Arena Adventures: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

Arena Adventures: Entry #5

Arena: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

City: Notre Dame, IN

Date: December 11, 2010

Teams: #23 Notre Dame vs. Gonzaga

After a speedy departure from the Gentile Center it was 2 hours in the car to get from Chicago to South Bend for an 8:30 pm EST tilt between two of the most well-know religious schools in the country, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gonzaga entered this game on a 2 game losing streak and having lost 4 of 6 overall. While 3 of those losses were to top 20 teams in San Diego State, Kansas State, and Illinois, as well as a loss in the always tough to play in Paloose against Washington State, Gonzaga had looked pretty bad in its last 2, getting routed by Illinois in Seattle and Washington St. in Pullman. The Bulldogs were giving up 3 point baskets at an alarming rate as the perimeter defense was just not closing out on shooters. This spelled trouble heading to Notre Dame and their sharpshooters Tim Abromatis and Ben Hansbrough.

As the game started, both teams came out hot. It was raining 3's from Steven Gray of Gonzaga, Abromatis, and even Carlton Scott of the Irish was getting into the action. By the 10 minute mark of the 1st half, both teams were on pace for about 120 points a piece. As the half progressed, the shooting proficiency on both sides subsided and the Irish staked themselves to a 43-37 halftime lead behind an unlikely and career-high 19 points from Carlton Scott in the first half. Gonzaga's big 3 of Elias Harris, Robert Sacre, and Gray kept Gonzaga in the game, all while each picking up 2 fouls in the first half, which would spell trouble later on in the game.

For a good part of the 2nd half, the action was pretty back and forth, with the Irish maintaining at 6-8 point lead, until a personal 8-0 run by Abromatis capped by a 3 from the wing gave the Irish a 13 point lead with about 8 minutes to play. Gonzaga turned to its stars Gray and Sacre to lead the comeback, but the most consistent player of the night was probably Manny Arop. In this, and the 2 previous Gonzaga games I watched in person this season, Arop seems to be the key auxiliary scorer that Gonzaga needs to have as Gray, Harris, and Sacre cannot win a game alone.

Gonzaga managed to whittle the ND lead down to 5 with under 10 seconds to play behind some timely shooting and drives to the basket, especially drives by PG Demetri Goodson using his quickness to get to the rack, along with some untimely FT misses from Hansbrough and Atkins. As GU inbounded with under 10 seconds left, Gray pushed the ball up the court and drained a 24 foot 3 from the wing to give the Irish a tenuous 81-79 lead with 3 seconds to play. The Bulldogs fouled Hansbrough, sending him to the line for 2 FTs to seal a win for the Irish. Hansbrough calmly knocked both FTs down and as David Stockton half-court heave just missed at the buzzer, the Irish had held on for an 83-79 victory over Gonzaga. Scott and Abromatis lead the way for ND with 23 and 21 points respectively, while this game saw 4 of the 5 starters for Gonzaga foul out of the game.

In this end, ND had built too much of a lead during the mid-stages of the 2nd half, but one has to wonder if the Bulldogs' confidence is beginning to wean. Is Mark Few's "anyone, anytime, anywhere" schedule catching up to the young Bulldogs who still appear to lack a player who can take over the game when necessary as Adam Morrison and Matt Bouldin had been in years past? While Gonzaga has numerous chances to build up its non-conference resume still with games against Baylor in Dallas, Xavier and Oklahoma St. in Spokane, and a mid-conference tilt against Memphis, right now Gonzaga appears to have to win the WCC Tournament to make their 12th straight NCAA Tournament Appearance; which will be no easy task with the likes of St. Mary's, Portland, and Loyola Marymount being good or better than last season.