The Billikens and Notre Dame will try to get the sour taste of defeat out of their mouths today as they meet in the third-place game of the Chicago Invitational Challenge at UIC Pavilion. Tip-off is at 4:30 p.m.
Both teams suffered their first loss of the season on Friday. The Bills were defeated by Iowa State 65-54 while the Fighting Irish were bested by Northwestern 72-58 in a mild surprise.
The one common thread between these two teams was that both really struggled from 3-point range on Friday night. SLU made only one of its 16 3-point attempts against Iowa State's pressure man-to-man defense. Meanwhile Notre Dame shot 7 of 31 from long distance against Northwestern's 1-3-1 zone defense that put a blanket around ND's All-American center Luke Harongody and forced the Irish to chuck it up from the cheap seats early and often.
The Irish will pose another strong challenge for the young Billikens. For the second night in a row, SLU will see another A-List collegiate front court player. After dealing with Iowa State's future pro Craig Brackins, today's challenge comes from the 6'8" 250-pound Harangody, who came into the weekend averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds a game. He has been on everyone's preseason All-American list.
The big fella has a great touch around the hoop and a myriad of ways to score. Although he struggled inside NW's zone last night, he still managed to score 21 points and nine rebounds. It will be good to watch Haragody go up against Billiken bigs Willie Reed and Brian Conklin, who are both playing good basketball this season as the Bills' top two scorers.
The Irish also have an experiened point guard in senior Tory Jackson, who has been at the controls of the ND offense for much of his career. He is averaging nearly 10 points, six assists and four rebounds a game. He also plays stout defense. Watching him and SLU sophomore Kwamain Mitchell go at it should also be a treat.
Notre Dame's top perimeter threats are 6'8" sophomore Tim Abromaitis and 6'3" junior Ben Hansbrough. Abromaitis does not start, but he comes off the bench with the green light to shoot it. He is averaging 13 points a game.
Hansbrough is Tyler's younger brother and an ornery cuss on the basketball court. he loves to mix it up as well. He struggled from the field on Friday, shooting 1 for 10 and missing all seven of his 3-point attempts. Before last night, he came in averaging 12 a game. Ben is good player with a lot of strength and toughness to his game.
Notre Dame's other two starters are 6'8" sophomore Tyrone Nash, who is an excellent leaper and 6'3" senior Jonathan Peoples, who is a solid all-purpose player. The only other player to get significant minutes in the Irish rotation so far is guard Carlton Scott.
It will be interesting to see how our Billikids respond to their first loss of the season. They put up a good fight against Iowa State and played with great effort. Can they muster up that kind of energy for another big effort less than 24 hours later against another formidable opponents. It will be another opportunity to see how these young men grow, especially when faced with adversity.
I look for Kwamain to respond with a nice game tonight after sitting out much of last night's game in foul trouble and never finding his groove. Hopefully, a few more perimeter shots will drop now that the kids have had a game to shoot against the background of the Pavilion.
Friday night was also a night of growth for the Billikens' young bench. The kids were productive, especially in the first half as Corey Remekun, Justin Jordan, Femi John and Jeff Reid contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, most of which came in the first half when the Bills were most competitive. They must bring that same kind of energy to the game again.
Of course, Willie and Brian must continue their strong play in the post. Brian battled his way to 18 points against Iowa State's big front line while Willie posted his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Willie is really starting to put himself on the radar with his dynamic performances. Facing Craig Brackins and Luke Harongody on consecutive nights is the perfect opportunity for the bouncy 6'9" sophomore to earn his bonafides, not to mention an early look from those sshhhh... NBA scouts, many of whom were in the house to watch Brackins and Harongody. He just has to stay focused and continue to play to his strengths, which is his quickess and ability to elevate quickly on the boards. He is also starting to make moves facing the basketball as well. So far, so good.
Let's see if we can get the split in Chicago.
See you at the game. If not, you can listen to me and my Hall of Fame play-by-play partner Bob Ramsey on the call on 101-ESPN, beginning at 4:15 with the pre-game.
As always, Go Bills!
(Stay tuned for the coming of my new improved basketball website, earlaustinjr.com, which celebrates the past, present and future of St. Louis basketball).
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