Doherty era starts off on right foot with win over Qatar
By BRIAN CHURNEY
Sports Writer
Amidst a surprising large JACC crowd for an exhibition game, the Matt Doherty era in Notre Dame men's basketball began Friday night with a 94-79 victory over the International Select All-Stars.
The final score was not nearly indicative of the closeness of the game, though. The All-Stars kept the outcome in doubt, leading for most of the first half by as many as nine points.
In the early goings, the Irish had a hard time stopping the streaky shooting of Tony Graves. The 6-foot-8 forward out of Southwest Missouri scored 13 first-half points, nine of which came on shots taken from well behind the three-point line.
But something Doherty said in the 20-second timeout he called with 9 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the half must have registered with the team. The Irish increased defensive pressure, holding the International team to just nine points before the buzzer.
When Matt Carroll finally tied the game at 45 with 1:45 to go until halftime, it was clear that momentum had shifted.
The second half was all-Irish, as Notre Dame took advantage of the All-Stars' obvious fatigue, holding them to 33 percent shooting and out-rebounding them 22-15.
Notre Dame took the lead at the 19-minute mark of the second half and didn't look back.
Troy Murphy led the Irish, at times looking unstoppable, scoring 28 points and accumulating 11 rebounds. Murphy, who scored 22 of his 29 in the first half, distributed the ball to teammates in the second half, piling up four second-half assists.
"I got a lot of open looks in the first half and fortunately was able to convert them," Murphy said. "They really started to buckle down on me in the second half, so I started to distribute the ball to some of my teammates."
Matt Carroll was the key to the Irish second-half surge, scoring 10 of his 20 points in the first five minutes. Carroll displayed remarkable poise for a freshman, shooting 70 percent for the game, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc despite taking most of those shots with a hand in his face.
"I had a few pre-game jitters, the normal butterflies, but after a few minutes, I felt I got a rhythm going," said Carroll. "After a while, you realize, it's just the same game as always."
Other bright spots for the Irish included freshman Jere Macura and the trio of Irish point guards Mike Monserez, Jimmy Dillon and Martin Inglesby. Macura, who scored 13 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and flashed an athleticism that has been rare on recent Irish teams, received high praise from Doherty.
"Jere's gonna be a fantastic player," he said. "I'm excited to see him improve throughout the year."
The three point guards, while not piling up overwhelming statistics, did exactly what Doherty has asked them to do: take care of the ball and limit turnovers. The three combined for 15 points and seven assists while only committing three turnovers.
The Irish did experience a mild scare when freshman center Ivan Kartelo left the game in the first half in what appeared to be a significant amount of pain, favoring his knee. Fortunately for the Irish, the injury seems to be mild and Kartelo isn't expected to miss much action.
For Matt Doherty, the win was quite a relief.
"I was nervous, but excited. I had to give the prayer before the game and was nervous I might mess up the Hail Mary," Doherty said laughingly. "It's nice to get out and actually play."
"I'm not as concerned about winning and losing," he added. "I want to get better each day. I've told our team, I'd rather get better and lose than simply win."
All Sports Stories for Monday, November 8, 1999
