Basketball team to face Notre Dame in 1st round

KA’ANAPALI, Hawaii – After facing Notre Dame three times last season at Marquette, Tom Crean is well aware of the task at hand for the IU men’s basketball team Monday.

The No. 8 Fighting Irish (2-0) are experienced, talented and the proud owners of All-American big man Luke Harangody. The Hoosiers (2-0), on the other hand, are young, unproven and without a go-to scorer.

The in-state foes will meet Monday in the Lahaina Civic Center to play in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational (12:30 p.m. island time, 5:30 p.m. EST).

“They are better (than last year), no question,” IU coach Tom Crean said Sunday in a beachfront press conference at the Maui Westin Ka’anapali. “They were very good last year obviously, but you can see differences in their bodies, their athleticism, and you can see they are a veteran group that has made strides to get better.

“What was already an incredible challenge is that much greater,” Crean added.

The biggest challenge of all for the Hoosiers might be containing Fighting Irish forward Harangody. In two games this season, the Schererville, Ind., native is averaging 28.5 points and 15.5 rebounds per game.

“We’re not guarding Luke with one person,” Crean said Sunday. “You’ll see a lot of people down there at some point.”

While at Marquette, Crean became quite familiar with Notre Dame coach Mike Brey’s squad. Despite their friendly exchanges Sunday, Brey said the rivalry between the two Big East schools “was a heated one.”

“As I said, I’m glad he’s out of the league,” Brey said with a smile. “He did a fabulous job at Marquette and is in the midst of doing (the same) at Indiana, doing it the right way. I think there’s great energy in the state with him there, and they’re really going to come out and play hard and guard the heck out of you. That’s always what his teams have done, no matter where he’s been.”

With so many new players on IU’s roster, Brey said he’s watched a lot of tape of the Hoosiers.

“It was a little tricky, but I think I’ve got a feel for ’em now after a couple days of watching them,” he said. “I watched them on the whole flight out to L.A.”

In two games this season, freshman forward Tom Pritchard is leading the team in scoring (16 points) and rebounding (10 rebounds) per game. Junior guard Devan Dumes (15.5) and freshman guards Matt Roth (10.5) and Verdell Jones (10.0) are also averaging double-digit scoring.

Although he leads the Fighting Irish, Brey said he gets plenty of questions about IU’s new team because he coaches in the same state.

Brey said a lot of IU fans will come up to him and ask if their team got the right man to be the team’s next coach.

“I say, ‘Yeah, you got a heck of a guy,’” Brey said.

After traveling to Maui all day Thursday, Crean said his team struggled in its first practice on the island.

“You would think it was the first day of preseason conditioning,” he said. “It was the first time they’d really had a long period of time off.”

The team came back Saturday and practiced with more energy, Crean said.

“We’ll go a little (Sunday), and we’re trying to gear them not only for game one, but for the fact that they are going to play three highly competitive games, no matter what, for three straight days,” IU’s first-year coach said.

In addition to the tournament, Crean said the players and coaching staff have had a chance to enjoy the island. Rain kept some inside their hotels, but not everyone.

“We needed binoculars to see how far Tom Pritchard and Kyle Taber were out in the ocean the other day on their boogie boards,” Crean said.

The team has had relatively short film sessions and meetings since arriving in Hawaii, but Crean said when the team does work, “We try and work very hard.”

The winner of the IU-Notre Dame showdown will face the winner of the Texas-Saint Joseph’s matchup in the second round. The two teams that lose will also face each other.