MBB : Harris feeds off raucous Irish fans during 15-point first half
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Paul Harris’ first-half display was enough to impress Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey.
As Harris stood in front of the Irish bench to inbound the basketball with 1.5 seconds remaining in the first half, Brey came up to Harris to share a few playful words.
‘He told me that I was playing pretty good,’ Harris laughed. ‘I told him I think something good’s going to happen (on this inbound).’
Never mind SU didn’t score on the ensuing play, Harris’ first-half performance was perhaps the sole factor keeping Sunday’s contest from getting out of hand early. Harris finished with a team-best 22 points, 15 of those coming in the first 20 minutes.
Harris’ inspired play was in large part a response to the jeers of the Notre Dame student section, which repeatedly singled Harris out with chants and boos throughout the contest.
Harris responded by commanding the ball on the offensive end. When he didn’t drive hard inside, earning free throws, he showcased his jump shot, considered by most to be a weakness. Harris even made a rare 3-pointer, one of only two the Orange made in the half.
‘I did (feed off the crowd),’ Harris said. ‘I just had fun. I like stuff like that, and I think in the Big East tournament (the Notre Dame students) were talking to me and I played my best game in college.’
In the game Harris was referring to, he scored 24 points in a loss to Notre Dame in last year’s Big East Tournament. Harris fell short of that mark because his scoring touch in the first half didn’t come nearly as easily in the second.
Notre Dame’s pressure got to him, and Harris was just 3-of-12 in the second half, including several misses inside. Those misses could have made a difference for Syracuse.
‘I thought he had a real good first half,’ Boeheim said. ‘Second half they got up on him, started pressuring him and he kept shooting the jump shot. … He was very good in the first half, in the second half he just struggled.’
Foul trouble once again wreaked havoc on Syracuse’s seven-man rotation Sunday afternoon.
Two SU players, Donte Greene and Arinze Onuaku, fouled out in the contest, as Notre Dame’s big men were frequently able to induce the Orange into committing fouls down low.
‘Foul trouble is the kryptonite to this team,’ Flynn said. ‘Whenever somebody gets two fouls, it’s almost like they stop playing the game. It’s only natural because we’re only playing seven guys, so you’re trying to stay on the floor.’
For Greene, foul trouble cost him much of the second half. Greene played just nine minutes in the half and wasn’t able to get into any rhythm on offense. He attempted just two shots in the half before fouling out and finished was a career-low five points.
Onuaku picked up his third foul toward the end of the first half, but still managed a 13-point second half en route to a double-double. Onuaku finally fouled out at the 1:37 mark, with Syracuse down eight.
But besides individual foul trouble, SU’s 24 fouls on Sunday led to a parade to the free-throw line for the Irish. Notre Dame attempted 33 free throws, hitting 22 of them.
Syracuse unveiled its alternate blue uniforms for the first time against Notre Dame.
The uniforms, made by Nike, featured orange ‘Syracuse’ script across the chest with silver lettering and blue shorts with shorts with orange, white and silver blocks down the side.
It was the first time Syracuse had worn blue uniforms in nearly 20 years. The last time it wore blue was in a game at Kentucky on Feb. 28, 1988. The Orange lost that game, 62-58, prompting SU head coach Jim Boeheim to say his team would never wear blue again.
At halftime, Notre Dame celebrated the 30th anniversary of its 1978 Final Four team. Thirteen members of the team and coaching staff were introduced to the crowd, including former Irish head coach Digger Phelps. That 1978 team was the only Notre Dame team to ever reach the Final Four. … Notre Dame’s win was its 36th consecutive victory at the Joyce Center. With No. 1 Memphis losing to No. 2 Tennessee of Saturday, that makes the Irish’s streak the second longest in the nation, behind only Brigham Young.
Published on February 24, 2008 at 12:00 pm
