A Big East record 52-point performance by Providence guard Marshon Brooks was almost enough to defeat #9 Notre Dame, but the Irish survived a shootout by the narrowest of margins, 94-93. Brooks’ scoring outburst overshadowed outstanding performances by Ben Hansbrough (32 points, 10-13 from the field) and Tim Abromaitis (28 points, 11-16).
Brooks stat line is amazing – 20-28 from the field, 6-10 from three point range, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists; but it only begins to tell how good he was. He beat double teams in the post, hit threes with hands in his face, and made twisting drives to the basket all game long. Fortunately for Notre Dame, his teammates only converted 17 of their 41 shots, creating an early second half deficit that PC couldn’t quite overcome.
“I’m thrilled that we escaped with a win,” Notre Dame head coach Brey said after the game. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a performance like that by a young man. That was outstanding.”
It took only a few minutes to see that it would be a high scoring game, at least for Notre Dame. The Irish moved the ball beautifully in the opening segment assisting on 5 of 6 baskets en route to a 14-8 lead at the first TV timeout. Abromaitis was the chief beneficiary as he made his first five shots to log 12 of ND’s 14 points. Brooks made his first basket right before the timeout. He made his second basket, a three, at the 12:00 mark. Then he got serious.
Brooks finished the half with 17 points. Abromaitis and Hansbrough also had 17 at halftime, and the Irish had a seemingly comfortable 48-38 lead that was extended to 16 early in the second half when Scott Martin made a layup on a nice feed from Carleton Scott.
Brooks wasn’t ready to concede. Notre Dame tried 2-3 zone, box and one, double teams, and every defender on the floor; but Brooks made open shots, normally indiscriminate threes from NBA range, twisting layups, and turnaround jumpers from the baseline. When he drew a crowd, he fed open shooters. Vincent Council, who entered the game a 26% three point shooter, was one of those open guys. Council made ND pay for leaving him open by making 3 of his 4 long range shots in the second half.
“I was feeling it,” Brooks said. “It was going to be tough to stop me.”
“It was like, ‘Did he just hit that shot? Did he just hit that shot?” Hansbrough said.
“Marshon Brooks was able to make the right plays — not just scoring, but make the right passes,” Friars coach Keno Davis said.
Still, Notre Dame seemed to be in control of the game with an 83-77 lead when the final TV timeout came with 2:42 left to play. Not quite.
Hansbrough split a pair of free throws after the timeout, and Brooks answered with a driving layup. Eric Atkins split a pair of free throws. Brooks responded with a drive, was fouled, and made both free throws. The lead was 2 points with 0:32 to play. Fouled after taking the in-bounds pass, Hansbrough made two free throws with 0:28 left. Brooks answered with another drive and a dunk. Hansbrough made another pair of free throws with 0:12 to play. Brooks made another layup. Atkins took the in-bounds pass and set the lead back to 4 by making both freebies with 0:07 to play.
Brooks had one more answer, this time a three; but it was too late. There were just two seconds left. Abromaitis was fouled on the in-bounds pass, missed the first free throw, and then missed the second intentionally so that the last second would expire on the rebound.
Final score – Notre Dame 94, Providence 93.
Noteworthy
- Brooks’ 52 points were the most ever scored against Notre Dame which hadn’t allowed a 40-point scorer since Danny Manning in 1987.
- Notre Dame’s 22-5 record is the best 27-game start during head coach Mike Brey’s tenure.
- Hansbrough’s 32 points are his career high.
- Scott’s 10 rebounds led the Irish to a 32-25 advantage on the boards. He also had a team high 5 assists and blocked 3 shots.
- Scott turned his ankle and missed the last minute of the game. Atkins replaced him and nade 3 of 4 free throws in that last minute, the last pair to put the game out of reach with 7 seconds to play.
- 20 of ND’s 30 baskets were assisted.
Next
After two weeks on the road, Notre Dame will return to Purcell Pavilion for a Saturday evening game against Seton Hall. We’ll have a preview for you Saturday morning.
Austin Carr, ND’s greatest basketball player ever, will be inducted into the renovated arena’s Ring of Honor on Saturday. Look for some articles about him over the next few days.
Scranton Dave says:
Phew! That’s all I have to say. That game shouldve never got close but that kid went nuts. A W is a W though. The only concern is that Carleton Scott looked like he injured his ankle late. Hopefully you will have something on this.
Joe Schaefer ND'59 SJHS '55 says:
Reminds me of the game that put Providence on the basketball map. It was 1953 and the Providence hero was George Yardley who shot a buzzer beater to beat ND. This was after ND had beaten Holy Cross and Boston College. The Providence coach was Dave Gavitt !
TommyD says:
Wikipedia indicates that George Yardley played for Stanford and that Dave Gavitt did not become the PC coach until 1969…???
Joe says:
That was not a soothing game to watch. Glad to get that win.
I understand that you tell your players not to foul at the end of games with the lead, but Brooks had about 4 consecutive easy layups/dunks with Irish players just watching. With nobody in serious foul trouble, why not make him hit 8 free throws instead?
Kenneth Hamilton says:
Because of the And 1 possibility.
Scranton Dave says:
Once Scott left the game, there was no inside help defense. Not sure what they were doing at the end there on D. Brey has been very good for most of the year but I didnt like the defensive strategy at the end. It’s unfortunate the Brey doesnt trust Brooks enough ( turnover prone and cant make a FT) to give him minutes because he is a great defender and maybe he couldve slowed Brooks down a bit.
bob gamere says:
I agree with Joe – it is poor strategy when ND has the lead to give GIVE the opposition essentially uncontested buckets every time down the floor in the last few mintutes. Plus each opponent possesion only burns about 10 seconds off the clock. ND has run this stategy in several games this year… TIme to reconsider the gameplan with leads late in games. How about playing some D even if it means fouling sometimes or GASP actually making to opponent miss a shot and keep that clock running….
Anyways, nice road win by ND despite the near late implosion. ND got so many open shots and layups that either PC was not playing defense or ND is that good………..
jeff says:
Of all the stats in the box score, the one that stands out to me is no foul shots for Martin. Which means he was not driving – not creating contact – and most likely playing back on his heels. He HAS to become a factor as ND goes to tournament time. He is the only guy who can take people off the dribble, other than BH, and that can create for himself. If he disappears down the stretch, that leaves the Irish very one dimensional…. and that means only one thing – the BURN!! I want success in the tourney, but not at the expense of wanting to gouge my eyes out. The other hope is that Atkins becomes a penetrator/distributor. He has handled his duties very well this year and I’ve no doubt that he’ll grow into a great player, but this is the year to make a run at the Final 4. Ben has the fire to motivate is comrades, we have 3 great role players in Nash, Scott, and Abro. Martin is the X-factor in all this (and how Brey adjusts to teams playing a different game from the Big East style). SM gets a fast start out of the gate, and we could be rolling. He does not, and it could be another one and done.