The Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball team had the luxury of easing into competition at this year’s Maui Invitational. Drawing the host school, Division II Chaminade, Brey and his squad cruised to an 83-56 victory late Monday evening on the east coast. The hosts gave the Irish a run, using some timely (and fortunate) shooting to cut the margin to just 6 in the opening minutes of the second half. However, the 14th ranked Irish proved too much in the end, allowing Brey to clear his bench with over four minutes remaining.

The man of the night was certainly Matt Farrell. The Irish point man got wherever he wanted with the ball, and thrived in the small-gym shooting environment. He scored 27 points on a perfect 5-5 from inside the arc, 4-7 from behind it, and 5-7 from the charity stripe. Farrell clearly had the range and had a step on his defender the entire evening. The only blemish on an otherwise wonderful performance were Farrell’s four turnovers. In an interview with the awful ESPN announcing crew after the game, Farrell noted that the tournament is using an Adidas ball that felt a bit bouncier than the Wilson’s the team is used to. Hopefully, Farrell and the squad will have time to adjust before the next round.

Farrell’s efficient performance gave him an Offensive Rating of 135 on the night, but that didn’t give him the efficiency crown. That went to freshman D.J. Harvey. Harvey scored 12 points in 19 minutes of action. Going 3-3 inside, 1-2 from deep and 3-3 from the stripe, Harvey was magnificent. He also grabbed 2 boards and dished out 2 assists. Harvey was first off Brey’s bench, and gives ND a clear scoring punch when he checks in.

Bonzie Colson had a Bonzie Colson kind of night. While I’m sure Irish fans would have been happier with 20-25 minutes, Bonzie scored 23 points in 30 minutes of action. He was 7-10 inside the arc, 1-1 from behind it, and a perfect 6-6 from the FT line. When your big man can reliably stroke FT’s, you can put teams in a bind quickly. When the Irish get in the bonus this year, look for Brey to run a lot of post touches for Bonz. Colson grabbed eight boards and swatted three Chaminade shots to go with his 23.

The offensive struggles for junior Rex Pflueger continue. Rex managed just four points in 31 minutes of action. He made one of his two three-point attempts and one of his two free throws. He struggled at every level: deep, mid-range, and finishing at the rim. The only offensive bright spot was that he drilled his final 3FG. It was an in-rhythm shot from the corner, off the catch, and he was able to step in to his motion with plenty of space in front of him. That’s got to be Rex’s shot. Forcing anything else with the other offensive firepower on the floor is a mistake. That being said, Rex’s 31 minutes are incredibly valuable. Offensively, even if he’s not a threat to score it himself, the way Rex moves himself and the ball helps ND’s flow. Two of his four assists led to open threes for teammates. He anchors the Irish defense and takes away whatever the opponent wants to do. He picked up two steals on the night and seven rebounds. It was a tough scorning night for the California man, but an excellent floor game.

Sophomore T.J. Gibbs also struggled with his offensive game. Coming off a couple of promising performances, Gibbs never found a great rhythm in this game. He scored seven points and chipped in three assists and three steals. When Farrell starts to feel like he’s hit a few and wants to hear “He’s on FIRE!” in NBA Jam, it is tough for T.J. to find his role in the offense. There’s clearly nothing to worry about here, just a slow night for a young star.

The Irish got solid contributions from the complimentary cast. It was nice to see John Mooney stroke his lone attempt from three, but both his attempts from the free throw line were painful to watch. Martinas Geben looked more comfortable in the mid range game than forcing back-to-the-basket post moves. It would be great to see the mighty Lithuanian turn himself in to a one-read guy. If the drop step or hook are there immediately, take it. If not, kick it out and reset.

The four factors from this game bear out the type of contest it was, and frankly, what it should be when a top 15 team plays a D2 school. The Irish scored 1.21ppp on 63% eFG. Chaminade scored 0.82ppp on 40%eFG. The trend of Irish opponents shooting at or below 40% is one we welcome to continue. Despite some sloppiness throughout the game, ND won the TORate battle 15% to 18%. Chaminade was able to gather 29% of their misses whereas ND grabbed 20%. That stinks, and the Irish are going to have to clean that up against stiffer competition. The most stunning stat of the night is the disparity in FTRate. The Irish shot one FT for every 2 FG attempts (50%), but conceded an FT attempt for only 6% of Chaminade FG attempts. This team is defending without fouling and driving the ball. Maybe someday the narrative of ND needing to bomb away from three will die.

With the victory in the first round secured, Mike Brey and his staff can look ahead to the second round. The LSU Tigers rode freshman PG Tremont Waters to victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Waters scored 21 points in 31 minutes for the Tigers. The game was well past this author’s bedtime, so I’m going to rely on my man Ken Pomeroy to help me preview this matchup.

Waters is definitely the engine that makes LSU go. On the season, he’s shooting 53% from behind the arc, 62% from inside it, and 82% from the FT line. It is early, but he’s among the top 100 in the nation in shooting, and assist rate. Like many freshmen, Waters seems prone to turning it over. He’s given it up 18% of the possessions he’s involved in.

The rest of the Tigers are a rangy, athletic bunch. The wings are 6’4″ to 6’6″ and 6’11” senior Duop Reath patrols the middle. Oddly enough, all that athleticism isn’t translating into defensive dominance. The Tigers rate 158th in Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency rating. Their most glaring weakness on defense is finishing the possession. Teams are grading nearly 40% of their misses against the Tigers. I know Brey is conservative when it comes to sending guys to the offensive glass, but tonight might be a good exception to that rule. Teams have been able to score inside the arc against them. The Tigers rank 247th in opponent 2FG%. Of course, the Tigers make up for that by being the top ranked 2FG shooting offense, making nearly 69% (nice) of their two-point attempts.

Like the Irish, LSU seems to be build around offensive efficiency. They shoot the ball very well, they don’t turn it over, they crash the offensive glass, and score 1.111ppp. Michigan was the first real opponent they faced this season, and they managed 1.24ppp. To advance to the final, Notre Dame will have to harass LSU into bad shots and finish defensive possessions. Pomeroy’s efficiency model favors ND by 8 with a 76% win probability. Tune in at 10:30PM Eastern to find out.

One last side note: Can we start a petition to never have Dan Dakich call a Notre Dame basketball game again? On a night in a small, mostly empty gym, it would have been great to hear players and coaches communicating. Instead, we were assaulted with pointless anecdotes and preaching. Perhaps Dan does vanity Google searches and tumbles upon this article. If so, please note that no one outside the Dakich family cares that your son warmed Michigan’s bench for several years. Your repeated, cliched impressions of Notre Dame are tired, and we would all prefer you sit quietly and collect your ESPN check and free vacation in silence. We get that you love IU, but those of us outside the midwest only think about Big Ten basketball when forced to. Please let us enjoy our game in peace.