Men's Basketball: Irish come from behind, win on Senior Day
By: JOE LICANDRO
Sports Writer
For one final time, Irish seniors David Graves, Ryan Humphrey, Harold Swanagan and Charles Thomas were introduced in a special presentation with their families to the home faithful at the Joyce Center. The capacity crowd loudly voiced their appreciation for the contributions of each player in revitalizing the Notre Dame program. After the emotional pre-game Senior Day festivities, the Irish had to refocus their energies on defeating the visiting Providence Friars and their star point guard John Linehan.
The Irish senior class of 2002 did not disappoint; all four seniors played a factor in the Irish's 76-68 victory over the Friars on Saturday.
Although Providence entered the Joyce Center with a record of only 15-14, the Friars played with reckless abandon throughout the game. From the opening tip-off, the Irish players must have known they were going to be in for a dogfight.
The first half was a seesaw battle which saw neither team able to take control of the game.
Matt Carroll was deadly from the three-point line in the first half, nailing three critical shots to keep the Irish in the game. Carroll led all scorers in the first half with 11 points.
While Carroll did his damage from beyond the arc, Humphrey provided his usual athletic flair around the basket for some thunderous dunks that brought the crowd to its feet. Humphrey scored nine of his game-high 21 points in the first half.
Despite Carroll's hot shooting and Humphrey's offensive acrobatics, the Friars held a 41-38 lead thanks to a balanced offensive attack. Eight different players for the Friars scored in the first half with Linehan leading the way with 7 points.
"I expected them to give us a game," said coach Mike Brey. "They played with nothing to lose. My hat goes off to them. Sometimes the other team just plays really well, and Providence played really well tonight."
In recent games, Notre Dame has struggled at the beginning of the second half, allowing other teams to make long scoring runs that force the Irish to play catch-up for the remainder of the game.
Saturday was no different.
Providence came out on fire at the beginning of the second half. The Friars made three straight three-pointers to take a seven-point lead with just under 16 minutes remaining.
For the next ten minutes, Notre Dame struggled to play catch-up. Every single time the Irish made a run, sharpshooters Abdul Mills, Christopher Anrin and Tuukka Kotti had an answer for the Friars.
With 7 minutes and 30 seconds left in the game, Notre Dame appeared to be in trouble, finding themselves down 62-55 with the Friars in possession of the ball, but Graves refused to let the Irish lose the game.
"At that point in the game, it can go either way," said Graves. "Every time we made a run, they put a dagger in us. It was the climax of the game and someone had to step up."
Graves stole the ball from Christopher Anrin, then raced down the court and was fouled on his breakaway lay-up attempt. He calmly sank two free throws to make the score 62-57.
Two possessions later, Graves stole the ball from Anrin again and streaked down the court for another lay-up. Once again, Graves was fouled on the shot, but this time he converted the lay-up. Graves nailed his free-throw attempt for a three-point play, bringing the crowd to its feet.
After stopping the Friars' next offensive series, the Irish found themselves down 64-61. On the next Irish offensive possession, freshman Chris Thomas nailed a 3-pointer to tie the game.
After a Providence free throw, the Irish would take a 66-65 lead on a Ryan Humphrey put-back lay-in. Notre Dame would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game.
Matt Carroll's three-pointer on Notre Dame's next possession, which stretched the Irish lead to 69-65, deflated the Friars' hopes and brought the Irish crowd to a wild frenzy.
"It was a good time to hit a three," said Carroll. "We needed something big like that."
In nearly all of their losses this season, the Irish were able to keep the game close until the very end where they struggled to find ways to score. Saturday night was no different. "We've been there and done that," said Ryan Humphrey. "We've been in so many close games this year, we knew we were not going to panic."
With one minute remaining and a nine-point lead, the student section began chanting for walk-on senior Charles Thomas to enter the game.
In the waning seconds of the game, the Irish students got their wish, as Brey put Thomas into the game.
It was a fitting end to a great game and a great season for the Irish.
"Our crowd was awesome today," said Brey. "As soon as the crowd got into it, we got more intense. It was great to get Chuck in there. Charles Thomas has done a great job for us as a leader of this team. We will miss his presence next year."
With the final score reading 76-68, Notre Dame closed out the regular season with an impressive record of 20-9, and 10-6 in the Big East.
Brey became the first Irish head coach in school history to lead back-to-back 20-win seasons.
The Irish will now look ahead to the Big East Tournament next week.
With Syracuse's loss to Boston College on Sunday, the Irish finished second behind Pittsburgh in the Big East West Division. Notre Dame earned a bye in the first round of the conference tournament and will not play again until Thursday at 9:30 p.m. when it will face the winner of Wednesday's matchup between Seton Hall and St. John's.
"We have as good a chance as anyone else to win the conference tournament," said Carroll. "Anybody can beat anybody in the Big East. It's been like that all year."
Notes
- Chris Thomas set the Notre Dame single-season record for assists during the game, finishing with 217 this season. Thomas's assist to Ryan Humphrey in the first half broke the previous record.
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 4, 2002
