MENS BASKETBALL: Irish head into second half with great start
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Writer
The first half of the Big East season treated the Irish better than any other year. Now, the second half begins tonight against Seton Hall.
"This is one of the best starts we've had since I've been here," Matt Carroll said. "Right now, with this team and the chemistry we are playing with, I think this could definitely be the year for us to make a run."
At 6-1 in the Big East, No. 10 Notre Dame are off to their best conference start since they joined the Big East seven years ago. Their lone loss has come against Pittsburgh, who the Irish host on Saturday.
But the players say they won't look tonight's road game against the Pirates, mostly because of the tendency of Big East teams to fall on the road this year. Pittsburgh, for example, lost its lone conference game Saturday at Syracuse.
"You've got to deal with the task at hand," Carroll said. "Each game is a big game in the Big East, and we can't look to Pitt until we finish this one."
The first time Notre Dame and Seton Hall played, most students were busy moving back on campus after break. Before a relatively quiet crowd on Jan. 12, Notre Dame hung close to the Pirates before pulling away in the second half for a 74-64 victory.
In that game, the Irish won by pounding the ball at the Pirates, shooting 29 free throws to Seton Hall's nine. Chris Thomas bounced back from a poor outing against Pittsburgh to score 22 points, and Carroll added 19.
And on the heels of overtime wins against Boston College and Georgetown — sandwiched around a dominating victory over West Virginia — the Irish feel they're poised to make a big run.
"I think this team has the players and the talent to make a run both through the end of the season and in the NCAA Tournament," Torrian Jones said. "We have great talent on the perimeter, and we've shown recently with the overtime wins against Boston College and Georgetown that we have the mental toughness that is need to make a run at the end of the season."
Under coach Mike Brey, the Irish have had their greatest success in February Big East games. In two seasons with the third-year head coach, the Irish have compiled an 11-6 record. They also have a tendency to reel off hordes of wins in bunches. In 2000-01, Notre Dame accumulated an eight-game win streak in conference play, and last year, the Irish rode the wave of a five-game streak.
Now, the Irish have won four straight games and six of their last seven, putting them in excellent position to make a run for the Big East West title.
"Coach Brey is really big with making sure we stay focused on the next game up on our schedule and not look ahead," Carroll said. "We just want to take care of business at Seton Hall now."
Note:
For the third time in his career, Carroll captured Big East Player of the week honors after averaging 27 points and six rebounds in Notre Dames wins over West Virginia and Georgetown.
Carroll shared the weekly award with Boston College's Troy Bell.
In Notre Dame's win against West Virginia, Carroll scored 18 points. He followed the effort with a career-high 36-point performance against the Hoyas – his third 30-plus point performance this year.
Against the Hoyas, Carroll also set Notre Dame's career 3-point record, breaking David Graves' old record of 260. He shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range and 11-of-20 from the field overall.
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 5, 2003
