Tim Singleton is only a freshman substitute. But he knew why his Notre Dame teammates were struggling Monday night as he watched Creighton tie the Irish 27-27 at halftime and take the lead in the second half.
”We were a little tight,” said Singleton. ”And it`s a little hard to get worked up for a team like Creighton that`s lost six in a row.”
When you average less than nine minutes of playing time, however, you have to be ready anytime you`re called upon. So, Singleton knew what to do in his six minutes of relief for David Rivers.
”Our most valuable player tonight was Timmy Singleton,” said coach Digger Phelps after the 66-54 victory boosted the Irish`s record to 17-6. ”He got a key basket. He hit his foul shots. He made the big pass. He got us the big lead.”
Singleton, a 6-foot-1-inch New Orleans native, packed his MVP performance into a 2-minute 48-second flurry that began with the Irish clinging to a 47-45 lead with 6:48 remaining.
First, Singleton drove to the basket, drew a foul and converted both free throws. Next, he penetrated and dished a pass to Scott Paddock, who slam it home, got fouled and completed a three-point play.
Then, with 4:00 left, Singleton made a steal, drove coast to coast, arched up his only shot of the night and hit it for a 56-45 lead.
If the Irish had a co-MVP, it was Paddock, who came off the bench to score 10 points and take 12 rebounds. Paddock had been averaging 3.3 points and 4.9 rebounds a game.
”Ten points and 12 rebounds is a perfect game for Scott,” said Phelps.
”That will get his confidence going.”
The Irish needed slick performances from the two subs to offset a rare off-night by Rivers. The 22-point scorer hit only 2 of 11 shots and committed 6 turnovers. He knocked down enough free throws late in the game, however, to total 13 points, tops in the game.
Despite Rivers` subpar scoring, Creighton coach Tony Barone maintained he was still the No. 1 player on the floor.
”Things were still difficult for us because of David Rivers,” he said.
”He makes every teammate on the floor play better. He`s great on the steal. We tried to keep him away from our guy who was handling the ball.”
So, when Singleton replaced Rivers with Notre Dame ahead by only a basket, the Creighton coach was relieved.
”But Singleton hurt us,” said Barone. ”He was a key in the game. I didn`t realize he was that quick.”
Singleton said he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do when he replaced Rivers.
”I felt I was coming in with more energy than the starters who had been playing,” he said. ”I gave it my all to get to the foul line and get them in foul trouble.”
Paddock said Phelps had a very simple motivational message for the Irish after the 27-27 first half.
”He told us that if we lost tonight, we wouldn`t get in the NCAA tournament,” he said.
”We needed to regroup, and we needed a lot of rebounds. I felt once we asserted ourselves on the boards, we`d be all right.”
Led by Paddock and Gary Voce, who had 13, Notre Dame destroyed Creighton
(13-15) 43-20 on the boards.
Paddock`s 29 minutes came at the expense of starter Keith Robinson, who played just 12 minutes.
”I think Bob Harstad discouraged Robinson when he took the ball to the basket for those early baskets,” said Barone. ”But then Paddock came in and hurt us.”
