NOTRE DAME VICTORIOUS IN TOP 15 BIG EAST BATTLE

The highlight of Tuesday night's Big East schedule was a Top-15 battle in South Bend (IN) between Notre Dame and Connecticut. Jim Calhoun's club opened the scoring with a three-pointer by freshman Jeremy Lamb to take a 3-0 lead. However, the Irish would run off 13 consecutive points to take a 13-3 lead, a lead they would never give up.

"I thought we did an incredibly poor job opening the game, allowing three-point shots to get them into a rhythm," Calhoun said following the game.

Tim Abromaitis started the barrage with a three to make the score 7-3 and then Scott Martin connected on a pair of three's just 30 seconds a part to punctuate the run and put the Irish ahead by 10 just 3:31 into the game.

Connecticut was forced to play catch-up all night and twice cut the Irish lead to two points in the first half, but each time the Irish would respond and add a little more cushion. The half ended with another Abromaitis three-pointer to give the Golden Domers a 38-30 halftime lead.

The Irish, not a particularly deep team under Mike Brey, were shorthanded as starting forward Carleton Scott was out with a hamstring injury. Scott is the team's third leading scorer, second leading rebounder and leader in blocked shots, but the Irish stepped up physically in the challenge against the Huskies.

"They physically handled us getting over screens," said Calhoun. "They physically handled us during rebounds. They pushed and bumped us. We all know this is a very physical league and they did a nice job with it. I think this is the most physical defensive team Mike (Brey) has had and obviously offensively they did a great job."


Notre Dame won the battle of the boards with a 36-33 rebounding edge. Starting in place of Scott was freshman Eric Atkins, a point guard out of Baltimore (MD). Atkins scored just seven points, but he directed the offense and contributed five assists without a turnover, drawing the praise from the Hall of Fame coach on the other sideline.

"I thought that Notre Dame did a great job, especially with (Carleton) Scott out and (Eric) Atkins played well against a pressure defense," said Calhoun.

The Huskies started out the second half with a 9-2 run, capped off by a pair of Kemba Walker buckets, and suddenly drew within a point of the Irish. The Irish had the answer each time, however, and kept their lead throughout and their own 9-2 run pushed their lead to 11, 64-53, with 5:31 left after a Ben Hansbrough steal and lay-up.

Hansbrough scored five of his game-high 21 points in that run and took on the challenge of defending Walker, the leading scorer in the BIG EAST. Walker scored 19 in the contest, but took 23 shots in doing so. His streak of 11 consecutive games of scoring more than 20 points was ended by the Irish and Hansbrough.

"I told Ben Hansbrough that it was a heck of a workout to guard Walker and then score 21 points while making key plays," Mike Brey said after the game. "Ben has been a man, but tonight he was the ultimate man on both ends of the floor."

Still, the young Huskies would not go away. Freshman Shabazz Napier hit a clutch three, sophomore Jamal Coombs-McDaniel also connected on a three-pointer and, of course, Walker made clutch plays as well. A pair of Walker free-throws with 22 seconds left brought UConn to within two at 70-68.

Abromaitis would make one of two foul shots and after a Walker miss on a three-pointer, Tyrone Nash would connect on a pair from the charity stripe for a 73-68 lead. Napier would draw UConn back to within a possession with a pair of foul shots of his own and the Huskies had new life after Abromaitis missed a pair of free throws with nine seconds left. The forward was an 87% shooter from the line a year ago but is now just seven of 14 on the season.

Connecticut was unable to make Notre Dame pay for their failure to put the game away as a long three-point attempt to tie by Napier missed badly.

In addition to the 21 scored by Hansbrough, Abromaitis added 19 with Scott Martin (13) and Tyrone Nash (11) also scoring in double figures. The Irish jump right back into BIG EAST action Saturday night when they host St. John's. The Red Storm has opened BIG EAST play with a 3-0 record and is the only team to date to win more than once on the road in league play. The Irish hold a 9-6 edge against SJU in league play.

Read more!

IRISH DROP FIRST GAME; LOSE TO KENTUCKY IN SEC/BIG EAST INVITATIONAL

The Big East has been flexing its muscles in the early part of the 2010-2011 college basketball season as the dominant conference thus far. Last night the SEC took a small bit of wind out of the sails of the conference by sweeping both contests in the DirecTV SEC/Big East Invitational played at Freedom Hall in Louisville (KY). In the opening contest, Arkansas got past Seton Hall by the score of 71-62 and the evening was closed out with No. 17 Kentucky using a strong second half to put an end to the undefeated start of No. 23 Notre Dame, 72-58.

The Fighting Irish entered the contest with an 8-0 record and looked to take control of the contest early using a 16-4 run to take a 27-20 lead midway through the first half. Senior Ben Hansbrough connected on four three-pointers and scored 14 of his team-high 21 points in the game's first 10 minutes helping the Irish to the seven-point lead.

After Kentucky cut the lead back to two, Hansbrough would spark a 9-0 run with a three and a jumper and the Irish had their largest lead, 38-27, with 4:44 left in the first half on a pair of free throws by Tim Abromaitis.

However, the Irish offense would disappear and the Wildcats embarked on a 26-6 run over 14:40, spanning the first and second halfs for a 53-44 lead with 10:04 left in the game. Notre Dame would go more than 12 minutes without a field goal, missing 10 consecutive shots and turning it over five times in that stretch as Kentucky took control of the game.

"We missed some stuff around the basket, that deflated us a little," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said afterwards in the AP write-up. "I thought we were poised at times and we were frazzled at times. We weren't scoring."

The Irish mounted one last charge, cutting the deficit to four, 57-53, with 5:03 remaining when freshman Eric Atkins made two free throws. However, Terrence Jones took over for UK going on a personal 10-4 run putting John Calipari's club up by 10, 67-57, with just 1:13 remaining. Jones dominated the contest scoring 27 points, grabbing 17 rebounds and adding three assists and two blocks for good measure as Kentucky took home the win by the final of 72-58.

"Jones is an amazing talent, a tough matchup," Brey said.

After his hot start, Hansbrough finished with 21 points, just just two in the game's final 24 minutes. Carelton Scott added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Irish as Notre Dame shot just six of 30 (20%) from the field in the second half after shooting 56% (14-25) in the opening 20 minutes.

The Irish fall to 8-1 on the season and have Gonzaga coming to Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center this Saturday night for a non-conference showdown.

======================================================================

Don't forget the Big East fan on your holiday shopping list with 2011 Big East Tournament Tickets this March in Madison Square Garden. Also visit our 2011 Big East Tournament & Tickets page for more details.

=============================================================================

Read more!

NOTRE DAME WHITES OUT IUPUI EARLY

Notre Dame had little trouble Wednesday night as the Irish Bolt to Big First Half Lead and Topple IUPUI (South Bend Tribune) 93-70 at Purcell Pavilion.

On a night where the Weather was Frightful, the Irish were Delightful (Journal Gazette), especially Ben Hansbrough, who scored 22 points to lead the Irish.

Tim Abromaitis continued his strong play with 18 more points in his new starting role and Luke Harangody added an efficient 16 points and 11 rebounds as he moves into fifth place on the all-time Irish scoring list.

Read more!

BIG SECOND HALF POWERS IRISH TO 8-1 START

Notre Dame found themselves in quite a tussle with Central Florida for 20 minutes. The Irish went into halftime tied at 41 with the visitors after a Tim Abromaitis bucket at the buzzer tied the score. It was just a small contribution as the Irish Junior Shined in First Start (Journal Gazette), scoring 31 points for the game and helping the Irish break things open in the second half on their way to a 90-72 win at Purcell Pavilion in South Bend. Abromaitis and Luke Harangody Help Irish Improve to 8-1 (NWI Times) as Harangody added 29 points and 7 rebounds in the win.

The Irish got a slight scare late in the game when Buena Vista's Tory Jackson Twisted an Ankle Late in ND's Win (MLive.com) and did not return to the game. Irish Coach Mike Brey told the press after the game that Jackson could have returned, but with the game in hand they took the conservative approach to prevent the chance of additional injury. Jackson had an excellent floor game running the Irish offense with 9 assists and zero turnovers in 27 minutes.

Abromaitis' Big Day Powered the Irish (South Bend Tribune) early as he tied his career high of 17 points before intermission and picked up the slack for Harangody who missed the final 5:40 of the first half with three personal fouls.

The Irish return to action on Wednesday inside Purcell Pavilion when they host IUPUI.

With his father, Michael Jordan, watching from the upper press box, freshman Marcus Jordan was 4-of-4 shooting for nine points in 20 minutes for UCF.

Read more!

HARANGODY SCORES 2000TH POINT IN NOTRE DAME WIN

It was a big night for Notre Dame big man Luke Harangody as the Senior Scores 2000th Career Point in Victory (Journal Gazette) over Idaho State. Reaching the milestone 22 seconds into the contest did not slow down as Harangody Sets Another Record in the Win (NWI Times) becoming the first Irish player to combine 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. Harangody finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds leading the Irish to the 80-70 win.

The Irish shot 55% from the floor for the game. Ben Hansbrough added 14 in the win. But the night belonged to Harangody as the6-foot-8 forward from Schererville (IN) now stands sixth on Notre Dame's career scoring list, as he passed former Irish star and current Indiana Pacer Troy Murphy. His 2,025 career points are just 535 less than Austin Carr's all-time record of 2,560.

After a close first half, ND used an 18-5 run to begin the second half and put the game away. Idaho State did manage to shoot 51% on the game, indicating the Irish could still use improvements on the defensive end of the floor before Big East play starts later this month.

Read more!

NOTRE DAME HOOPS CRUISE TO EXHIBITION WIN

Courtesy of NBE Basketball Report


Notre Dame was in action back on Friday night as Slow & Steady Wins it for Irish (South Bend Tribune) in a 75-54 exhibition victory over Division II Quincy (Ill.) University at Purcell Pavilion.

As is the norm, Luke Harangody based the Irish with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He continues to show his willingness to step out beyond the arc and he connected on three of four three's in the win. Mississippi State transfer Ben Hansbrough finished with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds for Notre Dame who opens the regular season Saturday afternoon against North Florida.

Read more!

NOTRE DAME FALLS IN NIT SEMIFINALS

April 1, 2009


by Ray Floriani


NEW YORK CITY – Notre Dame battled back from a poor first half but it wasn’t enough. The Irish fell to Penn State 67-59 in the semifinal of the NIT. Penn State moved on to the championship game to face Baylor, a 76-62 winner over San Diego State.
.

The final numbers….

…………………….POSS…………. PPP…………. eFG…………TO Rate
…Penn State…………66……………1.02………….46……………9…….
…Notre Dame……….66……………0.89…………..40……………11…..


The keys to the contest…

The start. Notre Dame shot 8 of 35 (22%) in the first half. At the break the Irish trailed 31-18 and were truly fortunate the deficit wasn’t twenty. Penn State defended as Luke Harangody (2 of 10 for four points) and Kyle McAlarney (1 of 7 for two pts) struggled on the offensive end.

Defensively Mike Brey’s club was getting beat in transition and Penn State guard Talor Battle proved to be a tough matchup on the break or in half court with his penetration.

The second half Notre Dame found the range. And what threatened to be a twenty point deficit was whittled to a three possession game with just under eight minutes to play. Harangody, bodied down low to the point of frustration was now getting effective and scoring. The Notre Dame full court pressure and half court traps caused problems. With the Irish down four and just under four minutes to go, Penn State’s Jamelle Cornlery hit a big , hotly contested, jumper in the lane to give the Lions some breathing room. Penn State went on to seal it from the charity stripe.

The Irish, paced by Harangody’s 17 points, ended the campaign 21-15. Battle led Penn State with 17. A crowd of 11,352 was on hand.

Notre Dame went through the NIT with a good mindset. Often teams not getting an NCAA invite approach the tournament with a little disappointment and are eliminated first round. The Irish, who finished as NIT runners-up on four occasions, planned to be around a while. “After we lost in the Big East Tournament coach (Mike Brey) told us in the locker room, we’ll be back here,” said ND assistant Anthony Solomon. “All along we worked and pointed to getting back to New York.” They did but the stay was a game shorter than hoped.

Harangody, as noted was frustrated by the physical play. He did setrlle down and play a big part in Notre Dame’s run the last eight minutes. Consencus of NBA scouts on hand, is he would best be served with another year in South Bend. “In the NBA he (Harangody) will see bigger defenders who are quicker and stronger than what’s he’s seen tonight.”

Joe Pa, Penn State’s legendary Joe Paterno, entered MSG with 6 minutes left in the first half to a rousing ovation from the Penn State faithful.

Read more!

NOTRE DAME ADVANCES IN NIT WITH WIN OVER UAB

March 18, 2009


NIT action in the Big East began last night with Notre Dame facing a tough UAB squad led by Mike Davis.

The Irish Survive 1st Round vs. Blazers (Post-Tribune) as a Late Run Gets ND a Seat in 2nd Round (Journal-Gazette) in a 70-64 victory.

A 10-0 run, aided by a technical foul on UAB coach Davis, but the Irish up 60-50 heading into the stretch and Notre Dame would hold on for the win in front of just 2,039 fans on St. Patrick's Day on the Irish campus.

Luke Harangody scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Irish improved to 19-14 on the season. Robert Vaden led UAB with 24 points as the Blazers finish the season at 22-12.

Read more!

BELLY OF THE BE-AST: IRISH BROKEN BY 'NOVA

March 3, 2009

by Ray Mernagh


Last night Notre Dame still had hope, with a really good Villanova team visiting South Bend, that a season full of endless struggles could be saved. After losing at Connecticut last weekend, every single Irishmen inside the Joyce Center's locker room knew this game, plus the next one against St. John's, were must wins. Victory in both would -- amazingly -- have them in position, with some light lifting at the Garden next week, to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Mike Brey confirmed this belief before the game to the ESPN cameras when he said they "needed to win 1 of these 2" games in the UConn/'Nova stretch. What he didn't say, or more likely what wasn't shown or asked, was how the Irish planned on doing that.



When given the opportunity to spend time with a coach before a game, any media scribe worth his Morton's will try and find out what that coach wants his team to take away from the opposition. Do they want to take away the dribble-drive to the middle by shading the defense towards the baseline, or take away the baseline by shading towards the lane? Maybe they want to trap the other team's primary ball handler whenever possible so that he'll have to give the ball up to a less-capable decision maker. Do they want to chase the other team's two best three-point shooters off the line and make them drive the ball because they tend to turn it over when attempting a blow-by dribble on a hard closeout?

Read Rest of Article...Click 'Read More' Below!!!


The same questions can apply offensively too. Do they want to drive and kick? Bring the other team's big man out top so the driving lanes are more open? Run a particular defender through a ton of screens all night long? Feed the post and play inside-out? Run off misses? What about makes? Look for the trailers on the secondary break? Even when the opportunity to pick the staff's brain is denied, it's usually easy enough to figure out the game-plan -- on both ends of the court -- within the first five minutes of action. All you have to do is pay attention to the floor and then look to the bench's reaction to what happens at the end of each possession. If the bench, meaning the coaches, are clapping that means they're happy with what just happened. If they're pointing at a player to go into the game and the kid coming out is getting a saliva shower as he's dressed down about his role in what just transpired -- you can assume whatever he did wasn't part of the plan discussed ad nauseum for the last 36 hours.

Having said all that, and after watching the tape of Villanova's 77-60 win at least three times, I'm still stymied about what Notre Dame's plan was. Villanova's defensive plan was clearly to take away Kyle McAlarney's open looks and to push Harangody off the block and frustrate him. The 'Nova plan on offense was to attack the inept Irish D with ball-screens, which they've refused to defend all year, plus go right at Harangody in the post.

Notre Dame is a team that seems to want to trade baskets in the hope that at some point you'll start missing yours. That seems to be their plan in every game. I know Mike Brey is a good coach. I've got to believe he has more of a plan than that -- but his players don't seem capable of executing any plan other than the "we're gonna outscore you" one. It just doesn't work when there's literally no desire at all, by anyone other than Tory Jackson and Tyrone Nash, to play any kind of defense. It also doesn't help when a great college guard like Scottie Reynolds is completely comfortable in what's supposed to be a hostile setting. Reynolds toyed with the Irish all night, while Dante Cunningham and Shane Clark's work against Harangody should put any argument about him being Player of the Year in the league on mute.

A few examples I'll highlight here explain Notre Dame's troubles this season far more than the brutal Big East TV schedule they've played does.

1) Villanova's first bucket of the game, a three by Scottie Reynolds, comes after a brutal Dante Cunningham ball screen all but knocks Tory Jackson the 167.9 miles back to his native Saginaw, Michigan. Obviously nobody communicated with Jackson on the play. In this instance it was Harangody who compounded the mistake by not even attempting to hedge or get an effective hand up on Reynolds. It's happened all year, in every Notre Dame game I've seen, they just switch ball-screens. Maybe Jackson would've tried to get over the screen if he'd only known it was coming. It's just a huge error in fundamentals. The following three-step process in playing the ball-screen comes right out of the Charlie Coles taught Basketball Theory class at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One -- You tell the guy on the ball the screen is coming. Two -- You hedge up on the high-side of the screen to stop the dribbler's momentum. Three -- the on the ball defender fights over the screen, gets in front of his man again and you recover back on your man. There's a theory out there that this ND team lacks athleticism and quickness. The theory has a lot of merit with some of their players. It has none with both Jackson and Harangody. Anyone who saw the big guy catch that long pass in transition, dribble and then spin last night isn't being honest if they think Luke can't hedge on a ball screen and recover. He just doesn't want to.

2) On another defensive possession Tory Jackson denies an entry pass into the post by using a lot of effort, ultimately kicking out his leg and stopping it with his foot. This results in Jackson being stretched to the point of doing the splits and he falls awkwardly to the ground. Three of his teammates look at him -- they see him on the floor after making a solid defensive play -- and not one comes over with a hand to help him up.

3) At the 5:00 mark in the second half Dwayne Anderson of Villanova shoots an air ball. Harangody starts to run ahead on offense, assuming Ryan Ayers will come up with the miss. By the time Corey Stokes out-physicals Ayers for the ball, Harangody is almost to the free throw line. He can't do anything but look back as the uncovered Anderson dunks the ball for a 67-51 lead. Harangody was benched right after this and despite what Brey claimed after the game, I think this is the coach's attempt to bring out the Donovan McNabb in his All-American down the stretch. Lord knows he's gotta try something.

The three examples offered above are simple, fundamental things -- defending a ball screen, helping up a teammate that fell because he hustled, and boxing out a shooter until your team has possession of the ball -- that good teams do. Notre Dame didn't do any of them. The Irish were supposed to be a desperate team last night. Instead, they appeared entitled.

One of the announcers argued that Notre Dame "has proven they can beat really good teams" this season when talking about the Irish's at-large hopes. I agree. Notre Dame has proven they can beat really good teams exactly once this year. They beat Texas, who I'd call a decent team, 81-80 in November. They beat a very good team, Louisville, last month in a game that Rick Pitino used as a teaching tool by sitting down his starters in the second half.

Notre Dame has lost to every other good team they've played. The only hope the Irish have now of an NCAA berth is to win five games in a row next week in the 2009 Big East Tournament next week in New York City. There's only one problem -- Notre Dame just isn't a very good team.

-------------------------------

Ray Mernagh is the Basketball Editor for the Pittsburgh Sports Report and writes for Basketball Times as well as his own blog, Hoop Wise. Ray's first book, 1 Chance 2 Dance: A Season Inside Mid-Major Hoops in Mid-America, focuses on 18 months of MAC basketball.

-------------------------------

Read more!

NOTRE DAME'S NCAA HOPES ON LIFE SUPPORT

March 3, 2009


Notre Dame has been working at digging out of the hole that a seven-game losing streak had caused. There seemed to be some progress of rebuilding the season from the ruins of a failed top 10 team, but the Irish NCAA Hopes takes Another Hit (Post-Tribune), and this one could be fatal, as it appears the Irish are Likely Headed to the NIT After Bad Loss to 'Nova (South Bend Tribune) on the Joyce Center court Monday night.

Villanova and ND played to a 32-all first half tie as a mountain of Irish turnovers prevented ND from taking a lead at the break.

The second-half was a different story as No. 11 Villanova Pounds Notre Dame (Chicago Tribune), outscoring the Irish 45-28 in the second half on the way for a 77-60 win.

'Nova junior Scottie Reynolds scored 23 points and senior Dante Cunningham added 18 for the Wildcats who shot 45% from the field and committed just five turnovers in the entire game.

Ryan Ayers connected on seven three's and scored 23 points to lead Notre Dame and Luke Harangody added 18, but Kyle McAlarney's lone three-pointer came on the Irish's first possession and his five points were the next highest total for an ND player behind Ayers and Harangody.

Notre Dame was not helped by their 15 turnovers, 39% shooting from the field and a 10-20 night from the foul line. The Irish close the regular season by hosting St. John's, but anything short of winning the 2009 Big East Tournament likely means the NIT for the Irish, a team that started the season ranked among the top 10 in the country.

Read more!

NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL LOSSES 7th STRAIGHT

February 7, 2009

It is getting bad to worse for Notre Dame as the Irish left the conference Saturday and were destroyed by UCLA in California.

The Bruins Run Away from Notre Dame (South Bend Tribune) in an 89-63 win that was not even that close.

Tory Jackson, despite not starting, led the Irish with 17 points and Kyle McAlarney scored 16. The UCLA defense did quite a number on Luke Harangody, holding the reigning Big East Player of the Year to just five points on two of 12 shooting from the field in a frustrating 25 minutes of play.

UCLA shot 57% from the field in handing the Irish their seventh straight loss. Notre Dame will look to end their losing streak Thursday night when they host Louisville.

Read more!

IRISH SEASON UNRAVELING, LOSE SIXTH STRAIGHT

February 5, 2009


So with their season most likely on the line last night against Cincinnati, how does Notre Dame respond to the challenge? By giving up 93 points for the second consecutive game as the Bearcats Deep-Six ND (South Bend Tribune), dropping them to 3-7 in the Big East.

The Bearcats Shock Irish, Extend Losing Streak to Six (Journal Gazette) as junior Deonta Vaughn scored 34 points while just making five (all three's) shots from the floor. Vaughn was 19-22 from the line and as a team UC was 31-41.

Larry Davis added 21 points and Yancy Gates had 15 points and 8 rebounds as UC Takes Down Irish (Cincinnati Enquirer) at US Bank Arena in Downtown Cincinnati and even their conference mark at 5-5.

Notre Dame's next outing is a non-conference encounter with UCLA in California on Saturday. The Irish return to Big East action when they host Louisville a week from today.

Luke Harangody had a team-high 28 points and added 14 rebounds and 5 assists. Irish frustrations seemed to boil over near the end of the 1st half when Kyle McAlarney was assessed a technical foul for a shoving altercation with UC big man Steven Toyloy. The Irish led by three, but Vaughn hit one of two foul shots from the T and then was fouled after the inbounds and made both free throws to knot the score at 37-all heading to the break.

McAlarney was just two of 12 from the floor, finishign with 13 points. Ryan Ayers came off the bench to score 14 before fouling out, Tory Jackson, who was scoreless in their loss at Pittsburgh over the weekend scored 11, as did Zach Hillesland.

Read more!

NOTRE DAME FALLS TO 3-5 IN BIG EAST

January 27, 2009

Marquette continued their run through the early portion of their Big East schedule with a victory at Notre Dame last night in ESPN's Big Monday telecast.

The Golden Eagles are a team Seasoned Right (Journal Sentinel) led by their senior guard trio. Last night, Jerel McNeal scored a team-high 27 points with Jerel McNeal added 16 and Dominic James contributed 15 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and helped direct an offense that turned the ball over just three times all game. Lazar Hayward closed the MU scored with 13 points (that is right, just four Golden Eagles scored) in the 71-64 victory.

Luke Harangody had 29 points and 17 rebounds for the Irish as Notre Dame Loses Second Straight at Home (nwitimes.com) after UConn broked their 45-game win streak at the Joyce Center on Saturday night. It was the fourth loss overall for ND, dropping them to 3-5 in the Big East as the Irish are Losing Grip on the Season (Journal Gazette) that began with so many expectations on the club.

There was talk of 'relief' that the pressure of the home streak had been lifted with the loss to UConn and a sense of a new beginning, but Notre Dame Suffers Must-Win Meltdown (Chicago Tribune) as their line-up shuffle failed to provide the spark and an Anemic Offense Leads to Fourth Staright ND Loss (Post-Tribune).

Jonathan Peoples and Luke Zeller were inserted into the starting line-up to replace slumping seniors Zach Hillesland and Ryan Ayers. The move failed to provide any sort of a 'spark' as Ayers-Hillesland combined to go 0-10 in the game and the Irish got zero bench points.

Tory Jackson had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists for the Irish, who will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers on Saturday. At 12-7, with the date with Pitt and road games with Cincinnati and UCLA to follow immediately afterwards, the Irish Feel a 'Sense of Worry' (South Bend Tribune) about a season on the brink.

Read more!

IRISH HOME WIN STREAK IS FINISHED

January 25, 2009



It is over. UConn Ends Notre Dame's Home Winning Streak at 45 Games (Chicago Tribune) with a 69-61 win in South Bend.

UConn Takes the Fight Out of the Irish (New Haven Register) other than Luke Harangody, and that was the key to winning. Harangody led Notre Dame with 24 points and 15 rebounds, but it took him 23 shots to get those 24 points and he was the only ND player to score in double figures.

Kyle McAlarney hit three early three's, but was shut out the rest of the way.

Read more!

HYPE BUILDS FOR ESPN GAMEDAY SHOWDOWN

The biggest challenge yet to the 45-game Notre Dame home winning streak could come this weekend when Connecticut comes into South Bend. The Irish Put 'Surprising' Streak on the Line (Post-Tribune) against the conference favorite who looks to be finding their stride with six straight wins after a conference-opening stumble.

The Irish will be extra primed for the affair with the ESPN Primetime audience of 'College Gameday' as well as the long-awaited match-up between Hasheem Thabeet and Luke Harangody following some brash preseason talk by the 7'3 Thabeet in a preseason ESPN The Magazine article where he refereed to the 2007-2008 Big East Player of the Year as 'not tough.' Immediately feeling bad for how the article came out, Thabeet Apologized to Harangody (NewsTimes) and to Irish coach Mike Brey. While the situated might be defused among the players and teams...expect the Irish fans to remember it well.

“We’re not going to do anything different with our routine just because it’s ‘College Gameday,’” Brey told reporters during this week's Big East coach's conference call.

While Brey and his team may not be doing anything different, the atmosphere likely will as ND is Channeling History (South Bend Tribune) to revive the atmosphere of the past that has brought some of the most remembered college upsets to the Joyce Center in the past.

Read more!

NBE REPORT CATCHES UP WITH LUKE HARANGODY

by Raymond Balter


Under Head Coach Mike Brey, the University of Notre Dame Men’s Basketball program is on more of a roll then they have been in many years. The Fighting Irish are ranked in the top twenty-five in virtually every pre-season poll, are listed in the top ten in most of them, and are pegged to finish as high as third by Blue Ribbon. Leading the way for them this year once again will be reigning Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody, who NBE Report spoke with at last Wednesday’s Big East Media Day.


Luke Harangody had quite a season last year for Notre Dame. The 6’8 forward averaged 20.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, statistics that were good enough to earn him league player of the year honors. What is even more impressive is that his Big East totals were even better than those overall numbers: against league foes, his averages were 23.3 points and 11.6 boards per game. On top of it all, he did all that while just a sophomore.


Now the native of Shererville, Ind. is back for his junior campaign (which also makes him the first reigning BE POY to forgo a professional opportunity and come back since Pitt’s Brandin Knight, who shared the honor with UConn’s Caron Butler in 2001-02, returned to play for the Panthers the following year).

Since Indiana is such a basketball-crazed state and he was already a pretty big star coming out of high school (though hardly a McDonald’s All-America type), his sudden fame is not such a big deal.


“There have been a lot of people that have followed me over the course of my career and are still following me," he said. “There have been so many people that followed me back home and are still following me." About his new star status, he said that, “I don’t think it’s changed me personally, but it has put more pressure on me and got me in the gym more to become that much better of a player and that’s a positive."


Harangody said that his final four choices coming out of high school were Indiana, Purdue, Ohio St., and Notre Dame. What was it that led him to pick the Irish? “The coaching staff – and you’re not going to find a group of players like this anywhere in the country," he said. “That’s the one thing that stuck out about Notre Dame." About his coaches, he had particularly high words of praise for the head man.


“Coach Brey has given me the confidence to become the player that I am today," he said. “That helped me out a lot, because if not for him, I probably would not be sitting where I am now. He instilled in me the confidence that I could be one of the top players in this league." Still, Harangody appears to be in no rush for the next level, and seems more focused on the task at hand this year.


“It’s great for the program to be getting all the hype, but we’re a veteran group and we know how to go about our business," he said. About the NBA, he had this to say: “You think about it, people start talking about it. It’s always been a dream of mine to play in the NBA, and now I’m going to take it one step at a time and see how it goes."

Read more!