Irish Set Record With Win Over St. John’s

6th Mar 2008

Notre Dame 68
St. John’s 55

Notre Dame became the first team to ever go undefeated at home in the Big East two seasons in a row. The Irish have won 37 straight games in the Joyce Center and won’t play there again until next season. With the win, Mike Brey’s team improved to 23-6 (13-4) and jumped solely into third place after being tied with Connecticut. The Huskies play at Providence tonight to try and again join the Irish in third place in the conference. St. John’s is hoping UConn will win for a better chance of making the Big East tournament. The Red Storm are now 11-18 (5-12) on the season with only one game remaining. They will be playing West Virginia and if they lose, their season will be over.

Rob Kurz played his final game in the Joyce Center last night and played pretty well. He finished with 15 points and four rebounds in 34 minutes. The senior captain received a standing ovation as he exited the game with a few seconds remaining. Rob will be most remembered for not only his play, but his leadership. Mike Brey considered him one of the best captains he has ever coached and it showed on the floor. Kurz had a great career at Notre Dame and will try to lead his team deep into the tournaments coming up.

Luke Harangody once again had the most points in the game with 20 on the night. He made 9 of his 12 shots, 75%, but only grabbed six rebounds the entire game. I was expecting him to put up some bigger numbers but he did enough and managed to get St. John’s big man, Dele Coker, to foul out. Coker played real physical against Luke but no one can stop the monster. He made some great shots and should still be way out in front of the Big East Player of the Year race.

Kyle McAlarney played pretty well and finished with 13 points on 9 shots. He made 5 of his 9 attempts, which includes 3 of 5 from behind the arc. He obviously didn’t shoot much but passed the ball well. Kyle also had two assists and two rebounds in the win.

Tory Jackson only had 4 points the entire game but contributed with a spectacular eight assists. He also had five rebounds, a steal, and a block in 34 minutes of play.

The other contributors were Zach Hillesland with 6 points, Luke Zeller with 5, and Ryan Ayers also had 5 points. Jonathan Peoples also played in the game and has three assists in only 10 minutes of playing time.

As a team, the Irish made 53.8% of their shots and had 19 assists on 28 made shots. However, the only finished with 25 rebounds, which is very low for them, but it was enough in the end. They only had three offensive rebounds and only made five shots from behind the arc. It wasn’t a typical Mike Brey offense kind of game but a win is a win.

The Red Storm was led by Anthony Mason Jr. who finished with 16 points and missed two slam dunks. He hit 4 of the teams 5 three-pointers and had 2 rebounds. Freshman D.J. Kennedy was the only other player in double digits for St. John’s with 11 points. Norm Roberts played 10 different players last night and they each played at least eight minutes. As a team, they made 41.1% of their shots and had 31 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Irish are in great position now heading into the post season. They have only lost 6 games the entire year and will finish with four times as many wins if they beat South Florida on Saturday. It should be another easy victory for Mike Brey’s team and could possibly put them in second place in the conference. I’ll have a preview for that game in the next couple of days and as always, Go Irish!

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