Bonnies pick up strong win over Irish on Thanksgiving weekend

(Photo by Ray Floriani/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

By Ray Floriani (@rfloriani)

ELMONT, N.Y. — On Friday afternoon, while shoppers saw their bank accounts slowly dissipate, Notre Dame saw its unblemished record meet a similar fate. 

St. Bonaventure surprised the Fighting Irish, 63-51, at UBS Arena in the showcase game of the Gotham Classic. The Bonnies, winners of three straight, are 4-2. Notre Dame fell to 5-1.

Points of emphasis:

Youth was served. Entering the game, Notre Dame had six graduate students and over 5.000 combined points in their lineup. The Bonnies’ roster, completely revamped, had a total of zero returning points from last season’s team. Once the ball was tossed up, the disparity in experience played little or no part in the final outcome.

Poise. Related to the last point was the Bonnies showing collective poise throughout the 40 minutes. In the latter stages, when the Irish threatened to make a run, the Bonnies answered. 

“They executed very well,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey remarked. “They also made some backbreaking threes.”

Another aspect of poise was reflected in the Bonnies’ handling of tempo. Head coach Mark Schmidt is looking for transition to get opportunities in the open court. Notre Dame dictated tempo with a 61-possession pace. The Bonnies did not force the issue. Rather, they settled in and were very effective, with a 103 offensive efficiency in a halfcourt setting.

Beyond the arc. Notre Dame came in with a good perimeter shooting team. Its ability to connect from the outside was a concern of Schmidt. The Irish shoot 35 percent from three, but on Friday, were limited to just 2-of-17 from distance. Nate Laszewski, one of Notre Dame’s threats outside, missed each of his three attempts. On the other side, the Bonnies connected on 10 of their 24 attempts from deep. Sophomore guard Kyrell Luc, scored 16 points, hitting four of six from 3-point range. Luc buried two huge treys late to stop a final run by the Irish in the closing minutes.

Pound it inside. Part of Schmidt’s game plan was to go inside to Chad Venning. The 6’10” sophomore center responded with a 14-point, 11-rebound effort. Venning, named MVP of the Gotham Classic, showed some nice back-to-the-basket post moves, battling inside all afternoon. His rapid development was cited by Schmidt saying, “four weeks ago, Chad couldn’t have done this, to which Brey added, “he was a monster inside.”

Short rotation. Notre Dame is basically relying on six players. Lack of depth is something to be addressed, as an opponent speeding the Irish up would be at an advantage. The return of Marcus Hammond, a Niagara transfer, out with a knee sprain (he is scheduled to return to the lineup shortly), should remedy the situation. Hammond addresses the depth situation while adding another scoring option for Brey, who has high expectations of Hammond contributing to the offense.

The big picture. “It was a great game,” Schmidt said. “To come in here, play a Power 5, ACC, experienced team, it was a great game for us from start to finish. I thought our guys were tough, defended and rebounded. We have a lot of growing up to do. We’re young, but a game like this is big.”