Indiana got its first taste of a nationally ranked opponent Monday night in the opening round of the Maui Invitational. The result? An 88-50 throttling at the hands of No. 9 Notre Dame.

The Fighting Irish (3-0) shot 51 percent, hit ten 3-pointers, out-rebounded IU 40-23 and forced 20 turnovers.

Tory Jackson paced the winners with 21 points and Kyle McAlarney scored 18. Reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody added 14.

Mike Brey’s club opened a 13-point lead on a 3-pointer by McAlarney with 6:02 remaining in the first half and the Hoosiers (2-1) could not recover after that point.

Tom Pritchard continued his stellar early season play with 14 points and six rebounds. Two other Hoosiers — Devan Dumes and Nick Williams — hit double figures with 10 points each.

Indiana will continue play in the Maui Invitational Tuesday afternoon against St. Joseph’s. That game will be televised at 1:30 EST on ESPNU.

• Box score

Nothing against Northwestern State or IUPUI, but IU will get its first true test Monday afternoon in Maui when they face off with Notre Dame.

Led by Luke Harangody and a stellar cast of upperclassmen, I think it’s fair to say the Hoosiers are going to be in for a long day. And by long day I mean that not losing by more than 20 will be considered a success.

Mike Brey’s club can absolutely light it up from the perimeter and Harangody is as good of a post player as there is in college basketball (sans Tyler Hansbrough).

With that said, I encourage you to check out John Gasaway’s preview of Notre Dame over at Basketball Prospectus. Here’s a short excerpt and you can read the entire preview here:

Luke Harangody’s a star. Long before I started watching basketball-I know not when, exactly-it became the custom to refer to a team not simply as, well, the team’s name but rather as: “(Star) and the (team).” For instance, I might say simply “Notre Dame,” but if you’re seeing their game plugged on ESPN you better believe they’re going to be “Luke Harangody and Notre Dame.”

Rightfully so. Michael Beasley was the only major-conference player in the country last year who played a more prominent role in his team’s offense than did Harangody, who alone took about one-third of his team’s shots during his minutes on the floor. Notre Dame’s single-minded feed-Harangody compulsion on offense is surprising, imbalanced, and extreme. It also works beautifully.

The Irish came within a few baskets of beating out Connecticut for the title of best Big East offense in 2008. It’s not that Harangody’s another Beasley. Far from it: Beasley was vastly more efficient on offense last year while being even better than Harangody on the defensive glass. It’s just that by assuming a role of Beasley-esque proportions (Mike Brey’s workhorse attempted 509 two-point shots last year), Harangody allows talented teammates the luxury of functioning as ruthlessly efficient supporting players.

Poor Tom Pritchard. He was playing so well. The reality of this situation is that IU is out-manned at every position and Harangody is going to have a field day in the paint. But hey, look at the bright side, we might beat Chaminade on Wednesday.

Thanks to ITH reader Matt for the tip.

Those of you hoping for a first round draw of Chaminade in the opening round of the Maui Invitational won’t get your wish. The Hoosiers will open the Maui Invitational against Notre Dame on Monday, November 24 at 5:30 EST. If Indiana were to upset Luke Harangody and company, they’d get the winner of St. Joseph’s and Texas (in the event IU falls to ND, they’d get the loser). Other first round games include North Carolina vs. Chaminade and Oregon vs. Alabama.

Thanks to ITH reader Colin for the tip on this one.