BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: ND LOOKS TO START NEW STREAK

January 26, 2009



Notre Dame is forced to rebound quickly following Saturday night's 69-61 home loss to Connecticut, a loss that snapped the Irish 45-game home winning streak. The last team to beat the Fighting Irish at the Joyce Center comes to town tonight as Marquette and ND hook up for a Big Monday battle.

More concerning to Irish coach Mike Brey than the end of a 45-game home winning streak is the current three-game losing steak the Irish find themselved mired in. Saturday night's loss knocked Notre Dame to 3-4 in Big East play.

Marquette has been rolling along in conference play, beating Depaul on Saturday to move to 6-0 in Big East play. The Golden Eagles will look to keep on rolling tonight and begin a home losing streak for ND.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from the internet today:

ND Off Course in Big East (South Bend Tribune)
No Longer a Matter of Record (Journal-Sentinel)
Line-up Shake-up Likely for Notre Dame (Chicago Tribune)
Notre Dame Looks to End Three-Game Losing Streak (Chicago Tribune)
Acker Raising Game, Elevating Profile Off of Bench (Journal-Sentinel)

This is a really important game for Notre Dame who will embark on a three-game road trip afterwards. With trip to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and UCLA to follow, the Irish need to right the ship quickly.

Teams seem to be content on letting Luke Harangody rack up some big numbers as they concentrate on stopping the rest of the Irish players. That scheme will fall right into the Golden Eagles' plan ss they do not have the muscle inside to slow Harangody, but their quick hands will try and make him work for his points. In the three-game losing streak, nobody is stopping Harangody from putting up his stats, nearly 26 points and 15 rebounds a game, but he has had to take 79 shots (over 26 a game) to get those numbers.

it is being proven that Tory Jackson and Kyle McAlarney make this team go. Harangody will get his, but their failure to replace Rob Kurz with a consistent third scoring option and another post player to take the pressure off of Harangody has made the Irish quite beatable. Add in the fact that their defense struggles and it is clear to see why ND is sliding.

Marquette is definitely not sliding, they are rising quickly up the basketball polls. The guard trio of Jerel McNeal, Wesley Mathews and Dominic James applies pressure on both ends of the court to opposing backcourts. Their defensive effort usually takes teams right out of their comfort zone and makes up for their lack of size by disrputing play on the perimeter.

Mathews and McNeal are having tremendous senior seasons offensively, both averaging 19 points a game, and continue to wreak havoc defensively. Junior forward Lazar Hayward has taken to his role as an undersized big forward, averaging over 16 points and nearly 9 rebounds a game.

The oddsmakers have made the Irish a 3 1/2 point favorite tonight. This game almost looks to be a toss up. Marquette seems to be the better team, but are they do for a loss? I am not convinced it comes tonight as Marquette has the personnell to make things difficult for McAlarney to find shots and for Jackson to get into the offense. Despite a zone defense from the Irish, Marquette will look to hit the seams with their quickness and also score in transition when the Irish get lax on defense, which happens all too often.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Marquette 75
Notre Dame 71