over the Irish last season at Purcell Pavilion, the only meeting between these two of the 2018-19 season.
Notre Dame beat Syracuse 51-49 on Jan. 6, 2018, the last time the teams played at the Carrier Dome.
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