Feb. 09--There are two options that face a team which suffered an historic blowout loss like the 90-60 beatdown Notre Dame received at the hands of Duke on Saturday in Durham, N.C.
One is to go into deep psychological analysis of it, which might prove more destructive than productive.
The other is to forget about it and move on as quickly as possible.
The Irish are choosing the latter.
"It's been a while since we've been blown out," senior Pat Connaughton said. "It's something that can't linger with us. We have a game on Tuesday (at Clemson) and have to bounce back. We can learn how to start better, but at the end of the day there's not a lot that we can take from it other than it can happen on any given night against any other team."
Duke isn't just any team. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils possess one of the most potent offenses in the country and their first-half performance Saturday, when they shot 81 percent, was the type of 20 minutes teams usually can only dream about.
But the 10th-ranked Irish shouldn't just write off what happened Saturday. There are still issues they need to address, especially on defense.
Ever since Notre Dame lost on Jan. 31 at Pittsburgh, it has looked like a team in need of a break. The Irish relinquished a large lead late against Boston College on Wednesday before hanging on, and when Duke threw several early punches Saturday, Notre Dame appeared as if it didn't want to spend the necessary energy on defense needed to stop the run.
"This is their first butt-kicking," coach Mike Brey said. "But knowing the kind of guys and especially the kind of leaders I have, I would think they're going to rally the troops and have a little edge about them first in practice (Sunday)."
It has been a long season already for Notre Dame, considering it has been going hard since the summer. The Irish played a foreign tour of Italy in August, an important trip to establish confidence early in the season, but perhaps the signs of wear are beginning to show.
Brey uses a shallow bench, and while he cuts back practice time during the season, the daily grind of having to go through practices, games and road trips is enough to have a tiring effect regardless of how many minutes players are on the floor.
The Irish do receive their first bye in ACC play this week but not before they head to Clemson, a game that looms larger now than it did a few weeks ago.
Get a win, and Notre Dame can turn the page from last week's struggles and enjoy the break with a 10-3 conference record. Lose, and suddenly the Irish will have lost three of four and will be left to wonder if they peaked too early.
They're trying not to worry too much.
"We're 21-4 right now, fellows," senior guard Jerian Grant said of his message to the team. "So we're still having a great season. It's an unfortunate loss, especially the way we lost. But we're moving on.
"We still have a long way to go until the end of the season and we can still do something special."
chine@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChristopherHine
