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Live Chat Transcript | 2008-09 Season Stats
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Notre Dame turned to its defense when its offense sputtered.
The Fighting Irish held South Florida without a field goal for more than nine minutes late, finishing the game on a 16-6 run to win 67-57 on Sunday.
"I think our defense the last seven, eight minutes was excellent," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "We just kept getting back, getting stops and getting rebounds."
The Irish went more than seven minutes with just one field goal, a rebound basket by Luke Harangody with 9:14 left that broke a 51-51 tie.
Harangody, who finished with 19 points, added another basket inside four minutes later. Then Kyle McAlarney added a 3 with 2:47 left to give the Irish a 58-51 lead. McAlarney, who also scored 19, added another 3 moments later.
USF coach Stan Heath was hoping the Irish would have a letdown following their win against Louisville.
"I didn't think that was the case. I think they were very motivated to play," he said.
The Irish players said they were caught off balance by USF's use of a triangle-and-two defense.
"They were kind of playing a defense we'd never seen before, it kinda took us out of our rhythm on our sets," Harangody said. "So, I think that's the time where you just need to dig in on the defensive end. That's where you need to get stops and that's what we did."
It was an unimpressive victory for the Irish (14-10, 5-7 Big East) coming off their biggest league win ever, a 33-point win vs. No. 5 Louisville on Thursday. Brey, though, said it was probably good for the Irish to have to turn to their defense to get a victory.
"Hopefully that's something we can build on," he said.
The Irish led by as many as 14 in the first half, but USF (8-16, 3-9) went on an 8-0 run to tie the score at 51 on a free throw by Jesus Verdejo midway through the second half. They didn't score again, though, until Alex Rivas Sanchez scored with 1:11 left.
"We had a couple of bad decisions," said Dominique Jones, who scored 14 for USF. "We had a few good looks, but we didn't knock them down. We had a good chance to win the game."
Harangody struggled for much of the game before coming up with the two big baskets. He was 6-for-15 from the floor, but he also added 11 rebounds. McAlarney had 11 points in the first half, but didn't score in the second half until he had the two big 3-pointers. Ryan Ayers added 12 points.
"We had to kind of grind this one out tonight. It wasn't the prettiest thing in the world, but obviously we're going to take the win," Harangody said. "They got up into us to make us have tough possessions but we got up into them."
Post Game Notes
? Up Next: The Bulls return home to face Georgetown on Wednesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Sun Dome. The game is an ESPN regionally televised game and can be seen locally on Bright House Sports Network. The game can also be heard on 1250 AM and GoUSFBulls.com. A live blog will also be ongoing during the game on GoUSFBulls.com.
? The Bulls were led by senior guard Jesus Verdejo who had a team-high 18 points.
? Sophomore guard Dominique Jones was also in double digit points with 14. Jones also added a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high seven assists.
? Junior center Alex Rivas chipped in eight points and tied Jones with nine rebounds.
? Jones continues to move up the all-time USF scoring list. With 14 points at Notre Dame he has moved into 19th all-time with 973 points. He is five points behind Jim Grandholm's 978 points for 18th all-time and just nine points from moving into 17th all-time.
? Jones is on pace to be the second fastest Bull in history to reach 1,000 career points and one of only three USF players to do it in two seasons. Jones will also be the quickest sophomore to reach 1,000. Jones currently sits at 973 career points and is on pace to eclipse 1,000 points at Connecticut on Saturday, Feb. 21, two games from now. If he goes over 1,000 at UConn he will have reached 1,000 in his 57th career game. Only Tony Grier reached 1,000 career points in fewer games. Grier, who spent one season at Polk Community College before coming to USF, surpassed 1,000 in his 51st career game during his junior season. USF's all-time leading scorer, Charley Bradley, went over 1,000 in his 59th career game during his sophomore season.
? Junior guard Chris Howard picked up three assists moving him into 9th place all-time on the USF career assist list with 318. Penny Greene sits in 8th with 364 assists.
? With 18 points Jesus Verdejo now has 795 career points and is just five points away from becoming the 33rd player in USF history with 800 career points. He is just 10 points away from moving into 32nd all-time with Jorge Azcoitia at 805 points.
