If you've followed the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (20-10, 11-7) throughout the Mike Brey era, you know that deep benches are not really Brey's M.O. But following a sluggish and often ugly four-game stretch, Brey knew he needed some new contributions to take the pressure off of his struggling starters.
Enter Matt Ryan, who scored a career-high 17 points on 5 of 8 shooting, including 4 makes from long-range. Enter Rex Pflueger and his 3 for 3 from deep, 4 assists, and 4 steals in 24 terrific minutes. Enter Matt Farrell, who played more minutes (15) than he had in a long time and had 4 assists and a strong part in some of Notre Dame's best offensive bursts.