Jerian Grant (22) posted 30 points for Notre Dame Friday night to lead the Irish to an 82-59 preseason victory over Lewis. Evan J. Thomas/The Pit
[dropcap]J[/dropcap]erian Grant exploded Friday night for 3o points as he led the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a 82-59 exhibition win over Division II Lewis Flyers.
Grant, averaging a point a minute, went 9-of-14 with a 7-of-10 outing from long range while also hitting all five of his shots from trips to the line. A wicked-looking steal early in the second half by Grant was easily converted, a possible future look at what the season may hold for the Irish and their leading scorer.
“What Jerian Grant did, you know, he’s one of the best players in the country,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said during the post game press conference. “He’s a heck of a college basketball player. I think he’s come back with a really great frame of mind. I thought he got himself to 30 in a very methodical way.”
The senior guard missed the final 20 games of the 2013-14 season. During the first 12 games last year, he led the Irish in scoring with 19.0 ppg and assists at 6.2 ppg.
Just over three minutes into the game, Grant nailed his first bucket — and 3-pointer — to put Notre Dame up 8-5 over Lewis, a lead they would not relinquish and further extend through the game.
“We’ve been on him about not shooting and turning it down too much,” Brey said. “I thought he was really good going for it. He got good looks, teammates got him looks and we ran some stuff for him to jump start him.”
Grant was one of three players to post double-digits in scoring Friday night. Zach Auguste was 3-for-6 shooting with 6-for-10 from the free throw line for 12 points. He also tallied eight rebounds and an assist.
Demetrius Jackson also shined for the Irish, notching 19 points on the night with three rebounds and an assist. He was 6-for-10 shooting with 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. Notre Dame was consistent all night in capitalizing on free throws, with Jackson dropping 4-of-6.
Despite the deficit, Lewis kept up tempo well against Notre Dame. The Flyers play in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in Division II basketball with preseason polls having them ranked between No.11 and No. 17.The team out of Romeoville, IL. posted a 21-6 record last year with a 13-5 mark in the conference.
“As much as you walk through the speed of their stuff, we didn’t run it as fast as they ran it. They really had some stuff,” Brey said about the Flyers.
Notre Dame opens regular season play Friday at 9 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion against Binghamton, which will be available on ESPN3.
Stick with The Pit all season long as we bring you game recaps, features and news surrounding the Notre Dame men’s basketball team.
