Loading ...Notre Dame’s Thomas kept in check
Thomas played the entire 40 minutes of the game, but was held to just 11 points while shooting 4-for-21 from the field.
Averaging 19.5 points per game before Monday, Thomas was coming off of an impressive offensive performance his last time out. He scored 22 points against Mount Saint Mary's on Saturday, going 5-of-9 from the three point line. A week ago against Northern Illinois, Thomas scored 17 points. Against Marquette, Thomas went just 3-for-14 from behind the arc.
"I think maybe Chris tried to force some things to get us going," Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said. "He has to have the green light to do that, tonight it didn't work out. Tonight he could never get into a rhythm. I think a lot of that was not only (Travis Diener) on him, but other guys helping that really had an awareness of him."
Marquette junior guard Travis Diener guarded Thomas most of Monday night.
"He still has the ability to make those threes, it's just a matter of getting the hand up, getting a decent hand, and making him miss," Diener said. "Tonight he wasn't on, he took a lot of shots and they just didn't fall tonight and last year they were."
Marquette head coach Tom Crean praised his team's defensive performance against the Notre Dame star.
"We had certain rules, like we've had certain rules for other great players, and we wanted to live by those rules, and for the most part we did," Crean said. "(Thomas) got a lot of shots but he didn't get a lot of looks, and there's a big difference. He did get some looks that he just missed, but for the most part we were in position to challenge his shots.
"To hold a player like Chris Thomas to .421 shooting, that's a team effort."
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