Jerian Grant (22) makes an impressive block in Wednesday’s 79-78 victory over No. 19 Michigan State. Evan J. Thomas/The Pit
[dropcap]G[/dropcap]etting a signature win early in the season is what every team looks to do. And for Notre Dame, they did that Wednesday in explosive fashion.
It took the Irish an extra five minutes but they put away the 19th ranked Michigan State Spartans, 79-78. Jerian Grant led the Irish with 27 points while Demetrius Jackson complimented him with 22.
“I’ve experienced a lot of exciting nights in that building there, and that’s got to be one of the top ones,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said following the game. “What a great college game, just a great game. And I’m really proud of our group. I don’t know if I’ve ever wanted a win for a team more than I wanted this one for this group because of how this group is invested, how they believed, how they’ve been great students and how they’ve been coachable.”
The game entered overtime with things tied up at 67-67, but that nearly wasn’t the case.
Grant nearly put the game away for Notre Dame just before the final buzzer of regulation. As he drove the ball through the lane, Michigan State’s Denzel Valentine made a daring leap to get in front of Grant as he went for the layup, forcing him to juggle the ball and miss.
Valentine’s leap could have been called for blocking, but the referees let it go to overtime instead of sending Grant to the line.
“(Grant) fumbled the ball. I think that’s the right call,” Brey said. “I’ll tell you what, we made a heck of a pass. Pat (Connaughton) and him really communicated to get that touch. I think he was surprised he got it there. It may not have been bad to just rise up and shoot a jump shot, but he had been going to the well the whole night. I think that was the right call because he bobbled it before he was hit.”
Connaughton shared those sentiments on the play, adding that the team executed at big moments through the night.
“In regulation, we executed that last play and almost had a shot to win the game,” the senior guard said. “I’m really proud of our guys. They played big minutes and they executed on the defensive end when they were called on.”
Grant completed 9-of-17 shots with a 2-for-8 mark from beyond the arc. He contributed on both ends of the court, adding six assists, four rebounds, three steals and a block. Grant was very successful from the line, missing just one on eight attempts. Jackson took fewer shots but made 7-of-11, including six points from long range.
“I think he’s a pro player,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said about Grant. “I think he’s a guy who’s so unselfish. He doesn’t force shots. He took seventeen shots, but to me you wouldn’t even have known it. He gets fouled, he can make passes and he defends pretty well. I think he’s as complete a guard as we’ve played against so far.”
Izzo said that he told Grant after the game that he was very impressed with him and that he thought Grant was a good player in a lot of different areas.
“The guys and coaches all game were telling me, `Jerian, stay aggressive. We need you to score. We need you to make plays. We need you to rebound,'” Grant said. “Those guys giving me confidence like that helps me out.”
Neither team shot well throughout the night, with Notre Dame shooting sinking 26-of-56 attempts for 46.4-percent while Michigan State completed 32-of-65 for 49.2-percent.
“It came down to a couple of plays again, a couple of turnovers for scores again and some mental mistakes,” Izzo said about the Spartans performance. “And not to get a shot off at the end, that’s my fault. What we had designed and what we ran were two different things. There was a huge discrepancy in free throws and that I think made a big difference.”
The Spartans out-rebounded the Irish however, 43-26, including 25 on defense.
“I knew they’d be able to play volleyball on us. I didn’t know it was going to be that bad. But at least it didn’t beat us,” Brey said. “We were really efficient offensively and we really got key stops. The thing that we really did a good job of was not giving them as many looks. We chased them off the arc.”
The Irish were able to hold Travis Trice at bay by not giving him many clean looks. Brey said that Trice made some tough shots but that the Spartans never got in a good rhythm, especially from the three-point line.
“So you’re thinking, `As long as threes aren’t going in, I think we can hang around with these guys,'” Brey said. “Because they pull away from guys when they have double-digit threes.”
Michigan State is the first ranked opponent Notre Dame has faced this year, and for the Irish, the win is a great confidence and momentum boost with the ACC schedule starting early. A week from Saturday, Notre Dame will host Florida State in the conference opener.
“We were already playing with confidence these last two games, but to get a big win like that just boosts it even more,” Grant said. “It just gives guys like Torres, who played really well, a lot of confidence. We know that we can go deep into our bench.”
For the Spartans, this marks their third close lose of the year.
“It’s frustrating, but I understand it, too,” Izzo said. “Two of those games we didn’t have some guys. Today we’re still missing some guys but at least we got Brandon back. You can see what a difference he makes. But we didn’t make plays down the stretch and that falls on the coach and guards. We just didn’t make the right plays, and we had a couple of foolish turnovers.”
Notre Dame will host Fair Dickinson Saturday at 8 P.M. as the Irish look to improve to 8-1 on the year.
