Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges stemming from an incident in which police used pepper spray to subdue him after an off-campus party.SOUTH BEND – Notre Dame needed to start the season with a busy schedule, according to men’s basketball coach Mike Brey.
With only seniors Luke Harangody and Tory Jackson returning with significant playing time, the Irish needed as many games as they could pack together to form an identity.
"I think it was good what we did early," Brey said. "A lot of guys that we’re asking to do new things in new roles were asked to do it a lot, quickly. I think it helped them get more comfortable."
During the busy schedule, Notre Dame went 10-2 and made one lineup change with Tim Abromaitis replacing Jonathan Peoples as a starter in a 90-72 win over Central Florida on Dec. 6.
The Irish played seven games in the first 15 days of the season, opening with an 86-65 win over North Florida on Nov. 14.
In the first two weeks, Notre Dame didn’t have more than two days between games, and the Irish’s longest time between games in the first four weeks was a four-day layoff between an 80-70 win over Idaho State on Dec. 1 and the win over Central Florida.
Notre Dame played 11 games in 28 days before a week-long break for exams between an 87-85 loss to Loyola Marymount on Dec. 12 and an 84-73 home win over UCLA on Saturday.
The Irish return to action at home against Bucknell (4-7) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, another two-day break.
Notre Dame slows down after its game against Bucknell, as Big East play starts with a home game against Providence at 9 p.m. Dec. 30.
The seven days between games for the holiday break is the longest stretch without a game for Notre Dame.
"It gives us a chance to watch film, correct some mistakes and work on them for the next game," Jackson said. "This is a huge part of the season right now. With school out, you can focus on basketball, correct a lot of things and guys can get better. It’s huge for us."
The Irish do not play more than two games between a Monday-to-Sunday period for the rest of the season and will play one game in a week period three times.
"I like where we are at now where we have two games a week, and we have some time to work on things and get some rest," Brey said.
"We talked about it as a staff and with our players to use it as an advantage to make sure we have recovery time for guys who played a lot of minutes and practice time. That first stretch sometimes you only had time for recovery time and then you played again."
During Big East play, Notre Dame will have two breaks of six days between playing host to West Virginia on Jan. 9 and playing at Cincinnati on Jan. 16 and between playing at Louisville on Feb. 17 and playing host to Pittsburgh on Jan. 24.
The shortest turnaround between games in conference play will be one day when the Irish play host to Syracuse on Jan. 18 after playing the Bearcats.
Notre Dame will have eight two-day breaks, five three-day breaks and one four-day break, along with the two six-day layoffs, between games when it starts Big East play, which ends with a road game at Marquette at 2 p.m. March 6.
"There is more time to concentrate on things," Harangody said of having time between games. "That is nice, and you get a nice break too."
