By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — When it mattered most, the University of Notre Dame’s men’s basketball, ranked at or near the top nationally of several offensive categories, turned its collective back-to-the basket, dug down and got stops.
“I’m thrilled about our defense,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. “That’s how we were going to escape and we did escape.”
With the Princeton Tigers and their own highly-rated offense gathering momentum, Notre Dame’s defense was the difference in their 60-58 in first round West Region action at Key Bank Center.
“Everything wasn’t going great for us on offense today, but our defense was where it needed to be,” senior guard Steve Vasturia said. “Everybody was making contributions. What we were talking about how we’ve been in this position before. We’ve won so many close games and the most important thing was we had to be poised.”
With less than two minutes remaining, the Irish, which led by as many as 11 in the second half, were clinging to a three-point edge when Princeton took a timeout.
Notre Dame’s defense forced a shot-clock violation on the ensuing possession.
“Huge, huge possession for us,” senior forward V.J. Beachem stated. “That was a huge stop just to give us a little bit of a cushion. That was great.”
Princeton inbounded the ball and worked it to Spencer Weisz. The senior forward, who led all scorers with 11 points at halftime, looked to back into the post from the right side of the floor.
“They went to their best player,” Beachem explained. “He was posting up. We were able to double it and get it out of his hands.”
With their first option taken away, Princeton looked to convert from the three-point arc, but Rex Pflueger closed out on Devin Cannady and forced an errant shot.
“That really speaks to our confidence and our experience on the defensive end in tight games,” Pflueger noted. “We understood which defense we were in. We were communicating very well. We understood the shot clock, so when we got that them in that post situation, we doubled down. We trusted each other that we would be able to close out on shooters.”
It was Cannady who had the ball in his hands with less than 10 seconds remaining and a chance to give Princeton its first lead since 17-15.
“Basically it was just crash the boards,” Plueger said when asked what was going through his mind when the Princeton sophomore let fly with the potential game winner. “When you see that shot go up, the worst thing that can happen is that second chance. If it comes off the rim, we had to be in position to go get the ball.”
Notre Dame held Princeton to 22 of 57 shooting from the floor (38.6 percent) – more than five percent under their season shooting average of 45.2 including 25.8 percent (8 of 31) behind the arc where the Tigers usually hit 38.3.
“You know, to force them into 8 for 31 is a heck of a job by us, and it’s probably why we won the game,” Brey noted. “We even blocked a couple. We got out. I thought our sense of urgency, switching stuff, getting out on shooters, was a key. And, again, I’m really thrilled, because this team is a good — this group’s a good defensive group.
Notre Dame is ranked top 20 in the country by KenPom with an adjusted offensive efficiency rating (estimated number of points per 100 possessions) of 118.4. The Fighting Irish connected on just 21 of 52 shots (40.4 percent) for the game including seven of 22 (31.8 percent) in the second half.
“We had to win it playing defense. Because we weren’t in a great flow offensively. Some guys didn’t shoot it as well as they’d liked, but we continued to guard. That’s where we’re pretty mature. We understand if our — maybe different than some of my other teams. When we’re not scoring it doesn’t affect us on the defensive end.”
Fifth-seeded Notre Dame (26-9) will take on West Virginia (27-8) which beat Bucknell in the first round in Saturday’s round of 32. A 12:10 pm tipoff is scheduled.
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