There is nothing like watching the Laker Girls on Family Feud to settle a few nerves.

That's exactly what senior forward Ryan Humphrey did Wednesday afternoon to relax before his first basketball game in a Notre Dame uniform. The Oklahoma transfer overcame a few pre-game jitters and responded with a 14-point, six-rebound effort as No. 15 Notre Dame picked up right where it left off last season with an impressive 98-68 rout of the California All-Stars Wednesday at the Joyce Center.

The lop-sided victory earned the Irish a surprising comparison to last year's National Champion Michigan State Spartan team.

"That's the best team I've played in seven games," All-Stars head coach Price Johnson said. "They're well coached and they shoot well. Last year, I got beat 66-115 by Michigan State. The team I have this year is better than the team I had last year and Notre Dame is better than Michigan State was when we played them. That is how embarrassing this is."

Junior player of the year candidate Troy Murphy put in a typical All-American performance with 24 points and 17 rebounds, but it was Humphrey who stole the show.

"He's been a highlight film in practice," Brey said. "He can certainly light a crowd up and he's a momentum guy. He can make some amazing plays and guys are starting to learn to feed him in places where you can't feed most humans."

Humphrey drew "oooohs" and "aaaahs" from the crowd all night with his rim-rocking dunks and monster rejections.

"He's made some blocks on me like that so it was nice to see him do it on someone else," Murphy said. "He brings those blocks and a lot of excitement that has been lacking around here."

The Irish opened the game with a 16-0 run in the first 3:10 and never looked back, leading by as many as 37 points on two different occasions.

"We started that way because we were sound offensively, but also because we played defense in those first four minutes," Brey said. "I thought we were really there. They had possessions and we had six stops. We were active and caused a few turnovers and we had some clean defensive rebounds. But we need to work on our transition defense and our rotation."

The Irish shot nearly 50 percent from the floor and five players scored in double figures, including junior forward David Graves who scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists.

Junior Harold Swanagan, who started for the Irish at center last season, came off the bench to score 14 points and pull down six rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

"Anything you ask of Harold, he does," Murphy said. "He sets screens that get all the shooters open. He provides offensive and defensive rebounds. We know how important and instrumental he is."

Sophomore guard Matt Carroll scored 11 points and dished out seven assists in 28 minutes.

"No one has better in the first month of this season than Matt Carroll," Brey said. "No one's played better defense on the perimeter than him. He knows how to make the extra pass and tonight he had seven assists and no turnovers."

The unselfish play of the Irish was evident all night as they racked up 29 assists.

Senior point guard Martin Ingelsby led the Irish with nine assists.

"Certainly this is a team that can pass and will pass," Brey said. "Our challenge will be to make the extra pass."

The Irish committed just 12 turnovers, a statistic they struggled with last season. Brey experimented with several lineups and also got to see two of his freshman in action for the first time.

"That's the first time we've had everyone on the same bench," Brey said. "We're trying to get a feel for rotations and who is going to be playing what minutes and who will be playing in what situations. And we'll learn from it."

Freshman point guard Torrian Jones had a good showing in his first collegiate game.

He drained two 3-pointers and finished with seven points and two assists.

"This was a positive step for us," Brey said. "He got 20 minutes tonight and certainly we are going to need him this year."

Freshman forward Tom Timmermans played the final three minutes of the game and knocked down two shots.

"We're ready to play and we're excited to play," Brey said. "We obviously have a lot of weapons on offense, but we are a work in progress defensively. We need to get better there. We still have a lot to work on and the nice thing is that our guys understand that."

The Irish close out the preseason when they host the International All-Stars Sunday at the Joyce Center. The regular season gets underway Nov. 18 when Notre Dame takes on Sacred Heart at home.

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