After losing four of their last five, the Irish have now won two straight, including an 84-72 victory over #14 Florida State. This was the signature win thus far for a Notre Dame team that entered the game 1-6 against ranked opponents and had lost four straight against such squads.

From a psychological perspective, this has to be the best Mike Brey’s team has felt about itself all season. The crowd was roaring. The Irish gave arguably their best defensive effort of the season. Bonzie Colson played like a superstar, scoring a career-high 33 points. Steve Vasturia even dunked!

Had to cue this up after filing #NotreDame gamer…it really did happen….Steve Vasturia finally takes flight…. pic.twitter.com/ThpyiyT3nh — Tom Noie (@tnoieNDI) February 12, 2017

Things bode well for the Irish schedule wise down the stretch: two road games against Boston College and North Carolina State, two home games against Georgia Tech and Boston College, and then a road game against Louisville to cap off the regular season.

The team has a great chance to build on this momentum and turn a two-game win streak into six games. The finale against Louisville is the only matchup in which the Irish are unlikely to be favored.

Notre Dame is a confident and dangerous team right now that has a chance to be playing its best basketball entering the NCAA Tournament.

Beating The Pressure: Drive and Dish

The Irish scored an impressive 1.11 points per possession by taking advantage of Florida State’s on-ball pressure. This defense made it difficult for the Irish to run offensive sets, but they took advantage of the pressure by driving by the Seminoles, drawing help defense, and finding open teammates (usually Colson).

Sometimes, the Irish ball-handler just beat the pressure and finished themself.



Against turnover-prone teams with questionable ball-handlers/decision makers, Florida State’s defense can create chaos and lead to bad shots and turnovers. The Irish aren’t the type of team that will fall into that trap.

Beating The Pressure: Going Backdoor

The Irish are used to teams defending them pretty tightly on the perimeter, as teams try to ensure that none of the team’s solid shooters are left open. As a result, they’ve gotten good at taking advantage of this pressure by making backdoor cuts that lead to easy baskets.

Against a team like Florida State that takes the pressure up a notch compared to the average team, it was unsurprising that the Irish took ‘backdoor cuts’ out of their toolbox.

Tough To Play Fast After Made Baskets

Florida State plays at the 33rd fastest pace in the country. A lot of its offense is created by getting stops and getting out in transition, where they can be lethal. But if you can score on the Seminoles and make them play offense in the half court against a set defense, they can struggle a bit.

This is exactly what played out. The Irish were efficient offensively, and Florida State was significantly less so as a result. Even after made baskets, the Seminoles occasionally tried to pick up the pace. But with the Irish defense back and in position, this had limited effectiveness.

Rex Pflueger Is Good At Defense

Rex Pflueger is probably the best defender on the Irish roster. He provides high energy/defensive intensity and brings good size to the table at 6’6. He stays in front of people and is the best on the team at providing the Florida State style of intense ball pressure.

What impressed me over the last few games was his ability to navigate screens on defense. Here, he slips between two Wake Forest screeners and stays with his man.

Here, he executes a flawless switch when Florida State does a dribble hand-off.

This stuff is not easy. Pflueger’s role will expand in the years to come, but with his solid defense and 41% three-point shooting, he’s operating right now as an outstanding “3-and-D” guy.