Pre/Post-game Articles & Links - Notre Dame game

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/01/15/2011-01-15_st_johns_thinking_revenge_as_no_9_notre_dame_comes_to_madison_square_garden_for_.html

St. John's coach Steve Lavin envisioned using an eight-man rotation this season. He's gotten away from that since Big East play began.

In their five conference games, he's gone with mostly six players. Hardy and Brownlee each average 36 minutes, senior D.J. Kennedy averages 35 and seniors Justin Burrell and Paris Horne and freshman Dwayne Polee II are all averaging 23 minutes.

In each of the losses, he said fatigue has been a factor. "We're going to substitute more to keep fresh bodies in there and maybe ... eliminate some of the fatigue," he said.

Many film enthusiasts say the sequel is rarely a better movie than the original when a second edition is produced; and despite some notable exceptions, that analysis is correct for the most part.  However, this adage does not translate the same to the hardwood; and when you play the same team twice in an eight-day span, you’re bound to get different results each time, and that’s what St. John’s did this afternoon.

Just one week and one day removed from a 15-point loss contested while a blizzard was raging outside the Joyce Center in South Bend, the Johnnies (11-5, 4-2 in the Big East) controlled the storm (no pun intended) inside Madison Square Garden en route to a convincing 72-54 victory over ninth-ranked Notre Dame.  (14-4, 3-3)  In a game that was as pedestrian in its opening stages as it was exciting and revealing toward the end, two players who were lost in the shuffle in recent times stood out today. D.J. Kennedy returned to his old form with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Malik Boothe chipped in with 14 of his own to lead the charge from Steve Lavin’s bench.  While the headline will no doubt be Kennedy’s resurgence, Boothe surprised many of the fans in attendance with his offensive prowess, even draining two three-pointers.


http://johnnyjungle.com/2010-2011/its-better-the-second-time-around/

St. John's turned things around against Notre Dame with defense, smothering perimeter defense.

Eight days after a 15-point loss at Notre Dame, St. John's beat the Irish 72-54 on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

"My statement is St. John's defended the heck out us," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "We had trouble with their fullcourt pressure, with their halfcourt stuff. We could never get in any rhythm."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/st_john_hammers_no_notre_dame_R686D6VP2drAbxQ4etTo7N#ixzz1BFhtNMk0

Steve Lavin didn't have to think twice about handing out a game ball after St. John's upset of No. 9 Notre Dame, 72-54, Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Senior point guard Malik Boothe came off the bench to score 14 points and hit four straight foul shots in the final 2 minutes and 18 seconds to nail down the victory for the Johnnies (11-5, 4-2 Big East).

St. John's, which is in the midst of an eight-game stretch against Top 25 teams, avenged a 76-61 beatdown at Notre Dame Jan. 8 and stopped a two-game losing streak.

"He's someone that could provide those jumper cables for your team because of his ball pressure and then the ability to escort the ball up the floor in transition," Lavin said of the 5-foot-9 Boothe, who played his high school ball at Christ the King. "He has a great competitive spirit that also is contagious and the other players feed off of that.

http://web.sny.tv/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110116&content_id=16445490&oid=2&vkey=21

Two straight losses robbed St. John's of all the momentum in its best Big East start in 11 years. It left the Red Storm feeling like Sunday's matchup with No. 9 Notre Dame was a must-win and they played it like that. The result: the Johnnies got their momentum back with a side dish of payback.

St. John's ratcheted up its defense to rumbled to a 72-54 victory over the Fighting Irish before 8,550 at the Garden. It gives the Red Storm (11-5, 4-2) sole possession of fifth place in the conference standings and avenges last Saturday's 15-point loss at Notre Dame (14-4, 3-3).

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/2011/01/16/2011-01-16_red_storm_defense_sets_tone_in_7254_win_over_no_9_notre_dame_boothe_and_kennedy_.html#ixzz1BFiNIfy5

On the list of potential heroes for St. John's on Sunday, Malik Boothe's name would not have appeared anywhere near the top.

Boothe had scored in double figures only once this season -- in the Red Storm's very first game, at Saint Mary's on Nov. 16. He was averaging just 3.9 points in 19.1 minutes per game.

But the 5-foot-9 senior from Queens stood taller than anyone else on Sunday afternoon at the Garden, scoring 14 points off the bench and leading St. John's to a 72-54 win over No. 11-ranked Notre Dame.

http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/ncb/columns/story?columnist=darcy_kieran&id=6027745

Toughness was supposed to be a trait that would carry No. 9 Notre Dame through the trying times of Big East road games this college basketball season.

With a veteran lineup that has been around the conference block, the Irish figured to be immune to lackluster and lethargic efforts that often haunt so many other league teams.

Notre Dame then drifted into its noon tip Sunday at Madison Square Garden against St. John's and was seemingly shoved back out into Seventh Avenue following a 72-54 loss.

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Winning on the road in league play is a process the Irish felt they were close to completing. Not a chance Sunday.

“For all of us, it's group disappointment,” said coach Mike Brey. “They (St. John's) are men and they played like men and treated us like boys at times.”

Read More:
http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20110116/News01/110119648/1130

Where on earth do the Fighting Irish go to eat before road games, all-you-can eat turkey buffets? Do they sleep the night before road games or do they hit the bars? Do they have a routine? Do the Irish just chat on Facebook and Skype all night before games?

Why are the Fighting Irish so much worse on the road than they are at home? The Irish have played 3 other road games this season, and in each one, they haven't cracked 60 points. Granted, the other two opponents are Syracuse and Kentucky. And stalwart post player Carleton Scott has been benched with injury for the past weeks.

But the 72-54 drubbing to the Red Storm (11-5, 4-2 Big East) was bizarre. I thought the Johnnies could win a close one, but blowing out the Irish? Even at home? How does a (ranked) team that smoked St. John's by 15 in South Bend get worked over by 18 points a week later by the same personnel?

http://www.rumbleinthegarden.com/2011/1/16/1939144/game-16-st-johns-crushes-the-9-irish-72-54

Within seconds of checking in yesterday, St. John's 5-foot-9 guard Malik Boothe drove a forearm shiver into the chest of Ben Hansbrough, sending the 6-3 Notre Dame scorer flailing onto the top of the scorer's table.

Thirty seconds later Boothe, one of the nine seniors in the rotation, was called for fouling Hansbrough after the two seemed to be doing the tango.

The message had been sent by the shortest but toughest member of the Red Storm: Nothing would come easy on this day -- not a dribble, or a pass, or a cut, or a jumper, or even a breakaway layup attempt.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/college/basketball/boothe_revue_xWqSRERnJjit3bhLVkPQlK#ixzz1BIyqDIAb