Atkins leads Notre Dame to win in season opener
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame point guard Eric Atkins was surprised when he was informed that he had actually missed a shot Saturday.
“I did?” Atkins said. “I don’t even remember.”
It came late in Notre Dame’s season-opening 80-67 win over Mississippi Valley State, after the Irish had taken a comfortable lead, the only blemish for Atkins in the game.
The sophomore scored a career-high 27 points, going 6 for 7 from the floor and 12 for 12 from the free-throw line. He also finished with six assists and four rebounds.
“When the first jumper goes down, you don’t think you’re going to miss again,” Atkins said. “When I saw that go down, I just told myself to keep shooting.”
The Irish were without team captain Tim Abromaitis, who is suspended for the first four games of the season by the NCAA. They needed everything Atkins gave them to hold off the Delta Devils.
Terrence Joyner and Kevin Burwell led Mississippi Valley State with 14 points each, and Falando Jones got hot in the second half. Jones scored all of his 13 points after halftime, including a 3-pointer with 12:33 left that got the Delta Devils within 50-48.
Notre Dame answered with a 7-0 run, and a Joey Brooks 3-pointer with 7:02 to go to put push the Irish lead to 10.
Feeling things were slipping away from his team, MVSU coach Sean Woods was ejected with 6:12 left after being assessed two technical fouls while arguing with the referees. Upset about a foul he felt should have been called but wasn’t, Woods stomped along the sideline and angrily threw his jacket over the MVSU bench.
“I thought the onslaught was starting to go downhill as far as the decision calling that the referees were making,” Woods said. “I tried to throw my jacket to one of my assistants, but I missed him and I hit my cousin in the back. That’s why they threw me out. The tech was kind of planned to show my guys we’ve got to fight.
“I threw my jacket a little harder than I wanted to and the referees just acted upon that.”
Atkins hit all four technical free throws then added a layup with 4:37 to play as the Irish scored eight straight after the ejection to go ahead 70-52. Atkins went down hard on the layup and limped off, but returned moments later.
“I thought Eric was a man and he sensed what he needed to do,” said Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. “We were searching for offensive rhythm at times, which worried me.
“I thought his attitude and overall demeanor was a key for us.”
Scott Martin scored 15 points in his return to Notre Dame’s starting lineup after missing both of the team’s exhibition games with a sprained right ankle. He was the only returning starter on the floor from last year’s Irish squad that was ranked as high as No. 4.
Abromaitis, a captain and preseason first team All-Big East forward, was ruled ineligible by the NCAA because he played in Notre Dame’s two preseason exhibition games during his sophomore year in 2008. He then sat out the rest of that season with the intention of preserving an extra year of eligibility, but according to NCAA rules, only freshmen can play in exhibitions without those games counting toward a player’s eligibility for the season.
Notre Dame appealed the decision and received a waiver from the NCAA, but Abromaitis was still suspended for the first four regular season games this year. He won’t be able to return to the Irish lineup until Nov. 21 against No. 25 Missouri, putting more pressure on younger players like Atkins to score.
“Maybe that’s the benefit of having (Abromaitis) out,” Brey said. “That (Atkins) has to do that for us this week, even more so.”
Mississippi Valley State will spend the first two months of the season on the road, with trips to No. 1 North Carolina, eighth-ranked Florida, and No. 15 Wisconsin along the way.
Notre Dame opened the game with a 10-2 run as the Delta Devils hit just one of their first six shots. But behind eight straight points, fueled by three Irish turnovers, Mississippi Valley State took a 16-15 lead with 11:04 left in the first half.
Atkins went 4-for-4 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line, for 16 points. He scored Notre Dame’s last eight before halftime, pushing a narrow Irish lead to 10 before an Amos Studivant layup made it 38-30 at the break.