Notre Dame Gets Past George Washington 65-48

I know it's USC week. We're #1 in the country. You probably didn't watch this game and frankly don't care much for Irish basketball this week. Hell, I almost skipped this game. But here's a quick recap of Notre Dame's 65-48 win over George Washington, mostly in bullet points.

When the game tipped off I briefly debated who I wanted to see win this game - I went to the home team's institution and am currently attending the visitor's. Now I know full well you're always supposed to root for your alma mater but beating Notre Dame on their home floor would have totally made GW's season regardless of what happened in their Atlantic 10 Conference. I guess that meant that as long as both teams didn't play terribly, I was in for a win-win situation.

• The movement on offense continues to be strong and well-intended for the most part, but careless turnovers have been a plague for the Irish thus far this season. Post-entry passes and cross court passes need much better placement from everyone involved
• If Scott Martin can continue to rebound like this throughout the season, I think we'll be very happy - even if he misses a lot of shots along the way
• Jack Cooley, ND's best player so far this season only played 24 minutes and recorded 8 points and 8 rebounds. This is a good thing - the big guy needs a blow every once in a while
• 6th and 7th man - Garrick Sherman and Cmaeron Beidscheid both played a shade under 20 minutes. The freshman Biedscheid turned 19 tonight while the MSU transfer posted a game high 18 points
• Jerian Grant looked hot early before taking a back seat in the second half. He made a few early 3 pointers in the opening minutes and showed both sneakiness and explosiveness in his subsequent drives to the rim.
• Boy, is Eric Atkins good at running this team. I wish he wouldn't be so passive at times but a line of 6 points, 7 rebounds and 9 assists to go along with 3 steals is really really nice. ND needs him to be healthy all season as he's most likely to log 38 minutes a night
• Outside shooting needs to become more consistent. We all know Grant is a volume shooter but Pat Connaughton can't afford to have 1 for 5 nights like tonight during the Big East, especially if Atkins and Beidscheid aren't knocking down their shots either. 3 point shooting has traditionally been a strength for Brey's squads and consistency is lacking in that department.
• Would be nice to see Zach Auguste get some more burn. He's clearly a phenomenal athlete - had a pretty exciting breakaway jam towards garbage time - and his shot blocking instincts are the best on the team. I like the idea of having the young guy work through his mistakes early so his upside can really show towards the middle and end of the season.