Feb. 4, 1997
Garrity Leads Irish Past Red Storm
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - Pat Garrity scored 17 points to lead three
Notre Dame players in double figures as the Irish held on for a 75-70
victory over St. John's at the Joyce Center.
Admore White (15) and Pete Miller (13) joined Garrity in double figures
for the Irish, who improved to 10-9 overall and 4-7 in the Big East.
Zendon Hamilton had game-high's of 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead St.
John's (9-11, 4-8). Felipe Lopez and Charles Minlend both chipped in
with 16 points for the Red Storm.
Notre Dame shot 47 percent from the floor to take a 38-33 lead into
halftime.
The game remained close the entire second half, with Notre Dame taking
the lead for good when White nailed an eight-foot jumper along the
right baseline to put the Irish ahead 60-59 with 6:13 remaining.
Notre Dame was perfect down the stretch from the foul line to seal the
victory, with White going 4-for-4 in the final 19.8 seconds after Lopez
nailed a three-pointer to pull St. John's to within 71-70.
Post-Game Quotes
NOTRE DAME COACH JOHN MACLEOD
"It was really two different halves for us, but this is college
basketball...this was a great college basketball game. We put on
a great offensive display in the second half...we really came back at the end
when we needed it. We made our free throws. But we give them credit. St. John's
is a great college basketball team. They have a lot of quickness and they play
good defense."
On playing with Garrity on the bench tonight: "Sometimes it works out that way...
you know you like to make sure that Pat's in key situations, but other players
stepped up tonight. Derek Manner stepped up early, Phil Hickey stepped up in
the first half, Matt Gotsch had some key blocks. Pete Miller did a tremendous
job in the second half. This is what happens when you begin to improve and react
to each other."
On winning first close conference game: "It is important because we kept our
poise and made our free throws. We only had one turnover late in the game. Overall,
it was a good win for us."
ST JOHN'S HEAD COACH FRAN FRASCHILLA
On the overall game: "We made a good run at them tonight, but we didn't do
enough to win the game. We're not where we want to be, but it's going to change
in the future. There's no satisfaction on the road, and a loss like this one
really hurts."
On Pete Miller's performance: "He played a great game down the stretch when
they needed it. We can't leave a guy like him open; his three-point goals
killed us. And that's what made the difference tonight."
Frustration of close games: "We work very hard in practice, but it's not good
enough. We need to do something to get over the hump."
NOTRE DAME PLAYER PETE MILLER
On guarding Lopez: "I knew that Lopez would rather take the ball
to the hole than shoot outside. This was my strategy to keep him under
control if it was possible."
On the post-season: "We know that we have to protect our home
court advantage every chance we get. We understand that we need to take
it one game at a time to reach our goal. In the past at the end of the
season, we have been left with an empty feeling watching the tournament
from home. This year we do not want to go out like that. We want to be
there with the rest of the teams playing in a post-season tournament."
NOTRE DAME PLAYER ADMORE WHITE
On the second half: "We started off slow in the second half, but
we knew we had to pick it up to win. We just kept fighting to stay ahead
so that we could come away with a win."
On his final four free throws: "Earlier in the game I had missed
the first of my two free throws and I knew this time I could not miss
one. When I got to the line I told myself I was not going to miss these."
ST. JOHN'S PLAYER ZENDON HAMILTON
"Basically, I didn't see any zone (defense) tonight. I got a few good
looks and took advantage of it. A lot of teams play zone against me.
It's tougher when they double (team) sometimes. For any inside player,
zone is harder to score on... they played man and when they weren't
doubling I got some good looks."
"Charles (Minland) did a great job on Garrity. He's a great scorer and
coach said that we would have to all help on himj. That's what we did
tonight. We tried to slow him down coming off the picks and not let him
do what he wants."
"At halftime the coaches told us we weren't playing the defense that we
normally play and that we just had to get in their (face) more. We had
to pressure the ball more."
"In the end, they just outscrapped us."
"We have a much better team than last year. We just gotta go back in the
lab and go back to work."
ST.JOHN'S PLAYER FELIPE LOPEZ
"We needed a basket and I felt good, so I shot (the three-pointer). It
was kind of desperation. I really wanted to take it to the basket, but
they posted up."
"They made some great baskets down the stretch and we never recovered
from that."
"(Notre Dame) still is a physical team. They're a well-coached team that
is going to be prepared to play anyone. It was just a matter of us
keeping with them."
"(The difference between last year) is just a matter of (Notre Dame)
getting adjusted to the Big East, to knowing the system a little better.
They have a better taste about what the league's all about. They are
well-prepared and well-coached."
"We've just got to stop playing not to lose."
ST JOHNS (70)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Postell 14 0-2 0-0 1-1 0 1 0
Minlend 35 5-12 5-6 2-6 1 3 16
Hamilton 35 8-16 12-14 7-12 1 4 28
Turner 25 0-1 0-0 1-2 4 2 0
Lopez 34 6-16 3-5 2-4 1 4 16
Gray 18 1-1 0-2 0-2 1 1 2
Charles 18 2-5 1-3 1-2 3 2 5
Menniefield 8 1-2 0-0 2-2 2 0 2
Grant 13 0-1 1-2 2-5 0 3 1
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 23-56 22-32 18-36 13 20 70
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.411, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:
2-12, .167 (Postell 0-1, Minlend 1-4, Hamilton
0-1, Turner 0-1, Lopez 1-5). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 22 (Hamilton 5,
Minlend 5, Postell 4, Grant 2, Menniefield 2,
Turner 2, Charles, Lopez). Steals: 14 (Hamilton
5, Lopez 2, Minlend 2, Turner 2, Grant, Gray,
Postell).
NOTRE DAME (75)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Manner 30 3-5 2-4 4-6 2 2 8
Garrity 31 7-14 2-2 2-5 2 4 17
Gotsch 25 2-7 3-3 0-3 0 4 7
White 35 5-8 5-8 1-4 8 2 15
Miller 17 5-6 0-0 1-2 1 5 13
Bell 12 2-7 0-0 2-3 0 2 5
Dillon 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 1 0
Wyche 23 1-5 3-3 0-1 2 1 5
Young 9 0-1 0-0 2-2 0 2 0
Hickey 13 1-2 3-4 2-3 0 1 5
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-55 18-24 14-29 17 24 75
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.473, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
5-10, .500 (Garrity 1-3, Miller 3-3, Bell 1-3,
Wyche 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3
(Gotsch 3). Turnovers: 19 (Bell 4, Garrity 4,
Manner 3, White 3, Gotsch 2, Wyche 2, Hickey).
Steals: 10 (White 4, Manner 3, Hickey 2, Gotsch).
__________________________________
St Johns 33 37 - 70
Notre Dame 38 37 - 75
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 10,366. Officials:
James Burr, Bob Donato, Donnie Gray.
