College Basketball

On the Road Back

By the time Notre Dame took in Les Mis�rables on Broadway last Saturday night, it was hard to believe that only a week earlier the musical's title could have described the Fighting Irish themselves. Notre Dame was 1-5 then and saddled with a horrible schedule that, starting Dec. 6, would leave the Irish without a home game for 48 days—a span of nine games. Last week, though, the Irish righted themselves with three straight wins, including an impressive 88-76 defeat of No. 8 North Carolina at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Irish started the week with a 64-58 win over No. 23 USC and an 87-79 defeat of LaSalle before giving first-year coach John MacLeod the kind of victory at the Garden he needed more of last season as coach of the New York Knicks. MacLeod traces the Irish's revival back to a practice session the day after Christmas.

"Suddenly things started to click," he says. "The big guys started pounding the boards, and the guards started attacking. I knew if we could keep up that level of performance, we'd be all right."

Forward Daimon Sweet and guard Elmer Bennett have helped lead the transformation, but forward LaPhonso Ellis is the key. He missed parts of his sophomore and junior seasons because of academic ineligibility, but against the Tar Heels he was spectacular, leading the Irish with 31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals. "He's thinking of the NBA and is really playing harder," said North Carolina coach Dean Smith after the game. "He looks thinner."

He is. Ellis lost 20 pounds and reduced his body fat from 13% to 8% in the off-season. And he has improved just as noticeably in the classroom. He had a 3.15 GPA last semester and is now only 12 hours away from a degree in accounting.

Let's Hear It for the Scorer

The final score was 258-141. In the time it took to read that, Troy ( Ala.) State probably could have made two three-pointers and a layup. That's how fast the Trojans were scoring in their record-setting home-court win over DeVry Institute of Technology, an NAIA school from Decatur, Ga., on Sunday.

The Trojans made 51 of 109 three-point attempts, both figures being NCAA records. Their 123 points in the first half was an NCAA mark until they scored 135 in the second. In short, the next time someone asks what team holds the NCAA record for anything having to do with scoring, guess Troy State.

The Trojans (13-3 at week's end), are a Division II independent. They opened this season with 14 straight road games and won 11 of them. The only losses were to Division I Auburn, Wyoming and Georgia Southern. But nothing they've done before will draw as much attention as that 258-141 score.