You could feel that something special was going to happen Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion. Those in attendance were hoping to see if Coach Brey could lead the Fighting Irish to magical win 394, topping Irish coaching legend Digger Phelps. Among all the excitement, there was a sense of concern as well. The day before, we learned that the Irish would be without Captain Bonzie Colson due to a broken foot.

However, ACC play stops for no one. So let’s jump into the game recap and see how the team fared against the NC State.

The Fighting Irish had a reversal of sorts on Wednesday night. Typically, the Irish get off to a slow start in the first half, that wasn’t the case last night. T.J. Gibbs started the Irish off with a quick 3-pointer, followed by a monster slam dunk by Martinas Geben and a 3-pointer by D.J. Harvey.

Despite the strong start, it wasn’t as easy a game for the Irish at it appeared. NC State played a stifling half court pressure that the Irish needed to figure out. Then, half way through the first half, Matt Farrell went down with an apparent foot injury. He went to the locker room for the remainder of the half while the Irish built a lead as high as 15 points in the half. All things considered, this was one of the best halves of basketball by the Irish to date this season.

The Irish took a 48-36 lead into the locker room. Harvey led all scorers with 13 points (3-4 from 3-point range), Gibbs was next with 11 points after a full 20 minutes. To backup the teams play here are some other great stats for the Irish: 18 points in the paint, 10 points off of turnovers, 19-31 from the field and 9-18 from 3-point range.

The second half was completely opposite from the first as the typical Irish quick start out of the locker room was non-existent. The defense, however, stepped up. John Mooney and Geben hand some great blocks on defense. To showcase the defensive effort, the Irish did not allow the Wolfpack to score until 4:53 into the second half and allowed only eight points through the first twelve minutes. The Wolfpack tried to apply the same half court pressure from the first half, but the Irish would have none of it.

The Purcell Pavilion roared to life with 1:00 remaining as those in attendance knew they were witnessing a great moment of ND Basketball History. The Irish won this game 88-58 and Coach Brey would win his 394th game as Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Coach. T.J. Gibbs led all scorers with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3-6 from 3-point range and played 38 minutes. D.J. Harvey had a career high 17 points along with 3 rebounds in 30 minutes of play. Pflueger had a great night as well. Pflueger came up short of a career night with 16 points, 4 rebounds.

Farrell would not return to the game after the intermission, instead vocally leading his team from the bench along with Colson.

Following the game there was a ceremony at half court to honor Coach Brey accompanied by a video presentation about this career at ND. Coach Phelps presented Coach Brey with the game ball an AD Jack Swarbrick presented Coach Brey with a replica banner of the banner to be forever hung in the rafters of Purcell Pavilion.

The post game interview was one of joy and sorrow. The media gathered in the press room knew the joy of what was Coach Brey’s win, but they were wondering behind all of that, what was going on with Farrell and his injury. Coaches opening statement to the press “What a way to get to get there, to 394 and to 2-0 [in the ACC]. And what I told our team was, when I think back, the record breaking game we lost Bonzie Colson the day before. We lost Matt Farrell half way through the first.  And our group just responded. Just really proud of them. We got 394 off the board. We can keep chasing some ACC stuff and love the position this team is in.”

The discussion shifted to talk about Bonzie Colson’s broken foot. Coach said “Bonzie’s injury happened at practice on Friday. He felt he strained something. He moved around fine and scored 22, unknown it was a broken foot. I feel sorry for Bonzie. I feel for college basketball. Bonzie Colson is the most popular player in college basketball and maybe the best. Coaches love him. Media loves him. He is a great story. College basketball lost a great story and I am hurting for him. I told his father we will not rush him back. I am really sensitive to being healthy and fresh for him to make the NBA.”

Next up for the Irish is Syracuse. the Irish will be on the road Saturday with a 3:15 start. Congratulations to Coach Brey on 394, and best wishes and a speedy recovery for Colson and Farrell. Cheers and #GoIrish!!!

The post Notre Dame Men’s Basketball: A Huge Win and Another Loss appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.

I think it would have been better to call this day Wine Wednesday, because obviously the Apostles* had to stock up for the Last Supper. But, then again, an Irish-Catholic college campus never needs an excuse like Wine Wednesday (and neither does this Frenchman). With a Wednesday like that, we might as well have a Sauce Saturday.

In 33AD, this was a pretty big week for the Apostles; and this week is pretty big for the basketball lads, since they have a Sweet Sixteen game on Friday. But I can’t write about comparisons between the basketball team and The Twelve, because there are 14 members of the team (and I can’t add Matthias to the count because he was subbed in for Judas). Still, I’m rather fascinated by the possibility of bringing the Apostles and the basketball lads together in some form, because how much cooler would Catholic school names sound if we had a Saint Bonzie or a Saint Rex. And how fierce would our team be if we had a player named Simon the Zealot, or a pair of brothers nicknamed “The Sons of Thunder.”

I can’t write about the Biblical significance of the number 16 because there isn’t any. Sure, there are four 16-letter words in the King James Bible, but they don’t really give any inspiration. I don’t want the Fighting Irish to play the Badgers with lovingkindness. It may sound intimidating to say that we compete with evilfavouredness, but when you think about it, that’s neither a good thing nor a compliment. And when it comes to unprofitableness and covenantbreakers, I don’t have the basketball team in mind, but I am shooting the stink-eye right at you, whoever you are in the Athletic Department that decided it would be a good idea to crawl into bed with the Whore of Babylon…I mean the Big Ten.

Though I can’t write on Good Friday, we are playing basketball on that day. I have no problem with this, so long as the team and fans pray from Noon to 3:00 and don’t eat meat. In fact, I strongly encourage everyone to eat ample amounts of grilled cheese, symbolically devouring Wisconsin. Winning against the Badgers will send us on to play North Carolina or Indiana on Easter Sunday. There was a famous Olympic track star who refused to compete on a Sunday because of his devout Christian beliefs. But he was a Scottish Congregationalist, and they’re just really no fun. Easter is the day of greatest celebration for us, so as long as the team, students, alumni, and fans all participate in the holy celebration of the Mass in the morning, I think it’s fine to celebrate a basketball game later. Besides, we can be assured God approves, since the Holy Trinity shoots a mean three.

These aren’t just considerations for students-athletes and fans of Our Lady’s University. I’m sure there are good Catholics on the Wisconsin team who must balance loyalty to their school with the requirements of their faith . Had we played Xavier, things like holy days and religion don’t much concern the Jesuits.

Thus, as we like to do at Notre Dame, this Holy Week we combine Church and Sports, our two favorite devotions. And just for Friday, let’s change Pflueger’s name to Rex Iudaeorum

EFS CSC

*Jesus sent John and Peter to get supplies for the Last Supper. Since John is always pictured as beardless, we must assume he was underage. Hence, John would have bought the bread, while Peter went on a wine run. Let that be an instructive and cautionary exegesis for all Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors.

Padre’s book Father Sorin Says: The Founder Comments on Today’s Notre Dame is available from the Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore and from Amazon. It is a perfect addition to any Easter basket, and can be used to convert others to the One True Faith.

The post Spy Wednesday w/Padre: Faith, Hoops, and Charity appeared first on Her Loyal Sons.