BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME @ MARQUETTE

January 12, 2008


One of two marquee match-ups in the Big East on Saturday afternoon pits the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame against the Marquette Golden Eagles at the Bradley Center. Notre Dame is one of just two conference unbeatens left, but this is their FIRST true road game of the season. They have played 10 home games and four neutral site games, so venturing to the Bradley Center is a tough first road test for ANY team.

Here are the local media previews on the game:

Small fries Staple of Marquette Diet (Chicago Tribune)
Marquette Basketball Preview (Post-Crescent)
MU Has Sizable Challenge (Journal-Sentinel)
McAlarney, Irish Set for Road Test (South Bend Tribune)

Marquette has won their first two home contests in Big East play, blowing out a short-handed Providence team and escaping a fiesty Seton Hall squad when they might have been looking ahead to this match-up. Marquette also lost in their only conference road game at West Virginia.

In their last two games, the Golden Eagles struggled mightily against zone defenses. West Virginia tripped them up by mixing in a triangle and two defense and Seton Hall used several types of zones that kept Marquette on the perimeter, rather than attacking the basket.

One word of caution, if you decide to pack in the zone, make sure you know where Dan Fitzgerald is, especially if he makes his first shot or two. Fitzgerald hit four three's to account for all 12 of his points against SHU, including a dagger with 10 seconds left to clinch the 61-56 victory.

I expect Notre Dame to definitely follow the defensive script set by SHU and WVU and go zone against MU. Notre Dame really does not have the perimeter depth or speed to match-up man to man for 40 minutes, but they do have the size advantage to rebound effectively out of that defense.

Kyle McAlarney lit up UConn in ND's last win for 32 points. He has also accumulated 14 assists in two conference games, turning it over just once. However, on Saturday, one of the nation's top defensive guards, Jerel McNeal, will be shadowing McAlarney's every move. Do not expect McNeal to give any good looks up easily on his home floor.

In ND's win over West Virginia, the Irish showed they could prevail without a big game from the perimeter as Luke Harangody bulled his way to 29 points and 16 rebounds. He should be able to find success against a small-ish Marquette frontline. Harangody struggled against the size of UConn (5-23), but he shoud find this one a little more to his liking.

This is going to come down to how well Marquette solves the Irish zone. They also need to create a tempo in their favor with pressuring defense on the ball. This will also make it difficult for the Irish guards to easily feed Harangody inside. With a lot of attention focused on Harangody, you can not forget about Rob Kurz either.

Playing their first true road game is a tough task to ask a team to pull out a win in the Bradley Center. I think it will be a very good game, especially once Notre Dame finds their footing in the different environment, but the adjustment will leave them with too tall of a defecit to climb. The Marquette ball pressure from Dominic James, McNeal and a very deep stable of guards will limit ND's effective perimeter attack.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Marquette 73 Notre Dame 66