The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The 1st/2nd rounds are taking place in 8 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage from San Diego with a recap of Alabama vs. Notre Dame.
If you were hoping that these schools only had injuries on the football field then you would be sorely mistaken. Tide JR PG Jahvon Quinerly was helped off the court into the locker room before the 1st TV timeout with an apparent knee injury and uncertainty as to whether he would return (note: he did not).
However, FR JD Davison filled in quite admirably with 11 PTS/9 AST in 37 minutes off the bench.
Irish SR G Cormac Ryan was on fire the entire 1st half with 18 PTS/7-8 FG including the conversion of a LONG alleyoop pass for a layup in the final 45 seconds as his team took a 41-36 lead at the half.
Alabama coach Nate Oats looked concerned about whether Quinerly would return as he walked to the locker room (his teammate/brother Jaden is a walk-on).
Alabama hung around for most of the 2nd half but Ryan never let up from long distance. He set a pair of career-highs with 29 PTS/7-9 3PM as the Irish pulled away to win 78-64.
In the postgame press conference I asked Ryan about the fact that his team is now 15-1 this year when they make at least 10 threes. He said that the 3-PT shot is a huge weapon for them because they have so many guys who can shoot it at a high level. When they are guarding well on defense and making their threes they are very hard to beat.
I asked Coach Mike Brey about his PG Prentiss Hubb playing 79 minutes in the past 48 hours in 2 different time zones and only turning the ball over ONCE. He said that when Prentiss rotated into the role of just delivering the ball instead of hunting his shot, Brey put him into the starting lineup and he finally understood the weapons he has around him. It has been fabulous to watch him play and that is an amazing stat because they harp on taking care of the ball. They have a sign in the locker room that simply says, “Don’t skip class and don’t turn the ball over and we will get along just fine!”