Hot-Hand Luke

If the Big East competition is better than what Division II Lewis College (Romeoville, Ill.) offered on Sunday night at the Purcell Pavilion, an NCAA Tournament bid in March won’t come easy for Notre Dame.

However, it was the idea type of game pressure Irish head coach Mike Brey wanted to prepare his veteran but rebuilt squad for the regular season that opens Nov. 14 against North Florida.

Harangody posted a game-high 33 points in the exhibition win.

Outscored 28-10 in the closing minutes of the first half and the first six minutes of the second half, Notre Dame closed the last 13:20 with its own 28-10 run en route to a hard-fought 70-54 victory. The Irish rode the dominant performance of two-time All-American and National Player of the Year candidate Luke Harangody to a hard-fought 70-54 victory in the first of their two exhibition contests this month.

Harangody scored 33 points on 15-of-25 shooting from the floor and pulled down a team-high nine rebound in 36 minutes of action. Guard Ben Hansbrough was the only other Irish player in double figures with 12 points, and his seven rebounds were second to Harangody.

“We reacted pretty well,” said Brey of the game pressure applied by Lewis’ small, spread-them-out lineup. “Tory (Jackson) and Luke were great in our huddle. I thought we were pretty poised. It’s good to have a little pressure on you when the lights are on … It’s all part of the evolution of a team.”

Despite losing four seniors and regulars from last season, Notre Dame will still likely field one of the oldest lineups in the Big East, if not the nation, with four seniors and a junior in the starting lineup.

The three-guard starting lineup featured Jackson, Ben Hansbrough and Jonathan Peoples to complement low-post players Harangody and Tyrone Nash, the lone junior in the first five. The first two substitutes off the bench for the Irish, at the 11:22 mark of the first half, were the junior swingman tandem of 6-7 Carleton Scott and 6-8Tim Abromaitis in place of Peoples and Nash.

Brey likely will use this seven-man rotation throughout the campaign unless a major injury occurs. There are no sophomores on the roster. Among the four freshmen, 6-5 swingman Joey Brooks and 6-9 forward Mike Broghammer weren’t inserted until 1:12 remained in the already secured victory.

After Lewis knotted the game at 10, Harangody tallied the next nine Irish points, and 11 of 13, on an assortment of turnaround jumpers, a low-post move and a three. Abromaitis doubled the advantage to 32-16 with two free throws at the 3:43 mark of the first half. Lewis reeled off the next and final nine points of the first half while the Irish fell cold from the field, committed several fouls and suffered a couple of turnovers.

The deficit was reduced to 32-27 at the start of the second half before Harangody snapped the 11-0 run by Lewis with another bucket, giving him 15 of Notre Dame’s first 34 points.

The Flyers continued their onslaught when guard Chris McClellan knocked down back-to-back treys, forward Justin Jarosz converted on a drive to the basket and Dennis Thomas Jr. also drove for a basket and a surprising 41-40 Lewis lead that was soon extended to 44-42. At that point, the Flyers had outscored the Irish 28-10 over a 10-minute period going back to the first half.

This is not going to be your typical Brey team in that it doesn’t have as many lights-out shooters from beyond the arc as it has in recent years with people such as Kyle McAlarney, Ryan Ayers, Colin Falls, Russell Carter, Chris Quinn, Matt Carroll and Chris Thomas, among others. The Irish were only 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from three-point range, led by Peoples’ two conversions in five attempts.

“I don’t think we’re going to shoot it as much as last year’s group,” said Brey of the three-point line. “We’ve been trying to drive it a little more.”

Hansbrough, the transfer from Mississippi State, was 0-of-4 beyond the arc but was aggressive in his drives to the basket to the point where Brey said he was on occasion too eager to make plays happen.

“He’s feeling his way,” Brey said. “My fear is he would play too fast (after sitting out a year). He scored at times when needed.”

After falling behind 44-42, Hansbrough tied the game with two free throws and then Harangody gave the Irish the lead for good with a move down in the paint. A steal and fast-break lay-up by Hansbrough and a put-back basket off a rebound by Harangody provided a 50-44 cushion. Harangody then slammed home a dunk off a rebound, converted two free throws and hit a jumper just beyond the foul line to make it 56-48. By the time the advantage expanded to double digits, Harangody had tallied 16 of the last 18 Irish points.

The Irish host Quincy on Friday night at 7:30 p.m. to close out the exhibition slate.