Freshman point guard hits 7 3-pointers in 32-point effort
By: KERRY SMITH
Sports Writer
Irish point guard Chris Thomas shot his way out of a midseason slump Wednesday, racking up 32 points in Notre Dame's 89-72 conference win against Rutgers at the Joyce Center.
"You just got to let good players play," Irish head coach Mike Brey said. "It was a fabulous effort by him tonight."
Thomas shot 10-14 and an impressive 7-9 from behind the arc.
"That's what I call breaking out of a 1-for-50 slump," joked Thomas.
Thomas' deadly 3-pointers left the Rutgers defense scrambling all night.
"That boy hit a lot of 3s today. That just doesn't happen," Rutgers head coach Gary Waters said.
The freshman point guard led the Irish in 3s, but his supporting cast behind the arc chipped in with solid performances, as the team hit 14 shots from downtown.
"You can't shoot better than they did today," Waters said. "When they shoot the ball well, they are as good as any team in the league. We didn't take [Irish shots] away tonight and they beat us to death with it."
Thomas was not the only Irish player who turned a key performance in the Irish win.
Forward David Graves provided a hug spark off the bench with 18 points, despite suffering through a painful low back strain injury.
Graves hurt his back in a Tuesday practice and spent the night in the infirmary.
"I was very concerned about David yesterday. He just crumbled to the floor with no one around," Brey said. "I'm really proud of him. He was hurting out there. He was a tough sucker tonight."
Graves' status was questionable until the start of the game.
"It was the worst pain of my life," Graves said. "I felt like I had no hope."
Also making waves for the Irish was junior guard Matt Carroll, who became the 42nd player in Notre Dame history to top the 1,000 point mark with his 14-point performance.
Ryan Humphrey finished the night with an uncharacteristic eight points, but was a force under the net with 14 rebounds.
Despite the 17-point win, the Irish struggled to put the Scarlet Knights away early.
Carroll hit two 3s and the Irish scored on their first five possessions for a quick 12-4 lead, but the Scarlet Knights whittled away at the deficit steadily, bringing the score to within two on a Eugene Dabney jumper five minutes into the game. Rutgers held on to tie it up at 19 and 21 midway through the half, but the Scarlet Knights were never able to gain the lead. The Irish, who pulled away to a 48-40 halftime lead, shot close to 50 percent before heading into the locker room, and three Irish players broke into double figures before the break.
The Irish picked up some more offensive steam in the second half, finally pulling ahead with a double-digit lead midway through the second half.
Graves came up with a key steal and drew an intentional foul at the basket, and Thomas drained a 3 from five feet beyond the arc six minutes into the half to give the Irish their first double-digit lead and bring Irish fans to their feet six minutes into the second half.
Swanagan gave the squad its next spark a few minutes later when he nailed two free throws and came up with a steal to spur another Irish 3-pointer, pushing the lead to 74-53 at the nine-minute mark.
"I've been on [Swanagan] the last couple days in practice and I was on him at halftime in the locker room tonight," Brey said. "He's feeling better. I think he's getting close to 100 percent."
The Irish pulled to their largest lead of the night, at 22, on a Thomas fast-break dunk with six minutes remaining in the game.
"We really got some good looks tonight," Brey said. "When we move it and swing it, we're going to do well."
The Irish win marks the team's fourth-consecutive Big East win.
The Scarlet Knights also came into the game riding a three-game conference win streak.
But key players had trouble finding their shots.
Forward Ricky Shields and guard Jerome Coleman led the Scarlet Knights with 15, but it was not enough as Notre Dame out-rebounded Rutgers, not allowing them to capitalize offensively.
With the loss, the Scarlet Knights fall to 14-8 on the season and 5-5 in conference play.
At 16-6 and 6-3 in the Big East, the Irish will next suit up Saturday when they travel to Georgetown to try to avenge an 83-73 home loss earlier this season.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 7, 2002
