Happy Birthday

Harangody had a monster 31 points and 14 rebounds, Kurz dropped 11, and Ayers added 10 with his much needed energy off the bench, but Tory Jackson was the player of the game tonight. Jackson, who turned 20 years old yesterday, scored 14 points and dished out seven assists, adding some key hustle plays to help the Irish extend their home winning streak to 32 games.

Harangody made two clutch free throws to tie the game with 18 seconds to go; the fans would have held their breath for the Friar's last possession if they weren't screaming. Focused on not allowing Providence their last shot, Jackson quickly stole the ball and heaved up a desperation shot (which almost went in) to push the game into overtime. In the extra period, Jackson assisted Notre Dame's first four field goals and proceeded to score the next five points, which included sinking 3 out of 4 free throws to give his team a 6 point lead.

Jackson, who also had a nice steal in overtime, seemed to finally get some of his swagger back after the contest. Only a 45% free throw shooter for the season, it was comforting for everyone when his shots began to fall at the end of the night. To say that Tory had a better free throw shooting night than Providence center Ray Hall, however, might be one of the biggest understatements of the century. Hall missed on his third free throw after being thrown off by some look-related-insults from the student section and was so frustrated that he air-balled his next attempt. After that, a merciless chorus of "Airrr Ballll" chants was heard every time he went to the line; Hall missed his next six attempts (including one that could have been a Friar game winner) as he worked his way to 2 of 10 on the day. Sticks and stones, Ray...
The Irish are now alone in second place in the Big East with a 5-2 record; only the Hoyas of Georgetown (7-1) are ahead. Black out night against DePaul on Saturday looks like its gonna be fun. Go Irish!