ND Wins the Close One

Notre Dame Students storm the court after a big win against #5 Alabama

Last year Notre Dame men's basketball lost 12 games by six points or less, and lost 5 times by shots in the last 2 seconds. They finished up last year with a 16-14 mark, nearly costing Mike Brey his job in the process.

Notre Dame pulled off two very large upsets this week. The first was against #19 Maryland, a perennial power in the ACC who frequents the Big Dance. The second was last night, against #5 Alabama, a team of very large and talented inside players. The Notre Dame squad's tallest player is Luke Zeller, is listed at 6'11", but I doubt he actually is that tall. In all, ND's reputation is an outside-shooting team - they live and die by the 3-pointer. But I watched last night's game, and while it's true, this team is different from the 1-and-done 3-point shooting teams of the past.

Russell Carter had a career night last night again 'Bama, making shots from every point on the floor. He was laughing after some of his makes. Alabama couldn't stop him. Kyle McAlarney and Carter were also driving to the basket and then either dishing it to a big guy, or kicking it out to Colin Falls for an open look at the basket. ND played nearly flawlessly for twenty minutes to end the first half and begin the second. At the end of the game they wavered, but a big shot by Carter sealed the deal for the Irish.

I loved watching ND last night. Teresa and I stayed up and held our breath at the end, and while ND came close to collapse, the pulled together and won a big victory. I'm not saying ND is #1, not by a long shot. But it's nice to see us play as well as we did against a Crimson Tide team with a reputation for 1) tough defense - no other team this year has scored over 70 points on 'Bama, and 2) strong inside play from 3 very good big men. Those big teams were our bane last season, so it nice to see ND get a resume building win. If we can win 10 games or so in the Ultra-Big East, the wins over 'Bama and Maryland should be enough to get us in the tourny.