Notre Dame Post Game Articles Links

Normally, a 15-point loss is enough for most players and coaches to press the panic button; but for St. John’s, such a decision just means brushing it off in time for the next game.

On a night where eight ranked teams were defeated, the Red Storm (10-4, 3-1 in the Big East) looked to give 14th-ranked Notre Dame (14-2, 3-1) more to worry about than the three feet of snow that blanketed South Bend. However, the Fighting Irish had other ideas; riding a game-high 26 points from Ben Hansbrough and eight three-pointers as a team en route to a 76-61 victory over the Johnnies, improving to 11-0 this season on their home court at the Joyce Center.

The Irish also got near-double-doubles from swingmen Tim Abromaitis (12 points and nine rebounds) and Scott Martin, (12 points, eight rebounds) and took advantage of the St. John’s zone defense to outscore the Johnnies 24-6 from beyond the arc. Justin Brownlee led the Storm with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Dwayne Polee (12 points) was the only other Johnny in double figures.

Two factors contributed to the final outcome.

http://johnnyjungle.com/game/storm-no-match-for-irish-blizzard/

St. John's entered the Joyce Center on a five-game winning streak, the hottest team in the Big East. But if the Red Storm were using last night's game at No. 14 Notre Dame as a measuring stick to see how far they have come, they aren't going to like the answer, getting dominated start to finish in a 76-61 defeat.

"We made a lot of mistakes on offense, a lot of quick shots. We just weren't ourselves tonight. I feel like we beat ourselves," said Justin Brownlee, who took little solace in a team-high 17 points. "We just had a slow start. If we come out with more energy, and don't let them get up . . . next game we've got to be more aggressive early in the game and not get down."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/bump_in_road_RDVmLFdPRUohshj34HYncM#ixzz1AYTHcpes

WHAT IT MEANS: St. John's sees its five-game winning streak snapped, and drops to 10-4 on the season. It's also the Red Storm's first Big East loss of the season (3-1). Notre Dame, ranked No. 15 in the country, improves to 14-2 on the season and 3-1 in the Big East.

NO CONTEST: Notre Dame, despite playing without third-leading scorer Carleton Scott due to injury, built a double-figure lead midway through the first half, led 44-25 at intermission, and never let St. John's get closer than 13 points in the second half. The Fighting Irish led by as many as 25 -- the game was more lopsided than the final score indicates.

OFFENSIVELY: St. John's looked out of sync throughout, missing chippies inside and being sloppy with the basketball. The Red Storm only turned the ball over four times in their win over Georgetown on Monday, but committed 14 turnovers against Notre Dame.

Read More:
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-yorkcolleges/post/_/id/1331/rapid-reaction-notre-dame-76-st-johns-61

Consistency is a characteristic that Notre Dame senior captain Ben Hansbrough has maniacally chased since his first day of college basketball, which seems like so long ago.

Now that he has it cornered, Hansbrough has no plans to let it go anytime soon.

Really good earlier in the week in another win over a Top 10 league team, Hansbrough was even better Saturday at Purcell Pavilion against St. John's. He scored a game- and career-high 26 points with four steals, four rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes as No. 14 Notre Dame improved to 14-2 overall, 3-1 in the Big East with a 76-61 victory.

“No one talks about him. Is anyone playing better in the country?” Irish coach Mike Brey wondered. “Let's just say the league. There's nobody playing better than Ben Hansbrough in the league right now.

Read More:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20110108/SPORTS13/110109682/1130

The Irish were cold like the howling weather outside of Purcell Pavilion. But once they got going, the Irish were tough on offense and pesky on defense, drawing 2 fouls on most of the Red Storm's regular lineup (DJ Kennedy, Justin Brownlee, Dwight Hardy, and Justin Burrell) in the first half on their way to a 76-61 win in South Bend. The Irish enjoyed a cushion of at least 10 points from the 11 minute mark in the first half, controlling the game from there.


Ben Hansbrough had a career-high 26 points and added 4 steals, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds, and the Irish 12 each from Scott Martin and Tim Abromaitis. Martin had 8 rebounds (1 offensive), Abromaitis had 9 boards. Eric Atkins had 4 assists and a pair of improbable shots at the end of the shot clock. He also had 4 turnovers. Tyrone Nash had 5 turnovers, fouled out, but scored 8.

For the Red Storm, Brownlee had 19 points (on 19 shots), while Dwayne Polee II had 10, and Paris Horne had 9.  Brownlee had 8 boards (2 offensive). Hardy had 2 steals and 4 turnovers.

Notre Dame moves to 14-2, 3-1 in the Big East and tied for the league lead. St. John's falls to 10-4, 3-1 in the league. Game review, keys to the game, and more below.

http://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/2011/1/8/1923973/postgame-st-johns-goes-cold-loses-to-notre-dame-76-61

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (AP) - Justin Brownlee scored in double-figures for the sixth-straight game with a 17-point effort, but Ben Hansbrough scored 26 to lead No. 14/15 Notre Dame to a 76-61 victory against St. John's. The loss ended St. John's (10-4, 3-1) five-game winning-streak and marked the Red Storm's first BIG EAST loss of the season.

Tim Abromaitis and Scott Martin added 12 each for the Irish (14-2, 3-1), which improved to 11-0 at home and delighted the Joyce Center crowd that turned out despite a storm that dumped nearly 3 feet of snow on the South Bend area.

"We missed some point-blank shots early, which were deflating plays, and then took some quick, ill-advised shots and made some turnovers. Put that together and that gives Notre Dame a big lead with the way they play at home, controlling the tempo," said head coach Steve Lavin. "Now, the focus is staying on the path to improvement, watch film, keep putting 'hammer to rock,' and prepare for another high-level BIG EAST opponent in Syracuse."

Brownlee led St. John's with 17 points and also added a team-high seven rebounds. But unlike the last five games, when four players averaged double-figures, only one teammate reached that mark. Dwayne Polee II, the lone other player in double-figures, chipped in 12 points for St. John's, which shot just 38.2 percent (21-of-55), its second-lowest shooting percentage of the season.

http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/010811aaa.html

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - St. John's never got untracked in its bid for its first 4-0 Big East start since 1999-2000.

The Red Storm was blitzed in the first half and trailed the entire game in Steve Lavin's first Big East loss, 76-61, at No. 14 Notre Dame Saturday night.

St. John's (10-4, 3-1) came undone quickly, falling behind 15-4. The Red Storm missed six of its first eight shots, senior Justin Burrell picked up two fouls in the first 5:43 and Dwight Hardy and Justin Brownlee each slipped and lost possession in the early going.

On the other end, Ben Hansbrough had three three-pointers in a 2 ½-minute span as part of a career-best 26-point night for the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame entered the game having hit 37.8 percent of its three-pointers to rank third in the Big East, and St. John's was allowing opponents to shoot 36.8 percent on threes for the second-worst mark in the conference.

http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/irish-hit-threes-as-storm-fizzles-early-1.2596829