Notre Dame comes to IU on 7 game winning streak

Mike Brey has gone seven games and hasn't needed to call a 30-second timeout yet. \nNo momentum swings for the opponents. No scoring runs that have put Notre Dame in danger of losing. No games closer than 13 points. \nBrey, the second-year Fighting Irish coach, is confident but fears that all might change tonight when Notre Dame meets IU at 7 p.m. tonight in Assembly Hall. It will be the home opener for IU (4-2) and the first true road test for the Irish (7-0). In its only other road game, Notre Dame wiped out DePaul 82-55.\n"I'm counting on our experience to help us in that atmosphere and set the tone," Brey said. "Our experience can keep us pretty steady."\nThat approach has worked so far. \nNotre Dame has won six of its seven games by more than 26 points and is outscoring its opponents by an average of more than 32 points per game. Five Irish seniors have led the way, but a freshman has spawned the biggest splash. \nChris Thomas, a 6-foot-1 point guard and Indianapolis native, has started at the point in all seven Irish wins, averaged a team-leading 32 minutes per game and scored 14.6 points per game while handing out 7.9 assists and piling up 22 steals.\nThomas, who led Indianapolis Pike to two state titles, became the first Indiana Mr. Basketball to attend Notre Dame and helped Brey nail down a solid recruiting class that includes 6-foot-9 freshman Cincinnati native Jordan Cornette and 6-foot-8 senior transfer Dan Miller, who left Maryland last spring.\nMr. Basketballs are supposed to play in Bloomington or West Lafayette. Thomas, a McDonald's and Parade All-American, bucked the norm and is making his mark.\n"(Thomas) has given us more credibility, when Mr. Basketball says he wants to come to Notre Dame to play," Brey said. "He was a national recruit."\nAnd one that IU and coach Mike Davis didn't direct their search toward. Thomas took unofficial visits to IU during his high school career at Indianapolis Pike, but decided on the Irish. \nIn the meantime, Thomas is bringing what Brey calls a "more cohesive" Irish team to Bloomington. Thomas, who hits 42 percent from the field and 40 percent from three-point range, has the attention of the Hoosiers. \n"He can shoot it," IU coach Mike Davis said. \nIU sophomore forward Jared Jeffries, who played for Bloomington North and against Thomas in high school, agrees. \n"He's a quick guard and a good shooter," Jeffries said. "Having a guard like him is really going to help them out. They're probably a better team than last year."\nPoint guard Martin Ingelsby and two-time All-American Troy Murphy are gone from a season ago, but the Irish have four players scoring in double figures this season, and seven different players have started. \nLast season, Notre Dame was adjusting to its third coach in three seasons. Still, the Irish finished with a 20-10 record, won the Big East West Division title and put together an eight-game winning streak during the middle of the league schedule. \nBut, the streak that has attracted the most attention in South Bend has been Notre Dame's six-game skid against IU. The Irish have won only one of the last 12 meetings between the in-state rivals and haven't won in Assembly Hall since 1973 (12 games). Last season, IU upset the No. 10 Irish 86-78 in South Bend. \n"We haven't had any success down there," Brey said. "I certainly mentioned (the losing streak). In the state, IU is the measuring stick. Forget the coaching change. I'm worried we'll be too aggressive, but that's a good problem to have. It would be a heck of a win for us"