Carroll sets 3-point record, ignites Irish to victory
By ANDREW SOUKUP
Sports Columnist
The record-setter should have been the backbreaker.
With the Irish leading the Hoyas 52-40, Matt Carroll caught a pass a few feet in front of Mike Brey — a few steps behind the 3-point arc — and launched a shot toward the basket.
The ball swished through, the crowd erupted, Georgetown called a timeout and Carroll had career 3-pointer No. 260, surpassing his former teammate David Graves.
"I know Dave probably hates me right now," Carroll joked after the game. "He probably won't call me after this one, he's pretty [ticked] off."
So what would have made Graves more upset — the fact that Carroll broke his record or the fact that Notre Dame blew a 15-point lead?
Give the Hoyas credit — they knew how to beat the Irish. All the guards did was dump the ball into human dump truck Mike Sweetney, who then made scoring baskets look as easy as taking out the trash.
But Carroll wasn't fazed. And if Carroll isn't fazed, then neither are the Irish. Because Matt Carroll is the heart and soul of Notre Dame's team. If Notre Dame is Frankenstein, then Carroll is the spark that gives them life.
Look what happened as Georgetown started to chip away at Notre Dame's lead. Every timeout, Carroll pulled his teammates together and reminded them what happened the last time a Notre Dame-Georgetown tilt went into overtime. He told his team to believe.
And believe they did.
Even Helen Keller could see how much Carroll means to the Irish.
In the summer, he rallied his teammates for two, sometimes three, workouts a day, because he knew that practice would pay off in games like the one the Irish played Saturday.
When the Irish headed into the weight room, Carroll didn't team up with backcourt mate Chris Thomas or fellow senior Dan Miller. No, he chose freshman big man Torin Francis, both acknowledging and helping the young McDonald's All-American understand his importance to Notre Dame's success.
His game has evolved dramatically from the point where, as a freshman, Carroll was purely a shooter. Now, he developed the ability to take opponents off the dribble — with left and right hand equally — and shut down opponents on defense. Now, he's poised to leave his John Hancock all over the Notre Dame record book.
Brey might cringe at the sight of Thomas hoisting up crazy shots in big games. He winces if Notre Dame's big men shrink under the glare of a spotlight.
Then he looks at Carroll and sees Notre Dame's most consistent player scoring, defending and leading at will.
"He wants to take big shots. We want him to take big shots," Brey said. "I will live or die with him taking a shot — or even a bad shot, sometimes — when the game's on the line."
A week ago, Brey lived to celebrate an overtime victory over Boston College, keyed in part by a spectacular 4-point play Carroll made in the extra period.
Saturday, he was at it again. In the two overtime periods alone, Carroll tallied 11 of his career-high 36 points. On defense, he crashed the backboard, often poking rebounds out of the grasp of a Hoya and into the hands of an Irish player.
And during timeouts, he reminded his teammates that they don't know how to do anything other than win.
There was Carroll talking to freshman Chris Quinn, in the game after Thomas fouled out early in the second overtime, telling him his teammates were going to help him out.
There was Carroll patting Torrian Jones on the butt after he missed his first free throw, telling Jones the second — and game-winning — free throw was a piece of cake.
There was Carroll waving his arms frantically to spur the crowd and his teammates during their final defensive stand, and there he was seconds later waving his arms again in triumph.
"This team believes," Carroll said. "There's something about this team."
Did he know he was talking about himself?
The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Contact Andrew Soukup at asoukup@nd.edu.
All Sports Stories for Monday, February 3, 2003
