BET GAME PREVIEW: NOTRE DAME VS WEST VIRGINIA

March 11, 2009



Notre Dame got past Rutgers on the opening night of the 2009 Big East Tournament, 61-50, and sets up Wednesday night's meeting with West Virginia.

Despite a 3-17 shooting performance from Luke Harangody, the Irish were able to keep the Scarlet Knights at bay and put an end to the RU season. Tory Jackson had a team-high 12 points for ND with Staten Ilsand native Myle McAlarney adding 11.

Notre Dame improved to 18-13 overall on the season. The finished 8-10 in the Big East, good for the 10th-seed in the conference tournament. However, a season of disappointment for the Irish can only be salvaged with an unprecendented run of five wins in five nights through the Big East Tournament to earn the automatice bid for the 2009 NCAA Tournament.

On the other side of the ledger this evening is Bob Huggins' West Virginia Mountaineers. With a 10-8 Big East record and overall mark of 21-10, WVU has a ticket punched to the 'Dance' and will use this week in NYC to hopefully improve their seeding.

WVU defeated the Irish, 79-68, in Morgantown in their lone meeting this season. Alex Ruoff broke out of a shooting slump in that contest, scoring 24 points and junior Da'Sean Butler scored 19. Both players will look to shake off their poor night's in the season finale, a loss to Louisville, and lead WVU tonight.

Here are some pregame stories and previews on tonight's game:

New Season Starts Today (Times West Virginian)
WVU Chances Hinge Largely on Rebounding, Shooting (Times West Virginian)
Mountaineers Need Shots from Ruoff, Butler (Daily Mail)
To Bye or Not to Bye (Charleston Gazette)
Jackson Points Way for ND (South Bend Tribune)
Irish Home Free in Opener (Journal Gazette)


There is something about Notre Dame that you still beleive they can put something together here in New York. Last night, an off night from Luke Harangody allowed Rutgers to put the clamps on Kyle McAlarney on the perimeter, limiting his open looks and pulling the usually high-scoring Irish into a rock fight. Although it is not their preferred style, they lucked out that their opponent lacks firepower and ND pulled out a 61-50 win.

Tonight they will face another team that will be tougher on the boards and getting after it on defense, traits of a Bob Huggins team. And, if that was not enough, a win over WVU brings up Pittsburgh in the quarterfinals. So, one can see what the Irish are up against if they are to pull off the improbable run through the conference tournament. They will have to get down and dirty on both ends of the floor.

In their first game against the Mountaineers, the Irish grabbed an early double-digit lead, only to see WVU storm back and take a lead at the half and pretty much cruise through the second half. WVU will look to hit the boards hard once again and take care of the basketball. The Irish defense is not one that forces too many turnovers, so the effort on the boards by WVU should lead to extra chances to score, which will make the difference in tonight's game.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

West Virginia 72
Notre Dame 66