The Barbar Shop: Last Night in South Bend

It was Detroit head coach Ray McCallum’s first on-campus visit to Notre Dame. It was nearly his best. Jump-started by son Ray’s early white-hot shooting from beyond the three point line, the Titans led the Irish by 8 with 14:08 left, only to fall victim to a bitterly-cold shooting stretch. Notre Dame won the game 59-53, but if it’s any consolation—and it’s likely not to Titan coaches and players—Detroit earned plenty of ND’s respect.

After the game, Irish head coach Mike Brey sent praises Detroit’s way, calling the win a “big one” over a Big East-like opponent. Maybe it had something to do with Notre Dame winning without top scorer Tim Abromaitis, who was in the midst of a four-game suspension from the NCAA. Or, that Irish point guard Eric Atkins was questionable for the game with a fever.

Or, maybe, just maybe, Brey knows how good Detroit actually is, or if/when Eli Holman  returns, how good it can be. During a shootaround earlier in the day, the 12-year Irish coach said, “If we beat Detroit, people around the country are going to say, ‘Oh, Notre Dame beat Detroit, no big deal.’ But, I’m telling you, this is a GOOD basketball team.”

How good at this early point of the season? The numbers may tell us something.

For openers, The Titans had only nine available players, of which one fouled out in the game with Notre Dame, while three others finished with four fouls.

Secondly, that bitter cold shooting spell lasted 7 ½ minutes as Detroit went 0-12 from the floor and was outscored 14-0. (Assistant coach Derek Thomas said afterwards: “There was a lid on the basket”. Or, perhaps, more like a plastic cover that teams use occasionally during practice to enhance rebounding.)

Thirdly, the Irish had 31 opportunities at the free throw line; the Titans had 8.

And, despite all this adversity, the Titans, on the road, were down just two scores when the game ended. Good basketball team, indeed.

And, for what it’s worth, a good Horizon League again. Cleveland State already has this country’s biggest upset of the season, beating #7 Vanderbilt 71-58 in Nashville.  D’Aundray Brown is back and better than ever after a year’s absence, flirting with a triple-double with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals.  Milwaukee is expected to play well, after winning its share of the regular season championship last season. And, Butler, well, will be Butler: in the chase for both the regular season and tournament titles, again.

The best thing that came out of Detroit’s 3 ½ hour bus trip and loss in South Bend?

The Titans weren’t happy just to be in position to win, they expected to win. Gone are those days of year one where Ray McCallum’s team was road kill. Now, Detroit is doing the hunting.

And, sometimes, experiences learned in November translate to successes in March.

A veteran sports broadcaster, Jim Barbar will be on the call for all eight Horizon League Games of the Week this season. Barbar is also working for ESPN throughout the college football and basketball season.