BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: MARQUETTE @ NOTRE DAME

February 9, 2008


The Notre Dame home winning streak gets one of its toughest tests yet as the Irish host Tom Crean's Marquette Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon. With the Irish coming off one of their best performances of the season, a 95-69 win over Seton Hall, and Marquette coming off one of their worst, a 71-57 loss at home to Louisville, it will be interesting to see how each team responds from very different experiences.

One thing on the mind of the Notre Dame players to keep them from relaxing going in this game is the memory of Marquette's 92-66 drubbling of the Irish back in January at the Bradley Center. Marquette was all over the court that afternoon, forcing Notre Dame into 24 turnovers and shooting 50% from beyond the arc with 12 made three's. Was that really the same Marquette team that struggles so much shooting from the perimter?

Even in their defeat in the last meeting, Luke Harangody was dominate inside, scoring 29 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Against Marquette's soft interior, look for similar success inside again on Saturday.

What Notre Dame has to do a better job in is defending Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward as the Irish had little luck defending the pair in the first meeting. McNeal and hayward combined for 35 points while forcing Kyle McAlarney and Rob Kurz to shoot 6-16 from the floor and commit a combined 10 turnovers, clearly winning that match-up.

Notre Dame will almost certainly settle into a zone defense and dare Marquette to shoot the ball that well again. The Irish do not have the lenght and athleticism that UConn and Louisville have that have given the Golden Eagles so much trouble this season. However, they can provide a similar challenge to what West Virginia did when MU lost in Morgantown.

Both teams should have plenty of motivation in this one. If Kyle McAlarney provides the outside threat to Luke Harangody's inside dominance, Notre Dame should continue their home win streak. It will not be easy as Marquette provides a challenge to the Notre Dame guards that they could be vulnerable to.

I expect a back and forth game, but when it settles into crunch time, Marquette will not have the answer to keep Harangody from scoring.

NBE Blogger Prediction: Notre Dame 74 Marquette 70