Just got back from the LaFortune Student Center, where Becky and I watched on TV with a bunch of fellow Domers as the Notre Dame men lost to Marquette, 67-65.

What an annoying loss. I can’t complain about Marquette’s game-winning shot with 1.1 seconds left; it was very well-defended, and Steve Novak still somehow got it to fall in. Hats off to him. But the possession before that, when Notre Dame squandered its chance to take the lead, has me fuming.

My question for Mike Brey is: what the hell was the point of calling a timeout to set up a go-ahead play, if your big grand strategy was to do exactly what the Irish had been doing all night: taking an ill-advised, low-percentage three-point shot before even trying to get inside? (ND was 9-for-28 from three-point land.) And with like 15 seconds left on the shot clock, to boot! Argh! I realize hindsight is 20/20, and if the shot had happened to luckily fall in, I’d be happy, but the fact remains that it just doesn’t make sense to shoot a three in that situation, at least not without first trying some dribble penetration and then perhaps kicking it out to the perimeter. Argh. I’m seriously tempted to buy FireMikeBrey.com right now.

Notre Dame is now 1-4 in the Big East, and they haven’t even played UConn, West Virginia or Villanova yet. Three of their next four games are against ranked teams. At this point, I’d say the Irish will be lucky to make the NIT.

UPDATE: Becky has posted her thoughts on the game. As per usual, she is subtle and understated:

The end result makes me wonder what Brey was talking about during his timeout, because it certainly doesn’t seem to have been basketball. Perhaps he was asking for a comparison of Mylanta versus Pepto or musing about the outcome of the upcoming Canadian elections.

What is certain is that a homeless sumo wrestler with no legs and one eye could have coached a better game than Mike Brey.

Heh.