Brey Notebook: Iowa

Bonzie Colson was doing it all on Tuesday night. The junior forward was scoring, defending and rebounding with ease at times in Notre Dame’s 92-79 win over Iowa. Colson finished the night with 24 point and 17 rebounds.

“He is the ultimate warrior,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey stated after the game. “He is a great competitor. There is an edge about him and he gives his teammates confidence. I think we’re learning how to get him the ball in different spots. He gave us a little bit of rhythm on the offensive end.

“As far as getting balls off the backboard, it’s clinic type of stuff. He’s a warrior. He needs two days off though.”  

Another big man had a good game according to Brey. Junior big man Martinas Geben recorded two points and nine rebounds before fouling out in just 11 minutes of action.

“Big night for him,” Brey said of Geben. “You can say Brooklyn was the Matt Farrell coming out. I think tonight was for Martin. Coming in there and doesn’t get distracted because of fouls. When we subbed him for Bonzie for that out of bounds under, it changed the complexion of the game. He was rebounding for us and it’s something for him to grow on.

“He deserves it. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do this year.”  

FT

Notre Dame won the game at the charity stripe in front of 7,660 fans at Purcell Pavilion. It wasn’t late game free throws, but rather taking a bunch and hitting a bunch. The Irish were 30 of 33 from the foul line on Tuesday.

“I thought we were excited to play,” explained Brey. “What a great atmosphere. Our fans – what a great crowd. It’s that ACC crowd and our students were great. We were excited to play in that atmosphere.

“To methodically do what we needed to do and obviously the foul line is an unbelievable weapon for us. I think we’re the best in the country from there. We get there and we capitalize when we get there.”  

Leadership

Up by 15 with just over three minutes left in the first half, Notre Dame was held scoreless for the final 3:23 of the first half, while Iowa went on a 13-0 run to close within two points at halftime.

However, Brey saw his veteran players come together and make sure they were all on the same page to start the second half with urgency.

“Steve and Farrell were talking,” recalled Brey. “They’ve been here before and were very poised. I try to not talk too much. I like how the veteran guys have taken ownership of themselves. I thought tonight they were great about talking about stuff.

“Even at halftime, total loss of momentum and I got on them about turnovers. There is a great poise in how they talk to each other in intense times, which helps us.”

The run was a concern, as the Irish couldn’t get into any type of offense or stop Iowa defensively.

“We deserved to get the dagger on the three in the corner,” said Brey. “We were just a mess. I told them I didn’t understand because we couldn’t make an entry pass. I got on them about that. I tried to remind them you’re not going to beat a Big 10 team in the first half.

“We defended early in the half and got the ball to Bonzie, as well as executed some sets. I thought between our offensive execution and our defense it gave us some room to breathe in the second half.”  

VJ

Beachem had a quiet night until he poured in eight points in a three-minute span late in the second half to put the game away. Brey knows he needs to make sure Beachem gets his shots, but appreciated his senior’s patience on Tuesday.

“I think I need to do a better job getting him open and making sure our big guys are screening off the ball,” Brey explained. “We didn’t do a good job in the first half screening off the ball for Steve or VJ. In the second half, we ran some stuff and got him going.

“I give him credit. He was poised and hung in there. All of a sudden he was able to really deliver.

“He showed great emotion down the stretch. He made the one shot and turned to me and said ‘Get me the ball.’ ‘Point taken. We’re going to get you the ball.’”  

Quote of the night

Brey was asked about his teams 8-1 success against the Big Ten recently. His response.

“We should have joined that league,” Brey said looking at Jack Swarbrick. “Jack can we….”

Jack laughed and cut him off with “No.”