One symbolic moment, and there were many, came with just more than six minutes gone in the second half.
That’s when Louisville guard Andre McGee dribbled down the left side and crossed half-court. There, Notre Dame guard Colin Falls met him, tipped the ball away and reacted with all the instincts of a cat burglar.
McGee was closer to the ball, but it was Falls who ran it down, corralled it and roared toward the basket, where McGee challenged his hurried layup that bounced off the rim. Then, from out of bounds, both turned and watched as Irish guard Tory Jackson flew in and up to tap the miss home. There was not a Louisville Cardinal in the same area code.
Notre Dame simply outhustled Louisville on Wednesday night as both teams opened their Big East season at the Joyce Center.
That was one reason the 17th-ranked Irish (13-1) ran off to a 78-62 victory that was even more dominating than the final score. They also outshot the Cardinals (10-5), outrebounded the Cardinals and played smarter than the Cardinals while generally embarrassing them.
Now this was not, to be sure, the kind of team Rick Pitino typically has produced during his years at Louisville. It is young, nicked up and average at best. But this also was not the same Notre Dame team we viewed earlier at Conseco Fieldhouse, where it fell to Butler in mid-November. That team looked slow, uncertain and in for a long season.
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This team, in stark contrast, looked like Argentina, which (for those of you with short memories) won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. It worked hard. It cut, passed and spaced the floor. It exhibited a feistiness on defense, which is built around a team concept. It trotted out big guys who could shoot midrange jumpers. It did everything with a flair best personified when Russell Carter backpedaled down court with a shimmy to his step after hitting a three-pointer.
“I can see that. No doubt,” Falls said when that analogy was presented to him. “We definitely have an international flavor to our game now. We have five starters who can shoot the three. We can spread you out and we all know how to play the game. From that aspect, we have that kind of international flavor.”
“I’m surprised they’re not ranked higher because of the way they execute and shoot,” Pitino added minutes later, pointing to the defining quality of good international teams. “They’re a legitimate contender. That’s a very good team.”
They were certainly that against his Cardinals, who trailed by a dozen at halftime and by as much as 24 in the second half. Carter was the Irish’s main assassin, finishing with 19 points while going 7 of 14 from the field, but they also got 15 from Luke Harangody, 14 from Jackson and 10 from Rob Kurz. Jackson, starting at point in place of the suspended Kyle McAlarney (for marijuana possession), also effectively handled the Louisville press, which forced only nine turnovers against 18 Irish assists.
But, of more importance than any number, there was clearly a certainty and sense of urgency about these Irish that they lacked against Butler, whose victory over them was the very catalyst of their new look.
“After we lost to [them], granted they’re a very good team, we didn’t want to feel how we felt when we left that locker room,” Carter explained. “So we’ve told ourselves when we go out there, we have to take care of business.”
“We’re kind of cruel at putting teams away now,” Falls said. “The teams I’ve been on in the past haven’t annihilated teams like we have been this season. We just have our foot on the gas and we’re not letting up.”
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