The Irish fought valiantly against Villanova and proved it can hang with one of college basketball’s best, but ultimately fell short 66-74. We won’t know quite how good the Irish really are until conference play, but the fact the team could compete on this level bodes well.

Will undersized Irish lineups be able to survive defensively against better teams?

Against high-level competition, the Irish will probably be unable to stay afloat defensively with Bonzie Colson playing the center position. The Wildcats were theoretically a matchup that would not expose the Irish’s lack of size since they play pretty small lineups as well. But this deficiency hurt the Irish throughout the game on the defensive end.

Villanova snagged 10 offensive rebounds and attacked the paint relentlessly, finishing at the rim and getting to the line. Josh Hart led the way, going 14-14 from the line and shooting 10-14 from the field. No one on the Irish was able to stop him from getting into the paint, scoring, and drawing fouls.

This is WAY too easy.

The Wildcats’ attacking nature got them to the line 22 times (20-22) compared to only six Irish free throw attempts, and 18 of Villanova’s 25 made baskets came essentially right at the rim.

This isn’t all Bonzie’s fault, but if a 6-5 player is a team’s primary paint and rim protector, good teams are going to make you pay. Colson allowed way too many easy baskets and provided little deterrence for attacking Villanova players. To be clear, Colson’s defensive struggles are not due to a lack of effort. They are just a byproduct of his lack of great size and athleticism. The struggles are problematic nevertheless, however.

Here, Kris Jenkins converts and draws the foul on Colson.



Here, 6-7 Mikal Bridges gets an offensive rebound over Colson, and then Josh Hart converts despite a decent Colson shot contest in the paint.



Here, Bridges drives for an easy layup without a strong Colson contest. To be fair, Bonzie was forced to guard out on the perimeter on this play, which can be difficult for someone at his position. Although he manages to stay with Bridges pretty well on the drive, Bonzie’s lack of size makes it difficult for him to offer a strong contest of the shot. Bonzie does have a 6-11 wingspan, but it didn’t save him on this play or many others.

On a similar play, Jalen Brunson gets a pretty easy layup.

6-7 Eric Paschall went 4-4 from the field and was able to get three easy buckets when matched up with Colson. At 6-7, Paschall is smaller than a lot of forwards the Irish will face, and he’s not even a great athlete. Still, he enjoyed a lot of success against the undersized Irish.

Here, Villanova simply throws the ball up to Paschall on an in-bounds play. He goes up, snatches it over Colson and then hammers it home.

In one of the bigger plays of the game, Paschall skies over Colson to maintain the possession for the Wildcats.

Is there a lineup alternative for the Irish? The only real option is to play the 6-10 Martinas Geben more minutes. Geben played pretty well in 16 minutes against Nova, and although he’s not nearly the offensive force Colson is, he’s a much stronger interior defender, if for no other reason than his height advantage. It’s not that he’s an incredible rim protector, but again, being tall makes things easier.

Here, Villanova’s Mikal Bridges hits a floater, but Geben’s presence at least forces him to pull up for a more difficult shot instead of going to the rim. Geben contests the shot well, and this was actually Villanova’s lone bucket in the paint that was not essentially right at the basket.

Geben also has an offensive rebounding percentage of 14% compared to 13.5% for Colson. This means he’s grabbing 14% of available offensive rebounds, and the Irish wouldn’t be missing Bonzie’s offensive rebounding prowess too much if he were not on the court. He’s also capable in the pick and roll and has shown some flashes of solid passing ability.

Nice catch and finish.

Great pass.

Where Geben might have some trouble is getting out and defending the pick and roll, and this is somewhere that the more agile Colson has a defensive advantage. And most importantly, even if Mike Brey does want to play Geben more, the junior is going to have to avoid getting into too much foul trouble.

Geben is averaging 15 minutes per game, and he’s had games with 4 fouls in 15 minutes, 4 fouls in 21 minutes, and has fouled out with 5 fouls in 11 minutes (against Iowa) and 5 fouls in 14 minutes.

This is a problem. The fact that he managed to pick up only 3 fouls in 16 minutes against Villanova was actually a positive sign. Below, he does a good job preventing Hart from getting another easy bucket, but picks up the foul.

So how exactly should Mike Brey distribute the minutes against teams of Villanova’s caliber that will expose a lack of size? Colson, VJ Beachem, Steve Vasturia, and Matt Farrell all played between 35-37 minutes against Nova. Should Geben eat up some of Colson’s minutes moving forward, or should he and Colson share the floor together, taking minutes from someone else? Or should no changes be made?

The strength of this team is its offense. It ranks number five in the country according to KenPom and thrives by running pick and rolls and spreading the floor with shooters. Colson, who is averaging 16.5 points per game this season, is a big part of this attack, providing a strong post game and ferociously attacking the offensive glass.

So maybe it’s best for the Irish to continue to ride Colson at the 5 and live with the deficiencies on the defensive end. But what about Colson and Geben playing together more? This would hurt the Irish’s spacing, but if Bonzie is able to stretch the floor at a decent rate (8-22 on season) maybe the offense can keep right on humming. Geben could provide a defensive paint presence, and Bonzie should be able to guard most college 4-men at a satisfactory level.

How about playing Geben at the 5 with Bonzie on the bench? I feel like this is a lineup Mike Brey will have to turn to at times throughout the season. It would allow the Irish to have four shooters and a paint presence on the floor, even if they lose Bonzie’s fire power.

Bottom line: Bonzie’s a great player, and he should continue to play heavy minutes. But against teams that are the quality of a Villanova, I don’t think he should be on the court playing center for the majority of the game. Some of the game? Yes. But Geben will need to play more minutes (with or without Colson on the floor as well), if he’s up for the task from a conditioning perspective and IF he can manage to last a few more minutes without fouling out. Bonzie at the center position is probably the Irish’s best offensive lineup, but there’s so much pressure on the Irish to hit shots if the opponent can score in the paint with relative ease.

Of course, even with these defensive issues, the Irish almost beat the number one team in the nation. I just think the Irish can give themselves a better chance of beating a team like Nova moving forward if some of these lineup adjustments are implemented successfully.

The Irish’s matchup this Saturday against a big Purdue team is a game that screams for more Geben minutes. I’m fascinated to see how the team combats the interior presences of Caleb Swanigan and Isaac Haas. If the Irish are able to contain these guys somewhat, I expect they will come out on top. Swarming defense, crashing the defensive glass, and sending help/occasional double teams will be necessary. And again, more minutes for Geben might not hurt as well…

Quick Shots

1. Steve Vasturia is now the team’s leading scorer at 16.6 ppg, a tenth of a point ahead of Bonzie at 16.5. Vasturia is shooting a scorching 44.4% from 3 (20-45) and is providing solid secondary ball handling, averaging 3.1 assists per game.

2. Matt Farrell has been an OUTSTANDING playmaker, and as the catalyst of the Irish offense, I believe he is the team’s most important player. What the heck, I’ll call him the MVP. He’s assisting on 31.2% of all baskets scored when he’s on the court, and he’s the primary ball handler for an Irish team that is averaging the fewest turnovers per game of any team in the country at 8.2.

Farrell has the 43rd best assist to turnover ratio in the nation at 3.06, but only four players with a better ratio have more than the 55 total assists he’s had on the season (some guys have good ratios but much fewer assists).

Farrell is really quick and is great at changing speeds and utilizing his explosiveness. He’s also shown the ability to create his own shot and is a capable shooter from both midrange and behind the arc. Additionally, he’s tough and is willing to take and make a big shot.

3. The lack of turnovers is a large part of what has made the Irish offense so lethal. Rex Pflueger has incredibly played 180 minutes this season without a single turnover, and Temple Gibbs has come in as a freshman and been a really solid ball handler as well. Gibbs has 30 assists and impressively has the fifth best assist to turnover ratio in the nation at 5.00.

4. The Irish don’t shoot that many free throws. Lipscomb University leads the nation with 330 FTA. Colorado is tied for 49th with 240. The Irish have attempted 191. But when they shoot them, they go in.

The Irish lead the nation with an 86.4 FT%. The second best team is Eastern Washington at 83.7%, and only seven teams in the nation are shooting 80% or better from the line. The fact that free throws have essentially been “free points” is another big reason for the offense’s success, and it should help the team close out games moving forward.

Bonzie Colson is the guy that’s really stood out in terms of free throw shooting. He’s gotten to the line 49 times, 13 times more than anyone else on the team. And more importantly, he’s knocked down 91.8% of his free throws, a crazy number for a guy not known as a great shooter. Bonzie’s ability to get easy points from the line could be huge during games when the Irish’s long range shots aren’t falling.

Bonzie might not be a star on the defensive end, but yea, he’s a pretty good basketball player.