BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: CONNECTICUT @ NOTRE DAME

January 24, 2009

Notre Dame puts their nation’s best 45-game home win streak on the line Saturday night when Connecticut comes to town. The Irish have won 20 straight at home in Big East play and the Huskies will try to break both streaks in front of the ESPN ‘College Gameday’ crew.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on the game from around the internet:

Fightin’ Words (Journal Inquirer)
Circus Set to Descend on South Bend (TheDay.com)
Losing at Home Isn’t an Option for Notre Dame (Chicago Tribune)
Will Harangody be Ready for Thabeet? You Bet (South Bend Tribune)
Tough Talk from Fighting Irish (New Haven Register)
Joking Aside, Thabeet has to Walk the Walk (Norwich Bulletin)
Subplots Spice Up UConn-Irish (Waterbury Rep-Am)
Notre Dame Needs to Hear from Zach Hillesland (Chicago Tribune)
Irish are Decidedly Pro Joyce (Journal Inquirer)
Vitale Likes UConn’s Chances at Final Four (Hartford Courant)
Things are About to Heat Up in South Bend (TheDay.com)
Irish Hurt by Lack of Cohesiveness (Journal Gazette)

According to Hasheem Thabeet, UConn’s 7’3 center, Luke Harangody is not all that tough. Pretty interesting stuff to say about the 2007-2008 Big East Player of the Year, who is averaging 25 points and 13 rebounds a game as a junior this season.

Thabeet made that statement in the ESPN The Magazine’s preseason college basketball edition. He quickly fired off an apology to Notre Dame and claimed it was taken out of context in an attempt to be funny. Personally, I believe him and this is an incident that has gotten rekindled this week, but really is no big deal to the players and coaches involved. However, it will be a point of interest for the Notre Dame faithful who will likely be reminder Thabeet and Harangody all game long.

I guess Thabeet is forgetting the 32-point, 16-rebound performance Harangody had against UConn last season. Although, the first meeting last year between the two teams, won by ND, Harangody was just 5-23 from the floor as he was bothered by the size of the UConn frontline.

It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Harangody is going to accrue big numbers in points and rebounds every time out. In his last three games, he has averaged 27.6 points and 15 rebounds a game, however his efficiency has taken a big hit. He is just 30-79 from the field in those three games. I imagine UConn will be more than happy to let Harangody get his 25 points if it takes him 25 shots, especially since it means Kyle McAlarney is not getting more attempts. In ND’s win over UConn last year, McAlarney went off for 32 points, hitting 13 of 19 (including 6 of 7 on three’s). In the loss, K-Mac was just 4-14 for 12 points.

The Huskies will need AJ Price to continue his revitalization and the big front line to make things difficult for Harangody to get his points. Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet seem like the perfect duo to do just that. Also, defensively, Jerome Dyson and Stanley Robinson need to keep McAlarney and Ryan Ayers from getting going on the perimeter.

Notre Dame is in the midst of a brutal stretch of games. The started this run out with a pair of losses, OT at Louisville and they were run out of the Carrier Dome by Syracuse. Now they host UConn on Saturday night and turnaround and have Marquette coming in on Monday. Following that they have a three-game road trip against Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and leave the conference for a date with UCLA. Then, they return home to meet Louisville. Getting back into the win column is very important for the Irish, but it might be a very tough task against the streaking UConn Huskies. The Irish will have to prove it on the defensive side of the ball against the UConn club, something I am not sure they are willing to do and will see their home win streak stopped.

The latest NCAA basketball odds have UConn as a 2 1/2–point favorite on the road.



NBE Blogger Prediction:

Connecticut 81
Notre Dame 77