BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ Notre Dame

February 20, 2007


Just 12 days after Depaul survived a thrilling 67-66 decision at Allstate Arena over Notre Dame, the two teams meet again, this time in South Bend. The Irish are 8-5 in the Big East, but 6-0 at the Joyce Center. They are one-game in front of the 7-6 Blue Demons, who are 3-4 on the road in the Big East.

Here are the pregame stories and previews found on the internet this morning:


Demons are Rarin' to Go (Daily Herald)
Luke Harangody Diary: Looking to Stay Perfect at Home (NWITimes.com)
Irish Have Little Time to Enjoy Milestone (Journal Gazette)
Chandler Still Haunts the Irish (South Bend Tribune)
DePaul's Heard Makes the Grade (Chicago Tribune)
Demons Hope to Avoid the Whole Truth vs Irish (Chicago Sun-Times)


With wins over Marquette and Notre Dame last week and a road win over Soth Florida last weekend, DePaul has moved to 7-6 in the conference and up to #56 in the NCAA RPI Ratings. With three conference games left, the Blue Demons know that it will be awful hard for the selection committee to keep out a 10-6 Big East team, especially one with a good SOS rating. Getting a road win against Notre Dame would go a long way in making DePaul's case for the NCAA's alot stronger.

The Irish picked up win #20 on the season on Sunday against Cincinnati and ND puts their undefeated home record on the line tonight. The Irish play together as a team and have faith in each other to get the job done. This team has roles and they seem to accept them very well and understand what is asked of each other in those roles.

In their earlier meeting, Wilson Chandler dominated the Irish frontline to the tune of 25 pts, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Chandler is a difficult match-up for the Irish as he is longer and more athletic than any of their frontline players and has the ability to go inside and outside. The Demons also got a huge lift from Cliff Clinkscales in the 1st meeting as he helped get the DePaul offense on track by pushing the ball at the Irish. However, to win on the road, they will need Sammy Mejia and Draelon Burns to shoot better than the 7-20 they did in the first meeting.

Notre Dame got off to a quick start in the earlier meeting as Luke Harangody was a horse in the paint, but he did not get another field goal after the opening four minutes and the Irish missed free throws and did not have the 'luck of the Irish' late in the game. Notre Dame was left with a bitter feeling after seeing a late lead evaporate before their eyes and not get a whistle in the finally seconds in their favor.

DePaul is a tough match-up for the Irish, but Notre Dame should look to get consistent contributions for 6 or 7 guys. Tory Jackson and Russell Carter give the Irish a few aspects of speed and quickness and expect Harangody and Rob Kurz to be solid inside. The Irish are 6-pt favorites and should pull out the tough win tonight.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Notre Dame 72 DePaul 67