Notre Dame has gone through three phases this basketball season.SOUTH BEND – Ben Hansbrough appears to have settled in just fine with the Notre Dame men’s basketball team.
The 6-foot-3 guard, who sat out last season after transferring from Mississippi State, missed only one shot in Saturday’s season-opening 86-65 victory over North Florida at Purcell Pavilion.
Hansbrough went 5 of 6 from the floor and was a perfect 5 for 5 on three-pointers en route to a 19-point performance.
“(I’m) a lot more comfortable,” said Hansbrough, who will go for a repeat performance against Saint Francis (Pa.) at 7:30 p.m. today in Purcell.
“I feel like coming out here and playing with these guys and practicing with them last year (I was able to get) a feel for everybody’s game and playing together with them.”
The performance was exactly what coach Mike Brey envisioned from the guard, who is the younger brother of Indiana Pacers rookie and former North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough.
Before the season, Brey glowingly talked about Hansbrough’s ability to make big shots.
After a shaky exhibition season in which Hansbrough went 3 for 13 on three-pointers and 9 of 12 from the floor, Saturday’s performance was the perfect way to settle him down in the Irish’s system.
“I think it was a big step for him of, ‘OK, I’ve got a feel of this system now,’ ” Brey said.
Notre Dame’s players are also feeling more comfortable with Hansbrough in the system.
Especially when he starts as strong as he did against the Ospreys.
Hansbrough gave Notre Dame a 13-2 lead, and he sank back-to-back three-pointers with 12:43 remaining in the first half to boost the Irish’s advantage to 21-5.
Notre Dame went into halftime leading 47-16, and Hansbrough was a perfect 3 for 3 on three-pointers and 4 for 4 on free throws after the first 20 minutes.
“Ben Hansbrough did a good job, he knocked down some shots,” guard Tory Jackson said.
“Ben was open 99 percent of the time for us. He is fast and small, and he knows how to get himself open. Sometimes you see him and you kind of want to spread the love to everybody else. But we had no choice but to feed him because he was feeling it.”
