By Tom Coyne
The Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Indiana-Purdue-Indinapolis coach Ron Hunter wanted to see if Notre Dame's Matt Carroll could beat the Jaguars.

"Guess what? He did," Hunter said after the Irish defeated the Jaguars 89-45 in the second round of the Guardians Classic.

Carroll finished with 26 points, six assists, five rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot and Hunter's admiration. Hunter thought that if the Jaguars focused on shutting down Dan Miller and Chris Thomas, the Jaguars could beat the Irish.

But the only thing shut down Monday night was the Jaguars, who shot just 24.3 percent for the game and 19.4 percent in the second half. The Irish did it using a man-to-man defense that forced 17 turnovers, 13 blocked shots, and made nine steals.

"In my nine years of coaching, we played Arizona when they were No. 1, we played Georgia Tech, we played Ohio State. That's the most well-balanced team I've coached against," Hunter said. "They do a tremendous job. You can't run when you're not getting stops."

While the Jaguars couldn't get any stops, the Irish could. That led to a lot of easy baskets.

"Our defense starts our offense," Carroll said. "The better defense we play, the stronger defense we play, the more points we're going to put on the board."

Brey said for the first time since he arrived at Notre Dame at the start of the 2000-2001 season, the Irish have a defensive identity.

"Defensively, my first two years, we were good it was a little man-to-man, but not too far out, and a little zone. We kind of smoke-and-mirrored you because we just couldn't lock into you for 40 minutes. But I think this team is enjoying getting out and guarding," he said. "Now we have some pride in that."

The Irish (2-0) used the same method to beat IUPUI (1-1) as it did Belmont a night earlier, finishing the first half on a run and putting the game away by continuing the run in the second half. The Irish had an 18-5 run to end the first half and opened the second half with an 20-6 run to put the game out of reach.

Both teams advance to the Guardians Classic semifinals in Kansas City along with Creighton and Furman.

Before the tournament began, the Notre Dame record for blocked shots in a game was 12, set in 1977 against Stonehill. The Irish beat that mark in both games, blocking 19 shots against Belmont and 13 shots against IUPUI. Jordan Cornette, who had a school-record 11 blocked shots on Sunday, finished with eight blocks on Monday.

"It's exciting to get out there and get after people and not having to defend on zone like we have in the past," Cornette said. "We're a team that can lock a team down and go on a serious run and put up some incredible numbers on the offensive end. I think that scares a lot of teams."

Miller, a senior transfer from Maryland, finished with 7 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Torn Francis, who was held to seven points and four rebounds in his first game, had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Thomas had 11 assists as the Irish had 25 assists and only 11 turnovers.

Josh Murray was the only Jaguar in double figures with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

The Jaguars, who like to run, were held to six fast-break points.

Carroll said he wasn't thinking about his offense at all during the game. He was focusing on playing defense.

"If you don't think about offense, it's going to come.," he said. "I play my best offensively when I'm just out there and I lose myself in the game."