SOUTH BEND – His lungs burned and his legs balked.
His body begged him to stop or at least take a break. It couldn’t figure out after 18 days on the sideline and three Atlantic Coast Conference games missed why Notre Dame freshman wing guard Jalen Haralson was back doing all that basketball stuff.
Back on the floor since suffering a sprained ankle February 10 at SMU, Haralson played a quick four minutes early Saturday at home against North Carolina State. He took a seat on the bench. He needed to sit. To get his wind back. To take a few deep breaths. To realize that this was going to be a long day, and that he needed to be a big part of it.
Haralson came off the bench for the third time in his Irish career for 25 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes as Notre Dame delivered one of its greatest bounce-back wins in recent memory.
“I had to try and get a feel for it,” he said of his return. “I went into halftime and knew coming out, had to be aggressive and got good looks for myself and my teammates.”
The team’s leading scorer in ACC play (17.0 ppg.), Haralson scored 20 points on seven-of-nine from the field and six-of-six from the foul line in the second half.
“I got a rhythm in the second half,” he said. “It was different there.”
How different? Four days after losing at home to Duke by 44 points, the most lopsided home loss in program history, Notre Dame returned to snap a two-game league losing streak with a 96-90 overtime victory over North Carolina State.
“We did a good job staying composed,” Haralson said.
What was different about Notre Dame than the previous two weeks since its last win? Haralson had a lot to do with it. He was back attacking mismatches, hunting them even, getting one he liked and then knowing what to do.
Back his guy down into the lane and then turn this way or that way and score. Or get fouled. Haralson took 15 shots from the floor. He made eight. Three misses all came on one possession late in the second half. He also went to the free throw line 10 times. A .658 percent shooter from the line; Haralson made nine.
Why did Notre Dame do what it did Saturday? Easy. It had Haralson. At 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds, Haralson does stuff that nobody on the Irish roster can do when it comes to playing head coach Micah Shrewsberry’s brand of bully ball – of backing down undersized and overmatched defenders to the basket then scoring.
“They picked up mismatches all night,” North Carolina State coach Will Wade said. “They did a good job getting Haralson downhill.”
Sometimes, Haralson didn’t even need to go bully ball. Out on the break in the second half, he simply dribbled hard at North Carolina State forward Ven-Allen Lubin, threw a spin move at him, and laid it in.
Haralson was cleared to return from injury hours before Tuesday’s game against Duke. That afternoon, he went through drills on the Purcell Pavilion court for one of the first times since he was hurt late at SMU. He got winded easily. Too easily.
He then scored at least 20 points for the fourth time in his last six games.
As for those 27 minutes, Haralson admitted afterward they felt like 47. He was spent. But he was happy to be exhausted. Happy, yes, that he was back on the basketball. Happy that this day ended unlike so many others in ACC play.
Happy for the win.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: How did Jalen Haralson’s return from injury go for Notre Dame basketball?
Reporting by Tom Noie, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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