Notre Dame beats Stony Brook, 88-62
Notre Dame guard Scott Martin drives the lane as Stony Brook guards Anthony Jackson, left, and Marcus Rouse defend during first-half action in an NCAA college basketball game. (Dec. 19, 2010) Credit: AP
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - After getting a close look at Notre Dame yesterday, Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said the Fighting Irish remind him of Connecticut - only bigger.
"UConn has Kemba Walker, who is a terrific player who kind of runs the whole thing, but Notre Dame has five players with Eric Atkins coming off the bench, and they are not going to shoot themselves in the foot," Pikiell said after his team's 88-62 loss to the No. 24 Fighting Irish.
"Notre Dame is well-coached, they are veterans, and they have an inside guy who can really post in and then pass back to 6-8 or 6-9 guys on the perimeter,'' he added. "I think they will be a tough game for anybody when they have that kind of size and that kind of passing ability."
Tim Abromaitis scored 22 points for Notre Dame (10-1). Carleton Scott made all eight of his shots, including four three-pointers, and scored 20 points.
"Scott is a hard guard, especially for us," Pikiell said of the 6-8 forward, one of eight players on the Fighting Irish listed at 6-8 or taller. "We are used to [tall] guys being around the basket. He got it going early, and when he is on, he is as good as there is."
Ben Hansbrough added 14 points and eight assists for the Fighting Irish. "Ben has been unbelievable at finding shooters," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "I don't know if we have had a better guy at doing that."
Marcus Rouse had 15 points, Anthony Jackson 12 and Dave Coley 11 for Stony Brook (4-6). But Bryan Dougher was held to three points and 1-for-9 shooting.
"Notre Dame was a real good team, a veteran team that works hard and is well-coached,'' Pikiell said. "It was a tough game for us. Our veterans really struggled today, and in order for us to play in a game like this, you need them to play well. You just have to learn from this, move on and hope you don't face an offensive team like this again.''
The Seawolves made it 29-26 with 5:36 to go in the first half, but Notre Dame ended the half with a 12-2 run and began the second half with a 17-7 streak for a 58-35 lead.
The Fighting Irish made nine three-pointers and shot 54 percent from the field.
- AP
