Notre Dame showed up only in the literal sense. Florida State ran its offense better, shot better, defended better, and played smarter than Notre Dame. The 71-57 final score is closer than most of the game was.
Notre Dame started to press midway through the second half, made a run, and cut the lead to 12 points with 8:00 to play when it had been as large as 23; but the Seminoles regrouped, started to beat the press, made their free throws, and coasted to the final score.
“Florida State flat out beat us,” said Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey. “The combination of their defense in the first half and their seven three-point shots put us on our heels.”
FSU’s defense deserves a lot of credit for ND’s dismal shooting – 19 of 60 from the field (32%) and 7 of 30 (23%) from three point range; but Notre Dame’s shooters missed the open shots as well, often rushing their shots as if the were expecting defenders to contest them even when they were wide open.
FSU shot well (45% overall, 47% from three point range), won the rebounding battle 37-33, and assisted 12 of their 22 baskets. The Seminoles outplayed the Irish in every aspect of the game.
“I thought, if we had to give up anything, we’d give up some jump shots,” Brey said. But they made them, and then we’re digging out of a hole.”
“We had enough guys step up offensively,” said FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton. “That’s something we’ve been struggling with. Even though we played great defense, we struggled so bad on offense, we just had enough guys step up on the offense end, and like you said we made a few shots early, and the confidence just grew from there. And it spread throughout the whole team.”
As well as the Seminoles played on the offensive end of the floor, it was defense that kept Notre Dame from staying in the game. “We try to have our players understand that defense is something that everyone can participate in,” said Hamilton. It doesn’t have anything to do with your quickness, your speed, your athleticism. It’s your ability to stay focused and be consistent each time the ball moves to a certain place. It doesn’t have anything to do with how tall you are and how fast you are.”
ND’s outstanding season led to high hopes for the postseason, but both the Big East and NCAA tournaments ended with similar disappointment. The Irish never came up with an answer for aggressive defense that disrupted their offensive rhythm. Instead, a senior laden team reacted like underclassmen seeing pressure defense for the first time.
“I was very disappointed leaving New York that we couldn’t get to Saturday night, and I’m as disappointed we couldn’t advance to San Antonio,” Brey said. “You know, I think it will take a week or two to kind of frame it.”
Noteworthy
- Florida State will play #10 seed Virginia Commonwealth in the round of 16 next Friday. VCU defeated #3 seed Purdue 94-76 in the first United Center game on Sunday.
- Brey’s NCAA Tournament record fell to 6-7 at Notre Dame.
- Tim Abromaitis led all Notre Dame scorers with 21 points. Ben Hansbrough added 18. Abromaitis finished 3-9 from three point range by making his last 3 after missing his first 6. “It seemed like the first 30 minutes of the game we couldn’t make anything,” said Abromaitis. “We normally make those shots, and, obviously, Florida State’s defense had a lot to do with it. And their length and athleticism made them able to close out on guys quick.”
- Scott Martin suffered a back injury taking a charge in the game’s opening minutes. He limped off the court less than 3 minutes into the game, tried to loosen up on the sidelines, went to the locker room for a shot, and returned a few minutes later minutes later. He was limited to 17 minutes and was never effective.
- Bernard James led FSU with 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. James, 26 years old, served in Iraq for the US Air Froce.
ccb says:
Brey’s team have a bad habit of choking at tourney time, ie big east, ncaa; These kids play tight and afraid to lose/ they act like they never have seen a defense press them tonight.
I’m still not certain what percentage is poor coaching, lack of adequate talent and being in an overrated conference.
ND reminds me of the Dallas Mavericks – great in the regular season – nowhere to be found in the playoffs.
Brey has brought them this far = but can he win at tourney time? so far, the answer is a solid no.
Dave says:
This game was awfully similar to the NCAA tourney game a few years ago vs. Washington State with ND losing by 20 in the 2nd round. Season after season good defenses just shutdown an offensive Notre Dame team with similar results, bad shooting and just no rhythm on offense. I know 3 seniors are coming back but that doesn’t include Ben Hansbrough who without him Notre Dame would be a middle of the road team. Mike Brey needs to think long and hard about changing his philosophy on offense especially vs. good defensive teams. I had really high hopes this season, they weren’t just an offensive team, they actually played defense for the first time since pre-Gody. Notre Dame will never go deep in the tourney until they can neutralize good defensive teams.
Urq says:
Are you kiddding me? Blown out by FSU (a 7 seeed)?
FSU’s defense disrupted us and we never recovered. FSU made clutch shots, got most of the 50-50 balls and kept us from getting in rhythm. Our players were clearly frustrated and the instead of finding a way to overcome adversity, that frustration got the best of us. FSU got in our heads. We allowed ourselves to get in foul trouble. I thought the officiating was a little one-sided as well–it seemed most of the calls seemed to go FSU’s way.
What makes this really burn is this team was by far the best Brey has had–it did not start that way, so Brey should be commended for getting a team with low pre-season expectations to such a high level of success. But the high expectations finally arrived with a great regular season and when it came time to deliver when it counts, we laid a turd. I was thinking Sweet 16 minimum, 50-50 shot at a win against Purdue and maybe a shot against Kansas. Instead, another early exit.
At least we weren’t bounced before lunchtime on the first day of the tourney like last year.
Jeff says:
It’s worse. FSU was a 10 seed. Brey is good enough to get them to the tourney, but that’s as far as they’ll ever go with him at the helm unless he can start to bring in better talent. Athletic teams always give ND trouble.
Mike Bradley says:
Leonard Hamilton’s comment about a team commitment to defense should be Notre Dame’s goal every year, but unless the head coach demands that every player on the court deny penetration to the foul lane, block out and help off the weak side, more athletic teams will take us to the woodshed when push comes to shove in the tourney. At the end of the day, nothing much has changed about Mike Bray’s inability to mold a fundamentally sound defensive squad for the past eleven years.
Jay says:
We missed shots in that game that we had been making the whole year. Scott and Cooley committed dumb fouls that they had avoided the whole year. I can’t attribute this all to coaching. One could argue that a 7 man rotation (at best) left the Irish with no energy come tourney time.
I do know that I would take this fabulous regular season ending in a #4 ranking over a mediocre season paired with a couple more tourney wins. It was a great ride. Hansbrough will be missed, Nash will easily be replaced.
ED says:
We need a fresh start, and so does Bray.If we can’t advance with this team,when will we?It is right to expect more from the Big East coach of the Year, and player of the year.We did not show up, and that is on the coach.
Kayo says:
I’m not sure what to make of the season vs. its end, Ed. I need some time to consider it.
I always expect a #2 seed to beat #11, so the failure is a big problem for me. What I don’t know is whether this team has #2 seed talent. It might be that the talent is what the team was predicted to be – 8th or 9th in the Big East – with remarkable over-achievement that landed it a #2 seed. The teams that finished in the Big East where ND was predicted to finish were seeded in the 9-11 range, and most years the 9th place team in the Big East goes to the NIT.
I’m certain ND doesn’t have the raw talent of the other #2 seeds. I don’t how much differently I’d feel about a second round loss if ND were a lower seed. I don’t know whether to be really impressed that Brey coached these guys to a #2 seed or totally disgusted that the #2 lost to a #11. If it’s the former, I want to know what’s necessary to upgrade the talent because that means the guy can coach.
Give me a week to get over the loss.
FBear says:
Another disappointing tournament.
They played poorly in the second half to blow a big lead against Louisville.
Then last night they didn’t show up.
ED says:
Kayo- fair enough.However, Mike Brey’s postseason record is horrible.I don’t understand how we can play so well in the regular season, and lay an egg, not only in the N.C.A.A.’s,but the Big East tournament.I’m sure that is one of the reasons we have trouble in recruiting-because other coaches use our lack of post season success against us.I feel like Charlie Brown every fall- I go to kick the football and Lucy always pulls it away.Each year we think things will be different-but they never are.Like a lot of fans, I am frustrated and mystified.Thanks for you time and all the good work you do.Look forward to your thoughts.
GeronimoRumplestiltskin says:
ND’s tournament disappointments are, sad to say, not anything new. Digger’s tournament record wasn’t much better: 14W-14L (not counting the consolation games that were played back then). During the “glory” years of ND basketball in the modern era, 1974-1981, when ND was a fixture in the Top 15, Digger’s tournament record was 10W-8L, winning more than one NCAA Tourney game in a given year only twice; this was with some ridiculously talented rosters:
’74 – This team ended UCLA’s streak, finished the regular season 25-2 and ranked #2, and had 3 players that were 1st round NBA draft picks…..and won exactly 1 tournament game before falling behind Michigan 28-8 in regional semi-finals and losing 77-68.
’77, ’78, ’79 – These teams had 7, 9,and 7 players, respectively, that would be drafted by the NBA the majority in the first or second round. The ’77 team blew a 14-point lead to North Carolina on St. Patrick’s Day, the ’78 team sleep-walked through the first half against Duke in the Final Four on their way to a loss, and the ’79 team got run out of the gym by Magic Johnson and Michigan State in the regional final.
’81 – The last hurrah of Kelly Tripucka, Tracy Jackson, and Orlando Woolridge (and a sophomore John Paxton) ended by blowing a double-digit lead to BYU and Danny Ainge in the regional semi-final.
I feel like Charlie Brown every fall- I go to kick the football and Lucy always pulls it away.Each year we think things will be different-but they never are.
I was really hoping that this year’s team would be able to shake the almost 4-decade-long program motif of “regular season, home court power; post-season disappointment”. The wins in Orlando, at Pitt, and at Connecticut were encouraging, and at halftime of the BE Tourney semi-final I was thinking that ND basketball had joined the ranks of the elite. After that, there was very little to feel good about. On the one hand, it’s sad that such an entertaining season ended on such a sour note; on the other, ND was again exposed as what many here thought we were – a team a bad matchup away from being drummed out of the tourney early.
Tim says:
I had grave doubts that this would be a good tourney team, and unfortunately events justified my concern. The team has a lot of reliance on perimeter shooting, and when the shots aren’t falling – which will happen at least once in the six games needed to win it all – there’s really nothing to turn to. Playing seven guys doesn’t really allow to play pressure D and create turnovers. It’s hard to come back if you can’t do that.
Kayo says:
I don’t think playing 7 has much to do with it. Michigan State and West Virginia made the Final Four last season playing seven, and nobody accused their defenses of being soft or failing to create enough turnovers.
The quickest teams create the most turnovers. Teams like ND have to focus on the offensive side of the turnover equation, taking care of the ball and preventing their own turnovers, because they won’t create that many on defense.
Jonny Jumping Irish II says:
I’m a ND grad (’84) so you can’t say I don’t “get” ND…I do, but here it is plain and simple. Its a brave new world in college sports, we can’t recruit enough “Tats and Dreds” to compete with other teams anymore. Even if the Admin opens the flood gates for a couple of years so we can get the kind of talent we need for a National Championship in Football or Roundball, we’ll wait another 25 years for the next one (i.e. until they do it again)
I’m sorry to say, we’ve become an elitist Ivey League School and consequently, have become pretty irrelevant on D1 “Major” sports…(I’m sorry Lacrosse doesn’t count, its a rich white boy game)
And I guess I’m ok with that…not sure really. I hate loosing this much, being overrated. My kids have grown up with the lore of ND and have never seen it…17 years since we have been a contender in football…hoops? Please don’t even say what you were thinking…
Do we have any credibility left? Bring on Harvard, its about time they got a good spanking.
jeff says:
If you’re an ND grad, you should know hot to spell “Ivy”
HSmith says:
It is too bad for ND and its fans to lose, and being a #2 in defeat to a #10 makes it feel even worse. But the tournament is famous for not being completely predictable. ND beat Wisconsin, Marquette, and UCONN (twice) and they are all still in the tourney. FSU is a pretty good team, but also unpredictable: FSU beat Duke and had a close loss to UNC, but couldn’t beat Virginia Tech (twice), VT not making it to the NCAA and losing to Wichita State in the NIT. It is sensible to expect ND to beat FSU, but not by a whole lot. And if FSU has a hot shooting night and ND a cold one, which seems to be the real story of last night’s game, one has to expect FSU to win. Other than the top few teams, you have to enter the tourney hot to win, as most teams are just a tweak better than the others. UCONN is a good example, probably a tweak behind ND all told, but entered the tourney hot and they are still in there.
Scranton Dave says:
I’m with Kayo, I need about a week to get over this, but I’ll give some thoughts. I agree with some points that some have made. I thought in mid February that they could make the Final 4, but could also lose in the 2nd round if they got a bad matchup. FSU was a bad matchup, and couple that with our poor shooting, and them being uncharacteristically hot from outside and you get an Irish loss. I think its unfair to say they didnt show up, they tried out there, but I think they played tight. I didnt like what I saw against Akron as I thought they were tight against them too. I think the pressure to make a deep run got to them. For 3 1/2 games, ( Nova, UConn, Cinci, 1st half of Louisville) they looked as good as anyone in the country. They lost the momentum in the 2nd half of the Louisville game and they never got it back. Very disappointing ending but it shouldnt take too much away from the great regular season they had. Lets get ready for Football, go Irish!!
Scranton Dave says:
Also, Brey is doing a great job with what he has to work with. People that want him out are very off base. With the academic standards and the not so great facilities he is behind the 8 ball to get the top kids. Look at the current roster, only Atkins was a top 100 recruit and he was towards the bottom of the top 100. On a bright note Connaughton coming in this year is top 100 and Biedscheid in the current HS JR class is in ESPNs top 60 so recruiting is taking a step up. Brey has done a great job in turning lightly recruited kids like Abromaitis and Scott and making them very good players. Actually Scott Martin was a top 50 recruit but he was a transfer. His injury was big last night too because he was starting to carve a bigger role for himself but didnt do much last night after getting injured.
MTZ-Irish says:
Like many of you I’m afraid, all of my NCAA pick sheets had the Irish advancing AT LEAST to the Sweet 16. It was awfully disappointing last night. Watching the Akron game, I thought I saw small signs that the team beginning to implode. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t so–obviously, my gut reaction was correct. That’s not to take anything away from FSU. Florida State deserved the win, no question. They played a tremendous game–if they can repeat that defensive performance a couple more times, they’ll make the Final Four.
I think what was hardest for me watching the game, though, was how ridiculously ordinary Ben Hansbrough played. I mean no disrespect, because Ben is one of ND’s all-time greats. But when you’re the conference player of the year…and a guard…and it’s the big dance…they ought to be able to put you down for 25 pts, 7 assists, 3 steals, lock-down defense, and half-a-dozen rebounds to boot. That’s what conference POYs do in important games. Florida St. should have been scared stiff of him. Ben gave them no reason to have an ounce of fear. He looked ‘honorable mention’ last night (and did for the last several games)–and that’s probably being generous. You can’t win without your studs being studs.
In a week, we’ll all feel better. Before you know it, we’ll be watching the opening kickoff of ND football 2011!
Brian says:
Let’s not over analyze what happened or point fingers at Brey. The Irish were very hot at the end of the season and began to cool after the CINCI blow-out in the Big East tournament. Everyone knew that if ND’s 3 point shotting went south, so too would the Irish. And that’s what happened. End of story. FSU’s defense was good, but the Irish wouldn’t have beaten Texas A&M either. Ben was spent.
JOE MEYER says:
OFFENSE IS THE FUN PART, DEFENSE IS THE BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS PART. IT TAKES BOTH BUT I BELIEVE DEFENSE WILL GET YOU MORE WINS IF THE OTHER PART IS WORST OFF. LOOK AT WHO IS LEFT AND ASK OF THESE TEAMS DID THEY NOT HAVE THE BETTER DEFENSE? IN YOUR SHORTS DEFENSE TAKES MORE DEPTH THAN SEVEN PLAYERS. TILL COACH BREY EXCELLS IN DEFENSE WE WILL HAVE WHAT WE GOT NOW.
kelly green says:
Irish didn’t look good in the first round game against Akron, Akron hung around the whole game. Irish looked weak in that game, so you could kind of see the next game against FSU coming. ND played a horrible second half against Louisville in the Big East Tourney.
Obviously, Billy Rafferty saw the lack of athleticism when he compared the team to a good mens league team in a bar league. Nice way of saying they are slow , can’t jump and are soft.
Kayo says:
Okay, no “apple to oranges comment” even though it’s true.
Scranton Dave says:
For 3 1/2 games before the 2nd half of the Louisville game, the Irish looked awesome! Its like something was broken in the 2nd half of the Louisville game and they never got it back. I agree they looked awful against Akron and I was very worried going into Sunday night.