By Paul Gotham
Setting: Hot times tonight in the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center when Jim Calhoun and his Connecticut Huskies (17-12/ 7-9) come a calling for a Big East battle with Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-10/ 8-8).
Plot: A first round bye is at stake. The Irish possess eighth place and the final bye for the upcoming conference tournament. UConn is lurking in tenth.
Sub-plot: Notre Dame continues to play and win without former Big East player-of-the year, Luke Harangody. UConn recently experienced a resurgence when their long-time coach returned from a medical leave of absence.
Flashback: UConn downed Notre Dame, 82-70 earlier this season. Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker both had double-doubles in the victory. Dyson scored 20 to go with 10 assists. Walker also dished out 10 assists and scored 11. Stanley Robinson led the way with 22. After taking the last four head-to-head match-ups, UConn leads the series 16-6. Notre Dame has won five of nine at South Bend.
Notre Dame has made 29 appearances in the NCAA Tournament – five under Mike Brey. Likewise, UConn has danced 29 times, including a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004.
Foreshadowing: Forty-nine Fightin’ Irish have graduated to the N.B.A., including current players Matt Carroll, Troy Murphy and Chris Quinn. Twenty-nine Huskies have laced them up in the Association with the current list including: Ray Allen, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Ollie, A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet, Charlie Villanueva, and Marcus Williams.
Conflict: Notre Dame is coming off a week where they won two games over ranked opponents shooting just under 50 percent (51-104) from the field. UConn limits opponents to 38.7 percent. UConn’s recipe is not a new one. The Huskies have held opponents under 40 percent since the 1995-96 campaign. Once again, UConn is near the top of blocked shots in the nation at 7.9. UConn’s bigs have led the nation eight years running.
The Irish will need to pick their spots carefully. Notre Dame has decreased their number of shots the last two games. This indicates plenty of ball movement and switching sides of the floor. The Irish will need to continue this pattern. Trying to penetrate into the teeth of UConn’s defense without any ball reversal will serve as an exercise of frustration.
Ben Hansbrough and Tory Jackson combine for an assist to turnover ratio of 2.7:1. Jackson gets into the paint from the top of the key. Hansbrough drives the baseline well and sees the floor for kick outs. The two average over 20 points together. Hansbrough hit three threes in ND’s recent win over Georgetown. A similar result tonight would open up the Husky defense and create lanes.
Tim Abromaitis is third in the nation from long range hitting over 47 percent from behind the arc. The junior struggled against Georgetown (1-9). Returning to familiar confines should help his cause.
Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott grab just under 10 rebounds a game. They will be called on to do that and then some. The Irish front court will need to stay active on the glass. With the Huskies swatting everything that flies in the paint, Nash and Scott will need to gather what opportunities they can to put points on the board.
Jonathan Peoples and Jack Cooley give the Irish valuable minutes off the bench.
Jerome Dyson leads four Huskies in double figures with 18 and a half. Dyson can hurt an opponent in a variety of ways. He is not afraid to shoot from long range hitting 30 percent (37-122). He does the bulk of his damage inside the arc driving to the basket and getting contact and finishing.
Stanley Robinson averages over 15 points and slightly less than eight rebounds. Robinson is the heart and soul of the Husky lineup.
As a team, the Huskies have made 754 trips to the free throw line. In comparison, the Irish have only taken 642 from the charity stripe. The Huskies thrive on contact and Kemba Walker leads the way making 141 free throws. Walker averages over five assists and almost 15 points.
Gavin Edwards and Alex Oriakhi add 16 points and almost 14 boards. The two combine for four blocks a contest.
Resolution: After getting a boost from Calhoun’s return, UConn came back to reality losing at home against Louisville. Notre Dame shot well in their last two games, but the Irish also out-rebounded Pitt (31-21) and Georgetown (26-15). This trend will need to continue if ND wants to be successful. UConn will not make it easy though. The Huskies have a rebound margin of +3.4.
Notre Dame is at home which bodes well for their outside shooting. Their best defense will be their offense tonight as the Irish play ball control and minimize UConn’s chances. Notre Dame makes it three in a row over Big East rivals.
Got any comments on the game? Post them here.
Wally says
Great synopsis, Casey. I hope you’re right, and wish I was more confident about an ND win. The Irish must win either this one or the weekend game at Marquette to keep Big Dance dreams alive. Lose both and it’s NIT again. Win both and I think they’ll clinch the bid.
Wally says
In Casey, I trust. Good call on the game! This is clearly a different ND team than the one taking the court 3 weeks ago. I’m even starting to gain some confidence for winning at Marquette 🙂
Casey says
I was just looking at box score. ND shot 36.5% from the field. Shooting like that against UConn is like shooting 45% or better against any other team. The Irish forced 15 turnovers. That is the best I have ever seen Tory Jackson play. How about Carleton Scott stepping out and hitting two threes. He had 13 prior to last night.
Wally says
This is the Tory Jackson we were hoping to see for a coupla years … better late than never! Scott is a playa.
Casey says
I love the emotion Notre Dame is playing with – especially Jackson.
Crossword Pete says
ND is a very dangerous team right now. I would not want to draw them as a 12, 13, 14 seed in the dance. Gody, stay away!Q
Wally says
Casey/Pete —
Predictions on how they fare Saturday at Marquette? All I know is they have had very little or no success there over the years.
Casey says
Marquette is a different test for the Irish. The Golden Eagles will bring more pressure on the perimeter. ND has successfully used longer possessions of late. That might not be the case at Marquette. Notre Dame needs to continue its recent rebounding prowess.