Short-Handed Notre Dame Crushes NC State, 88-58; Mike Brey Gets Record
Leave it to head coach Mike Brey to fittingly earn his Notre Dame men’s basketball record 394th career win by maximizing the talent at hand during Wednesday night’s dominant 88-58 victory versus North Carolina State.
No. 28 in this week’s Associated Press poll, the Irish improved to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the ACC, while North Carolina State fell to 10-5 and 0-2 in the league. Full box score can be FOUND HERE.
Minus All-American forward Bonzie Colson, who will be sidelined eight weeks while scheduled for foot surgery today (Jan. 4), and then without standout senior point guard Matt Farrell (sprained ankle) the final 25 minutes against the Wolfpack, the Irish used a balanced arsenal while liberally rotating nine players and spreading the floor with a fast-paced offense. Box score.
Farrell has been ruled out for Saturday’s game at Syracuse by Brey, but the Irish head coach expressed some optimism that Farrell could be ready for the trip to Georgia Tech next Wednesday in Atlanta.
Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs headlined the charge against the Wolfpack with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists, while senior Martinas Geben recorded a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
Junior Rex Pflueger posted 16 points, four rebounds and four assists … yet freshman D.J. Harvey may have stolen the show in his starting debut in place of Colson.
Harvey finished with a career high 17 points, with 13 coming in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point territory while leading the Irish to a 48-36 lead at the intermission. It was Notre Dame’s second-highest first-half scoring output this year, behind only the 56 versus Chicago State back on Nov. 16.
There was no let-up in the second half as the Irish out-scored the Wolfpack 40-22, this time with the defensive pressure the highlight with NC State shooting only 8-of-30 (26.7 percent) from the field.
Four different Irish players drained treys in those opening 20 minutes while going 9-of-18 from beyond the arc, and 19-of-31 overall (61.3 percent).
The damper in the first half, and the game in general, came at the 5:09 mark when Farrell took a hard fall on a drive to the basket, limped to the bench and then left the court for more evaluation. The Irish were up 33-26 at the time and finished the half with a 15-10 edge.Farrell came out with the team in the second half but it was evident his night was done.
Notre Dame next plays at Syracuse on Saturday with a 3:15 p.m. tip-off that will be telecast on ESPN or ESPN2.
Quick Hits
• The victory gave Brey a career mark of 394-190 at Notre Dame, which closely mirrors the 393-197 ledger Digger Phelps had in his 20 seasons from 1971-91. Brey has coached 584 games while Phelps had 590.
In a ceremony following the game, Phelps presented the game ball to Brey on the court to commemorate the achievement.
• This is the second straight year Notre Dame began 2-0 in ACC competition, and third time in its five years in the league.
• Notre Dame improved to 8-4 all time against the Wolfpack, notably 4-1 as an ACC member.
• In NCAA rankings, Notre Dame entered the contest excelling in the fundamentals, including No. 1 in fewest personal fouls per game (13.1), No. 3 in fewest turnover per contest (9.3), No. 10 in assist/turnover ratio (1.55) and No. 22 in free throw percentage (.769) — where they were No. 1 last year with an 80.0 figure that was both a school and ACC record.
• Among 65 Power 5 Conference teams, Brey’s 18th season with the Fighting Irish is the fourth-longest tenure. The top three are Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim (42 years), Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski (38) and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo (23).
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