BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: West Virginia @ Notre Dame

January 9, 2007


We are only 15 games into the Big East conference season and 13 teams have already been dealt at least one loss. Tonight, West Virginia puts their 3-0 start on the line when they travel to South Bend to face Notre Dame for their first conference road game. With the way things are going in this conference so far, you might as well flip a coin when making a prediction...

Here are the game previews and stories from around the internet:

To Score, Irish Will Have to Zone In (Chicago Tribune)
WVU Facing Big Task Tonight at Notre Dame (Bluefield Daily Telegram)
Irish Look to Regroup Against Mountaineers (Journal Gazette)
WVU Visits Notre Dame Tonight in Big East Tilt (Register-Herlad)
No Ordinary Joe (The Journal)
WVU Hits Jackpot with 'D' (Daily Mail)
Irish Search for What Went Wrong (South Bend Tribune)
Irish Aim to Forget Last Season (Charleston Gazette)
'Neers Can't Be Knocked off Peak (South Bend Tribune)



Click below for our brief preview and prediction on this game and don't forget to leave your prediction in the comments section.

READ REST OF PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW



The Notre Dame Fighting Irish were riding high on a 12-game winning streak, but that can screeching to a halt Saturday when the Irish were throttled, 66-48, at Georgetown. The Hoyas were second in the league in scoring defense entering the game and held Notre Dame to nearly 40 points below their season average. Tonight, the Irish return home and face the only team in the Big East with a stingier defense, the West Virginia Mountaineers.

We are only beginning the 2nd week of conference play and there are only three Big East teams without a conference loss: Pittsburgh, Providence and West Virginia. The Mountaineers have raced out of the game winning three conference games, all at home, and now their young squad takes to the road for the first time in a month to face the Irish. The Mountaineers have been firing on all cylinders, out-scoring Big East opponents 74-58 and getting 19.7 PPG from senior Frank Young in conference play. Their 1-3-1 zone continues to confuse opponents as Connecticut, Villanova and St. John's combined to turn the ball over 50 times in the three league games against just 28 assists while the fluid WVU offense has been credited with 52 assists. The Mountaineers are turning the ball over a little more this year than their teams of the previous two years, but they remain as dangerous as ever behind the arc.

Notre Dame has also been a surprise team in the conference this season. They rolled through their out of conference schedule cranking up the offense, averaging 92 PPG in their last nine OOC games, never scoring less than 81. However, the Irish are forced to go with a freshman point guard in Tory Jackson with the indefinite suspension of sophomore Kyle McAlarney for his arrest the early morning hours before their game with Stony Brook for possession of a controlled substance. That inexperienced floor leader was exploited against the Georgetown scheme and it will again be the main target of West Virginia's attack when they trap the smaller Jackson on the perimeter with the size of Joe Alexander and quick hands of Darris Nichols.

The Irish will have to make the WVU zone pay by finding Colin Falls in open areas to score and use the passing ability inside of Rob Kurz and the hands and touch of Luke Harangody to finish in close. The athletic Russell Carter will have to pick his spots and finish near the rim against WVU.

The Mountaineers will have to bury their open looks. It will be tougher playing out of their comfort zone on the road, for the first time in a meaningful setting, so we will see if their shooting touch remains hot. I really like what this WVU team is brining to the table, but in their first league road game, I think this ends up being a great learning experience and will make them better.

The Irish enter the game as 4-pt favorites and the Pomeroy Ratings project the Mountaineers as 1-pt winners. That is a pretty healthy gap, but the pomeroy computer does not take into account the lack of road experience of the Mountaineers, which I think is just enough of an edge for the home team for them to sneak one out. I expect this game to be much easier to watch than the Big Monday showcase the Big East put on last night, and be another close game in the conference.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Notre Dame 72 West Virginia 69