Notre Dame Suffers Loss After Beating Brown
Sunday, December 09, 2012
It's been many years since South Bend, Indiana has been excited about their football program. However, this year, the Irish are the top-ranked team in the country and will be playing Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game next month in Miami.
Notre Dame students, fans and the media that covers the team were also abuzz Saturday about linebacker Manti Te'o who was in New York as a finlist for the Heisman Trophy award Saturday.
So that was the backdrop as the Brown University men's basketball team visited the Joyce Center last night. Brown knew it had a tough task with the Irish ranked 22nd in the nation and coming off of a win over the defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe Bears hung tough with the Irish early on as they were tied with Notre Dame 15-15 midway through the first half. But the combination of some Brown turnovers and five three pointers by the Irish in the final 9 minutes of the half allowed Notre Dame to open up a 15-point halftime lead 42-27.
Despite a game-high 18 points by Brown senior Matt Sullivan, Notre Dame was able to hold on to and extend their lead in the second half on the way to an 84-57 victory.
Jack Cooley finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds for Notre Dame while teammate Eric Atkins had 10 points and 12 assists.
The Bears received 15 points from junior Sean McGonagill and 10 from junior Tucker Halpern. Freshman Cedric Kuakumensah had 9 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the loss.
The Irish improved to (8-1) with the win while the loss drops Brown to (3-5).
Moments after the game, many fans remained in the Joyce Center to listen to coach Mike Brey's postgame press conference on the radio. Almost as soon as he finished his interview, ESPN was live in New York with the announcement of the Heisman winner. When Texas A&M freshman quarterback Johnny "Football" Manziel was announced as the winner, a loud chorus of groans decended on the arena as Irish fans were disappointed.
They believe that Te'o is the best player on the best team in the nation and, therefore, deserved the award. Many of the fans felt that there was a bias against Te'o because he was a defensive player causing many of them to say that the award should redefine its criteria as one that is normally given out to the "best offensive player."
Still, Irish fans left the arena happy as their men's basketball team scored a win over Brown and knowing that their undefeated football team has a chance to win its first national title since 1988.
Back to the Bears. They will now take the next two weeks off for exams and return to the hardwood in Chicago on December 23rd when they meet the Northwestern Wildcats.
