Irish blow halftime lead for the third time in five games in 84-81 loss
By: JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
It was deja vu all over again.
In a story line all-too familiar this season, Notre Dame took a lead into the locker room at halftime, only to see the lead evaporate in the second half. Two weeks ago, the Irish suffered consecutive heartbreaking losses to Rutgers and Syracuse in which each game went down to the last possession.
Tonight, it was St. John's' turn to beat the Irish with a hard-fought 84-81 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Notre Dame held a 47-40 halftime lead, thanks to great interior passing and quick transition baskets. Irish post players Ryan Humphrey and Harold Swanagan did an outstanding job beating St. John's defenders down the floor for easy layups and dunks. Humphrey led the Irish with 16 points in the first half. He finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds.
"He played fabulously," said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. "He set the tone for us early. I just want to keep him healthy as we head into the post-season."
Fellow senior David Graves provided the offense from the perimeter by scoring 10 points and making three 3-point field goals in the first half. He finished with 11 points.
After tying a career-high with 32 points in last Saturday's victory over Miami, Irish point guard Chris Thomas struggled in the first half and didn't score a basket. He only scored eight in the game.
While the Irish were unstoppable on offense in the first half, they couldn't contain Marcus Hatten. After the Irish jumped out to an 11 point lead with five minutes left in the first half, Hatten kept the Red Storm in the game. He scored four straight baskets to pull the Red Storm to within three points late in the first half.
"Marcus Hatten is such a great player," said Brey. "He can do it all out there. He is so difficult to defend because he forces you to double team him. This leaves other guys open for big shots."
The Irish shot a torrid 70 percent in the first half but were unable to sustain their firepower in the second half. As was the case in the Rutgers and Syracuse losses, the Notre Dame offense went cold at the beginning of the second half.
Notre Dame only scored one field goal in the first 10 minutes of action and the Red Storm picked up their defensive pressure as soon as St. John's coach Mike Jarvis inserted fan-favorite 7-foot-3 center Curtis Johnson into the line-up.
"I know [Johnson] hasn't played much this season," said Brey. "But he provided a real spark for them in the second-half. His play really brought the fans back into the game."
While Johnson provided key blocks and smothering defense on Ryan Humphrey, Hatten and senior Andrew Glover generated the offense in an 11-1 run for the Red Storm. Hatten finished the game with 28 points and Glover chipped in with 20.
The Red Storm captured the lead for good with 12:20 remaining in the second half.
Despite their dismal start to the second half, Notre Dame still had a chance to win the game at the end, thanks to the play of Matt Carroll. Although he did not start, Carroll showed no ill effects from the ankle injury that kept him out of last Saturday's victory against Miami. The junior guard hit three straight 3-pointers with less than five minutes to go to bring the Irish back into the game.
Carroll finished with 19 points on the night and shot 6-for-9 from the field.
Every time the Irish inched closer to recapturing the lead, St. John's had an answer down the stretch. Hatten's penetration opened up the perimeter shooting for the Red Storm as sophomore guard Willie Shaw scored eight points in the final four minutes of the game.
"I thought we did a good job of shutting down Hatten in the final six minutes of the game," said Brey. "They're other guys really stepped up tonight. This game was huge for the Red Storm, and it showed. My hat goes off to Willie Shaw for hitting big baskets down the stretch."
With 20 seconds left to go in the game, the Irish found themselves trailing by five points. Chris Thomas nailed a 3-point shot from the corner to cut the Red Storm lead to two with 10 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Notre Dame immediately fouled Hatten, putting him on the free throw line. Hatten made his first shot, but missed his second attempt. Hatten quickly rebounded his missed shot, but then slipped on the Madison Square Garden floor resulting in a traveling violation, giving the Irish still one final chance to tie the game with eight seconds remaining.
Before Notre Dame inbounded the ball, Red Storm coach Mike Jarvis called a timeout to set up a defensive strategy. Jarvis elected to double-team and pressure Chris Thomas in the backcourt. With no one open to receive a pass, Thomas failed to dribble the ball past half court. With time winding down, Thomas' half-court heave bounced off the glass preserving the win for the Red Storm.
"I was proud of our guys tonight," said Brey. "We gave ourselves a chance to win at the end. We need to learn from this and come back strong on Saturday."
St. John's and Notre Dame now have identical overall records and Big East Conference records (19-9, 9-6 Big East). Each team will most likely finish third in its respective division of the Big East.
Even if the Irish win against Providence at home on Saturday, Syracuse still needs to lose its final two games against Villanova and Boston College for the Irish to finish second in the West and earn a first-round bye in the Big East tournament.
Despite the loss, Brey still feels confident of the Irish's chances to earn a post-season berth in the NCAA tournament.
"Our resume is very strong," said Brey. "Tonight didn't do anything to diminish our chances. We want to send our seniors out with a win on Saturday at home against Providence."
Notes:
uDavid Graves broke Elmer Bennett's record of most games played at Notre Dame. Graves is now the all-time leader with 125 career games.
uChris Thomas finished with 10 assists pushing his season total to 214. Thomas has now tied has tied the all-time mark for assists in a single season at Notre Dame.
uThe Irish take on Providence at home on Saturday. The game starts at 4:00 p.m and will be nationally televised on CBS.
All Sports Stories for Thursday, February 28, 2002
