Feb. 4, 1997

Garrity Leads Irish Past Red Storm

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Pat Garrity scored 17 points to lead threeNotre Dame players in double figures as the Irish held on for a 75-70victory over St. John’s at the Joyce Center.

Admore White (15) and Pete Miller (13) joined Garrity in double figuresfor the Irish, who improved to 10-9 overall and 4-7 in the Big East.

Zendon Hamilton had game-high’s of 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead St.John’s (9-11, 4-8). Felipe Lopez and Charles Minlend both chipped inwith 16 points for the Red Storm.

Notre Dame shot 47 percent from the floor to take a 38-33 lead intohalftime.

The game remained close the entire second half, with Notre Dame takingthe lead for good when White nailed an eight-foot jumper along theright baseline to put the Irish ahead 60-59 with 6:13 remaining.

Notre Dame was perfect down the stretch from the foul line to seal thevictory, with White going 4-for-4 in the final 19.8 seconds after Lopeznailed a three-pointer to pull St. John’s to within 71-70.

Post-Game Quotes

NOTRE DAME COACH JOHN MACLEOD

“It was really two different halves for us, but this is collegebasketball…this was a great college basketball game. We put ona great offensive display in the second half…we really came back at the endwhen we needed it. We made our free throws. But we give them credit. St. John’sis a great college basketball team. They have a lot of quickness and they playgood defense.”

On playing with Garrity on the bench tonight: “Sometimes it works out that way…you know you like to make sure that Pat’s in key situations, but other players stepped up tonight. Derek Manner stepped up early, Phil Hickey stepped up inthe first half, Matt Gotsch had some key blocks. Pete Miller did a tremendousjob in the second half. This is what happens when you begin to improve and reactto each other.”

On winning first close conference game: “It is important because we kept ourpoise and made our free throws. We only had one turnover late in the game. Overall,it was a good win for us.”

ST JOHN’S HEAD COACH FRAN FRASCHILLA

On the overall game: “We made a good run at them tonight, but we didn’t doenough to win the game. We’re not where we want to be, but it’s going to changein the future. There’s no satisfaction on the road, and a loss like this onereally hurts.”

On Pete Miller’s performance: “He played a great game down the stretch whenthey needed it. We can’t leave a guy like him open; his three-point goalskilled us. And that’s what made the difference tonight.”

Frustration of close games: “We work very hard in practice, but it’s not goodenough. We need to do something to get over the hump.”

NOTRE DAME PLAYER PETE MILLER

On guarding Lopez: “I knew that Lopez would rather take the ballto the hole than shoot outside. This was my strategy to keep him undercontrol if it was possible.”

On the post-season: “We know that we have to protect our homecourt advantage every chance we get. We understand that we need to takeit one game at a time to reach our goal. In the past at the end of theseason, we have been left with an empty feeling watching the tournamentfrom home. This year we do not want to go out like that. We want to bethere with the rest of the teams playing in a post-season tournament.”

NOTRE DAME PLAYER ADMORE WHITE

On the second half: “We started off slow in the second half, butwe knew we had to pick it up to win. We just kept fighting to stay aheadso that we could come away with a win.”

On his final four free throws: “Earlier in the game I had missedthe first of my two free throws and I knew this time I could not missone. When I got to the line I told myself I was not going to miss these.”

ST. JOHN’S PLAYER ZENDON HAMILTON

“Basically, I didn’t see any zone (defense) tonight. I got a few goodlooks and took advantage of it. A lot of teams play zone against me.It’s tougher when they double (team) sometimes. For any inside player,zone is harder to score on… they played man and when they weren’tdoubling I got some good looks.”

“Charles (Minland) did a great job on Garrity. He’s a great scorer andcoach said that we would have to all help on himj. That’s what we didtonight. We tried to slow him down coming off the picks and not let himdo what he wants.”

“At halftime the coaches told us we weren’t playing the defense that wenormally play and that we just had to get in their (face) more. We hadto pressure the ball more.”

“In the end, they just outscrapped us.”

“We have a much better team than last year. We just gotta go back in thelab and go back to work.”

ST.JOHN’S PLAYER FELIPE LOPEZ

“We needed a basket and I felt good, so I shot (the three-pointer). Itwas kind of desperation. I really wanted to take it to the basket, butthey posted up.”

“They made some great baskets down the stretch and we never recoveredfrom that.”

“(Notre Dame) still is a physical team. They’re a well-coached team thatis going to be prepared to play anyone. It was just a matter of uskeeping with them.”

“(The difference between last year) is just a matter of (Notre Dame)getting adjusted to the Big East, to knowing the system a little better.They have a better taste about what the league’s all about. They arewell-prepared and well-coached.”

“We’ve just got to stop playing not to lose.”

ST JOHNS (70)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpPostell         14   0-2   0-0   1-1  0  1    0Minlend         35  5-12   5-6   2-6  1  3   16Hamilton        35  8-16 12-14  7-12  1  4   28Turner          25   0-1   0-0   1-2  4  2    0Lopez           34  6-16   3-5   2-4  1  4   16Gray            18   1-1   0-2   0-2  1  1    2Charles         18   2-5   1-3   1-2  3  2    5Menniefield      8   1-2   0-0   2-2  2  0    2Grant           13   0-1   1-2   2-5  0  3    1_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 23-56 22-32 18-36 13 20   70_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.411, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:2-12, .167 (Postell 0-1, Minlend 1-4, Hamilton0-1, Turner 0-1, Lopez 1-5). Team rebounds: 5.Blocked shots: None. Turnovers: 22 (Hamilton 5,Minlend 5, Postell 4, Grant 2, Menniefield 2,Turner 2, Charles, Lopez). Steals: 14 (Hamilton5, Lopez 2, Minlend 2, Turner 2, Grant, Gray,Postell).NOTRE DAME (75)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpManner          30   3-5   2-4   4-6  2  2    8Garrity         31  7-14   2-2   2-5  2  4   17Gotsch          25   2-7   3-3   0-3  0  4    7White           35   5-8   5-8   1-4  8  2   15Miller          17   5-6   0-0   1-2  1  5   13Bell            12   2-7   0-0   2-3  0  2    5Dillon           5   0-0   0-0   0-0  2  1    0Wyche           23   1-5   3-3   0-1  2  1    5Young            9   0-1   0-0   2-2  0  2    0Hickey          13   1-2   3-4   2-3  0  1    5_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 26-55 18-24 14-29 17 24   75_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.473, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:5-10, .500 (Garrity 1-3, Miller 3-3, Bell 1-3,Wyche 0-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 3(Gotsch 3). Turnovers: 19 (Bell 4, Garrity 4,Manner 3, White 3, Gotsch 2, Wyche 2, Hickey).Steals: 10 (White 4, Manner 3, Hickey 2, Gotsch).__________________________________St Johns           33   37  -   70Notre Dame         38   37  -   75__________________________________Technical fouls: None.  A: 10,366. Officials:James Burr, Bob Donato, Donnie Gray.