Observations: Notre Dame drops Maui opener to Saint Mary’s
Notre Dame’s Maui Invitational upside would largely be determined by its first game.
A win over top-50 KenPom opponent Saint Mary’s would give the Irish a solid early season victory and send them to a Tuesday afternoon test vs. Oregon. A loss, meanwhile, renders the next day essentially meaningless with a matchup against Division II Chaminade.
The Irish (2-1) are headed to the consolation bracket and the late-night window after suffering their first defeat of the year.
Notre Dame began the Maui Invitational in Las Vegas Monday night with a 62-59 loss to Saint Mary’s. The two teams played the entire second half within one possession, with Dan Fotu’s three-pointer sending the Gaels ahead for good with 49 seconds left.
Here are three observations from the game.
1. Seeking a steady hand
Three games into the year, and Notre Dame is waiting for its senior point guard to arrive and take the offense’s reigns. Prentiss Hubb had six points on 1-of-7 shooting, with no assists and two turnovers. He’s 4 of 27 (14.8 percent) from the field this year.
With him in this form, Notre Dame goes through too many field goal droughts and scoreless stretches. The Irish need him to snap out of it, or these types of sluggish offensive games will be a possibility on any night. They did not make a field goal in the final 3:29.
Senior Trey Wertz also ran point and stabilized the offense at some key moments. He had five assists and seven points in 26 minutes. He also made a layup late in the game where he drove from the top of the key, saw Saint Mary’s forward Matthias Tass stay close to forward Paul Atkinson Jr. on a dive and took it to the rim. Him stepping out of bounds with 26 seconds left was a difficult way to end and a costly error.
2. Atkinson at the center of things
Notre Dame couldn’t get Atkinson going in the paint right away, but when it did, he took over.
At first, Saint Mary’s double-teamed him. He found perimeter shooters as a passer, but Notre Dame only made one three-pointer off his kick-outs. He saw single coverage later in the first half and scored his first basket about three minutes before the break. On defense, though, he was an impactful presence with two blocks.
Atkinson scored all but two of his 13 points in the second half. He finished in double figures for the 32nd straight game.
Saint Mary’s mixed up its coverage on Atkinson all night. Fotu and Tass could handle him one-on-one in the post at first. The Irish couldn’t make the Gaels pay for doubling him.
Eventually, though, Atkinson’s craftiness was too difficult to defend in single coverage. This game was yet another example of him not needing to bury his defender in the paint to score, even if that defender is the 6-10, 245-pound Tass. Notre Dame could not, though, get him a touch in the final minute.
3. Assessing the defense
All told, this was a passable game for Notre Dame on the defensive end.
The Irish held Saint Mary’s to 1.03 points per possession, allowed only 15 three-point attempts and came away with 13 turnovers. That’ll work many nights. A few fouls late and some suspect post defense, though, were enough to help push the Gaels ahead. They also shot 48.9 percent from the field, a mark propped up by interior scoring. Fotu, who put up a career-high 22 points, was a problem.
Notre Dame gave up a couple baskets and easy looks when a guard switched onto Fotu, but it scrapped that plan in the first half. Atkinson and forward Nate Laszewski were up and down defensively on him and Tass. The latter had a few baskets where he easily got to his strong left shoulder.
Fotu had taken nine three-pointers in four prior games, but went 3 of 3 from deep against Notre Dame. The Irish seemed content to let a forward with a wonky motion and 31 percent three-point mark over the last three seasons beat them deep. He did just that in the last minute, drilling a late-clock three when Atkinson helped on point guard Tommy Kuhse’s drive.
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