Irish focused on win, not Humphrey's injury
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
The Irish will find out just how far a short bench can go tonight against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
The No. 14 Irish normally use a six-man rotation, one which may need a few adjustments with starting power forward Ryan Humphrey nursing a sprained ankle. Humphrey sprained his ankle in the final minute of Sunday's win over West Virginia, and is questionable for tonight's conference road match.
"It's swollen and it's sore," Humphrey said Monday after visiting the doctor. "I'm going to play it by ear. We're in the stretch now where each win counts."
While a win tonight is certainly a goal for the 16-5 Irish, they may be able to accomplish that feat even without Humphrey's services. Although the 6-foot-8 junior scores 15 points and pulls down 9.4 rebounds per game, Rutgers is only 10-11 overall and 2-8 in the Big East, just the reverse of Notre Dame's 8-2 league record. So if Humphrey's ankle is tender, the Irish might decide to rest him up for the stretch run rather than risk aggravating the injury.
"I want to play," Humphrey said, "but I have to be smart about it, because it's a long season."
If Humphrey does not play, the starting lineup will include forwards Harold Swanagan and All-American Troy Murphy, guard/forward David Graves, guard Matt Carroll and point guard Martin Ingelsby.
With those five used to playing long minutes even with Humphrey in tow, Irish coach Mike Brey will likely turn to sophomore Jere Macura and freshman Torrian Jones to pick up a few extra minutes so the starters can get a bit of rest.
"Depth can be very overrated," Brey said last week before Humphrey's injury. "There's something about getting a nucleus of guys to play with each other."
That's been true with a six-person nucleus, as the Irish are on a seven-game roll. Whether it works with five will become clear tonight.
Although Rutgers is at the bottom of the Big East West Division and Notre Dame perches in first place, the Scarlet Knights have won two in a row. They beat the Seton Hall Pirates on the road, a place the Irish lost, and defeated Pittsburgh by 20.
Guard Todd Billet shared Big East Player of the Week honors with Murphy this past week. Billet scored 26 in his team's win over Pittsburgh.
In the first Irish-Scarlet Knights matchup this season, the Irish won 87-80 for their first league win of the season. Since then, the Irish have won seven of eight games within the conference to take a two-game lead for the division title.
Facing Rutgers is always a challenge for Murphy, a New Jersey native. He exploded against his instate rival for a career-high 37 points on Jan. 6, and a repeat performance would likely allow him and the Irish to go home with an eighth straight win. Murphy will have to overcome a hostile crowd to do that, however.
"[When people say things], he kind of laughs at them instead of saying, `Let's answer it,'" Brey said last week. "He's a lightning rod for all of us."
Aside from Murphy, who leads the league in points per game, Ingelsby tops the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio, with Carroll not far behind. Graves is the third-leading scorer, with Swanagan counted on to rebound.
For the Scarlet Knights, forwards Jeff Greer and Rashod Kent complement Billet's attack.
"You have to go in and fight," Ingelsby said, "or anyone can beat you on any given day."
All Sports Stories for Wednesday, February 14, 2001
