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When Notre Dame arrived back in South Bend on Saturday, Irish coach Mike Brey didn't let his players go immediately.
Instead, he had them watch five possessions of the loss to St. John's in New York, five possessions where Notre Dame was physically manhandled, resulting in a 71-65 loss to the Red Storm and an at-least temporary derailment of the plans they had set for themselves.
So it meant a more aggressive approach of sorts for the Notre Dame coaching staff -- and for the seniors whom Brey entrusted to keep the intensity high.
"We were kind of coasting in New York, we were kind of a little too complacent," senior forward Zach Hillesland said. "(Brey) said it was from top to bottom. Certainly, that falls on us seniors. It falls on Coach Brey, it falls on everyone and that is what he was saying.
"So he said he's going to stay up our butts to keep us in line, to keep us ready, to keep that edge. Certainly, that's something we need in the Big East."
Part of the difference was rebounding. While Notre Dame still lost the rebounding margin to Georgetown, 37-34, the Irish weren't dominated like they were against St. John's. They had critical rebounds both offensively and defensively.
The Irish guards rebounded as well. Tory Jackson and Kyle McAlarney each had five reobunds -- for McAlarney, tying a career-high.
"That's what we need," Hillesland said. "We need all five guys in there doing that. You're playing a guy like Greg Monroe, 6-foot-10 getting rebounds. It was kind of a thing where everyone needed to get in there and block out their man.
"I don't think we had that in New York and that certainly hurt us but it's part of that being focused and not coasting."
Kyle McAlarney emerged from Notre Dame's locker room later than normal after Monday's win, in part due to needed quick stitches above his left eye.
The senior guard got cut by Georgetown players on a late possession and while the Staten Island, N.Y. native isn't sure what happened, he knows it'll leave at least a temporary mark in the form of "five or six" stitches.
"I tried to get in there one time," McAlarney said.
It was apropos for McAlarney to leave the game with some scarring. He tied career-highs in rebounds (five) and blocks (one).
While the rebounding was a byproduct of a team effort toward aggression, the block on Jason Clark was more accidental.
"That's my new, it's what I'm adding to my game this Big East season," McAlarney joked. "I was laughing coming down the court because I tried to foul the guy but I just wound up getting a block.
"All the guys were getting pretty psyched."
McAlarney also said he hit 150 three-pointers on his own in practice, putting him on pace to make 4,500 three-pointers by the end of the month.
DISAPPEAR, REAPPEAR
The on-again, off-again offensive aggressiveness that has followed Ryan Ayers throughout his Notre Dame career popped up again Monday.
But with Luke Harangody stuck in foul trouble for most of the game, Ayers hit two three-pointers in the second half and helped give Notre Dame a bit of an offensive flow without Harangody.
"We weren't worried about it at all."
THIS AND THAT
Senior forward Luke Zeller injured his left thumb Saturday against St. John's, yet played 25 minutes, scored five points and had two assists. ... In some ways, Notre Dame reverted back to its old form in Big East games on Monday. The Irish didn't have a field goal for the final 4:07 of the game, which made the game closer than the score had been for much of the second half. ... McAlarney's 17 points moved him to 1,042 points for his career and 46th all-time at Notre Dame, passing Bruce Flowers, who had 1,029 points. ... Harangody's 31 points moved him past Tracy Jackson and Jack Stephens for No. 24 on the all-time scoring list, 13 points behind former NBA player John Shumate, who has 1,334.
