SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Notre Dame forward Tim Abromaitis caught a pass under the basket against Georgetown and was immediately surrounded by three defenders.
The junior with 20 career points before this season repeatedly found himself the focus of the Hoyas defense on Saturday with Luke Harangody sidelined for a fourth game with bone bruise to his right knee. It was an odd feeling for a guy who barely played as a freshman and sat out as a redshirt last season so he could work on his game.
“I wouldn’t have expected that coming into the season,” Abromaitis said.
Probably no one outside the Irish locker room expected the 6-foot-8, 235-pound Abromaitis to have the kind of season he’s had. Until Scott Martin tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee before the season began, Abromaitis was not expected to be a key player.
Now, he’s is eighth in the Big East in scoring at 17.4 points a game.
ayers.
“One time we were about to take him off the redshirt list just because of how incredibly he was beating us in practice,” Jackson said. “He was killing us in practice and you’d get so frustrated because of the things he was doing to us. It was ridiculous.”
Abromaitis’ play this season has some fans wondering if he could have helped the Irish avoid a seven-game losing streak dropped them from No. 12 in the poll to the NIT.
“People are like, ‘Where’s this guy been?”’ Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “Well, he’s been in college two years before we asked him to do this.”
Abromaitis, whose father played at Connecticut and for the New Jersey Nets, has been getting increasingly more comfortable during the season.
“I’m trying to get to the rim a little more to create different things and at the same time defensively, too, I’m trying to focus more for 40 minutes out there and not let up on any plays and give up any easy buckets like might have happened in the beginning of the year,” he said.
Abromaitis showed against Georgetown how he’s matured this season by finding ways to contribute with the Hoyas focusing on him. He was just 1 of 9 from 3-point range, but was 6 of 10 from inside the arc and hit all four free throws.
d.
The Irish have needed Abromaitis to be even better without Harangody, the nation’s second-leading scorer at 24.1 points a game.
Even though teams are focusing more on Abromaitis, he is averaging 22.3 points a game as Notre Dame has gone 2-2 without Harangody, including upset wins over No. 17 Pittsburgh and No. 19 Georgetown.
The victories have the Irish (19-10, 8-8 Big East) back in the conversation for a spot in the NCAA tournament.
“The power of the Big East always presents itself with playing your way in,” Brey said. “The power of the league this past week certainly this last week has helped improve our chances. Obviously we still have work to do.”
Add A Comment