By PAUL GOTHAM
BROOKLYN — V.J. Beachem gave the Notre Dame Fighting Irish their first lead and last and along the way he erased the memory of personal disappointment.
Hitting all seven of his attempts from the floor including four from long range, Beachem posted a game-high 18 points as No. 6-seed Notre Dame erased a halftime deficit and defeated No. 11-seed Michigan, 70-63 in first round action of the NCAA Tournament East Region. A year ago, the junior forward logged just 19 minutes in Notre Dame’s four tournament games.
“I’m really proud of him,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. “A year ago, he didn’t have a very good postseason…He really struggled.”
Beachem scored 19 in ND’s win over Duke in the ACC quarter-finals. He followed with 11 points in a loss to North Carolina.
“For him to deliver like he did in D.C. and to deliver tonight when we really need him,” Brey added. “He’s a great kid who’s a junior and has grown and matures, and he’s a terrific guy.”
Friday, Beachem thrived when the Irish needed him most. His catch-and-shoot triple with 9:26 remaining gave the Irish a 51-48 edge. Three minutes later, he knotted the score at 56 with another triple. Beachem’s third trey in six minutes gave ND a lead it never surrendered at 62-59.
“I just tried to step up and knock down the shots,” Beachem said. “My teammates were really finding me. Matt Farrell told me before the game he was going to find me all night, and he really did. So I was just stepping up, trying to knock down the shots, and I was fortunate that all of them dropped tonight.”
Beachem’s 18-point output was his 20th double-digit effort of the season and 31st of his career. The 6-8 forward has hit 16 three-pointers over the past six games. He is shooting .571 (16-28) from long range during that period of time. He is averaging 16 points a game over the last three games. He has now hit 133 career 3-pointers – good for 16th all-time in Notre Dame history.
The Irish move on to play No. 14-seed Stephen F. Austin in Sunday’s second round matchup.
“I know Coach (Brad) Underwood,” Brey said of Stephen F. Austin’s head coach. “We’re both Under Armour guys, so we spent time together at a couple of Under Armour events, and he was trying to get me to play him and I said ‘no way,’ but now I’ve got to play him no matter what.
“He did a terrific job. All I know is West Virginia had 22 turnovers, and we’ve been hitting the concession stand the last two weeks. So we’d better be great with the ball. They’re a tough bunch. I was impressed. I watched before the game. They have a great toughness about them. This is an ACC game. Tonight was an ACC game. We’ve got another ACC level game on Sunday.”
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