Louisville Sends Notre Dame Packing
Notre Dame was defeated 90-85 on the road last night in Louisville. The win sends the No. 18 Cardinals to the top of the Big East standings, tied with No. 10 Georgetown with a conference record of 13-3. The Irish now have a Big East record of 11-4, meaning that they are 1.5 games back from the Big East lead. Luke Harangody had a huge game for Notre Dame. He put up a season-high 40 points and snagged 12 rebounds. However, it was not enough to survive Rick Pitino, the surging Cardinals and a great home crowd.
The Irish can take solace in the fact that they lost to a very good team. They’re place in the AP Top 25 will probably still be assured in next week’s poll. It was nowhere near a blowout, although the final score was slightly closer than the actual game was when the Irish knew they were defeated. You can see a good video highlight of the game at the recap page on ESPN.com. Next up for the Irish is DePaul on Sunday. Notre Dame will probably take a lot of frustration out on DP, so make sure you’re at the game. We’ll see you all back here on Monday.
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What Will Louisville Do Defensively Against Notre Dame?
What will Louisville do defensively to stop the seemingly unstoppable Notre Dame offense? That’s the question on everybody’s mind, but none more than Cardinals coach Rick Patino. There’s a great article at eWoss Sports about Pitino’s trouble finding something that will work for his defense against the Irish. If you like to smell the fear in your enemy, then this is the article you need to read.
As you might have seen, the Irish lit up Syracuse in their latest dismantling of a traditional zone defense. When teams go zone, the Irish have the shooters to bust the lockdown wide open. Guys like Kyle McAlarney will gladly drain threes all night against a zone. If you go traditional man-to-man, the Irish can always dump the ball into a bruiser like Big Luke and pound out the buckets. Frustrated teams will sometimes go with “junk,” combination or off-the-cuff defensive schemes to try to disrupt the Irish attack, but those are both usually confusing for the opposing players and result in a lot of miscues- and Notre Dame points.
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“Getting Inside” with the Notre Dame Basketball Team
If you check out the Notre Dame team page at CBS Sports, you’ll see some features about the Fighting Irish basketball team, compliments of the sports information gathering service called The Sports Xchange. In the section titled “Getting Inside” you can see a brief article about the team with some commentary on the state of things in South Bend.
“Notes, Quotes” is a nice little package of some interesting facts about the Irish. For instance, they’ll tell you exactly how good the Irish have been at the free throw line compared to the rest of the Big East. You’ll also get to see another great streak that the Irish are on right now (besides their home winning streak).
In “Strategy and Personnel” you get to know the regular rotation of Notre Dame players. But, you should already know how the team has been working, what with all the tickets you’ve been buying and all. The next game for the Irish is on the road in Louisville, so you might want to put together a little road trip with some college buddies to travel down to Kentucky for the game. Or, you can watch it on TV and wait for the Irish to come back to town.
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No. 13 Louisville: A Tough Task for Irish
Louisville is one of those perennially good college basketball programs that almost any other school in the country would like to emulate. They have had deep Tournament runs in the past few years. They are coached by one of the most famous college coaches in the game, Rick Pitino. They have a huge following, and they have some of the best college players around. Basically, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are up for a huge challenge when they visit the Louisville Cardinals this Thursday at Freedom Hall Court in Louisville, Kentucky. You should check out the team the Irish are about to face at their team page at CBS Sports.
Louisville is ranked No. 13 in the country, and for good reason. They are currently 22-6 overall with a 12-3 Big East record. They have beaten good teams like New Mexico State, Kentucky, Marquette, West Virginia, Georgetown and Pittsburgh. Their last three games, against the Irish, Villanova and Georgetown, will all be very difficult. Notre Dame can make it even more difficult by keeping a few of Louisville’s best players from scoring. The Cardinals are very balanced, with four players averaging over 10 points per game. There isn’t just one person who the Irish need to stop in order to do well. Notre Dame will have to play a good defensive game as a unit.
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Notre Dame Moves to No. 17
Irish fans can rejoice, for Notre Dame has been moved up the AP Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today Polls to the No. 17 spot. Notre Dame got three wins, quality ones at that, in the last week, so it seemed very likely that they would be moving up the charts sometime soon. They beat Rutgers on the road and then Pittsburgh and Syracuse at home. If you check out the Bracketology feature at ESPN, you’ll see that sports writer Joe Lunardi has given Notre Dame a nice seed in the NCAA Tournament (if the Tourney were to start today).
I hope you loyal readers got tickets to the Syracuse game yesterday, because it was a great on for Irish fans. Notre Dame won 94-87, and they lead throughout most of the game, always keeping one step ahead of the Orange. Kyle McAlarney shot nine three-pointers, a school record, and the Irish increased their home winning streak to 36. Notre Dame’s next conference game will come against Louisville, always a tough out. Get some tickets to see that game on Thursday night, because you know that the gym in Kentucky will be packed with fans.
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Fighting Irish KO Pitt with Late Haymakers
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team remains undefeated at home with a win over Pittsburgh last night. It was their 35th-straight victory at the Joyce Center. No. 21 Notre Dame was actually suffering from an 11-point deficit deep into the second half, but then they used a run of offensive brilliance- sometimes bordering on absurdity- to pull away from the Panthers, a team that had beaten them five times in a row before last night. Check out the game recap at ESPN.com.
The win moves the Irish to 10-3 in the Big East, 20-5 overall. If you look at the standings, it will seem like the Irish are in fourth place in the conference, but they’re really tied for third, just a half game back from the Big East leaders, Georgetown. This means that the Irish have a good chance of winning the regular season title in the conference. The win over Pitt further establishes some credentials for getting a selection into the NCAA Tournament, regardless of what happens in the Big East Tournament. Great game boys! Good luck against Syracuse on Sunday, and we’ll see you all back here on Monday.
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.
No. 21 Notre Dame Ready to Play Pitt
The Fighting Irish will host Big East powerhouse Pittsburgh tonight at the Joyce Center, so make sure to get your tickets to see the game. The Irish are on a 34-game win streak at home, but they have lost the last five straight games versus Pittsburgh- including their most recent meeting in 2006, which ended in double overtime. The Pittsburgh Panthers are not ranked currently, but they were earlier in the season. They are 19-6 overall and 7-5 in the Big East. Make sure to check out the pre-game info that UND.com has compiled for you. You won’t find a more comprehensive analysis of the past history of these two teams as they prepare for another intense conference battle.
The Notre Dame Blog is not high on predictions with the basketball team this year, but you’ve got to be tempted to make a wager on the Irish in this one. The team looks sharp, different players are stepping up every game- most recently Tory Jackson- and the crowd at the Joyce Center is always a huge boost for the team. The only prediction we’ll make: This is going to be a great game to see live.
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Carlson Prepares for Combine; Irish Hoops Prepare for Pitt
John Carlson was considered one of the best upperclassmen tight ends in college football last season, and now he’s considered to be one of the most sought-after tight ends in the upcoming NFL Draft. There is a lot that goes into how NFL teams pick the players they want to draft, but one of the most important things that the football experts look at is combine results. Carlson, along with other former Irish players like Trevor Laws, Tom Zbikowski and John Sullivan, are set to give their all at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week. Here’s to those players! Good luck.
Also, let’s not forget that the Notre Dame men’s basketball team is set to play Pittsburgh tomorrow at the Joyce Center. There’s still time to get tickets to that game, along with the remaining two home games- against Syracuse and St. Johns- so make sure to get out to the game and root for the Irish in these important games.
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Notre Dame is #21
Notre Dame received a No. 21 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll yesterday. The Irish were No. 20 last week, but their loss on the road at UConn, coupled with a road win over Rutgers was enough for the AP writers to cut the Irish down one notch. But being 21 isn’t so bad. There are a lot of great things about the number 21. Here are a few of the best.
- At this age you can drink alcohol legally in the United States
- Blackjack!
- Number of volleys fired at a royal funeral
- The current century
- Forever
- Amendment ending Prohibition
Now that you Notre Dame fans know how great being 21 is, go out and see their home game this week versus Pittsburgh. The Irish are making a great case to get a high seed in the Tournament, but they still need to play well as they close out the season.
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.
Notre Dame Holds on To Beat Rutgers
The Irish continue to play well in the Big East, with their latest victory coming on the road at Rutgers University. Notre Dame won the game, played this past Sunday, by a score of 71-68, a close one, but a win nonetheless. Troy Jackson took over the lead scorer position for Notre Dame, netting a team-high 17 points to go along with 10 assists. Big Luke had just 10 points and 8 rebounds, but Kyle McAlarney came through with 16 points, 12 of which come from three point baskets. So as you can see it was not a typical game for the Irish in the box score, but it was a solid win over a team that entered the 2007-‘08 season with hopes of being where the Irish are right now- one of the best in the Big East.
Right now Notre Dame has a 9-3 conference record, so they are just a half game back from the Big East leader, Georgetown. They have a #21 ranking in the AP Poll, but when the new one comes out later today they might get moved up. Things look great for Notre Dame basketball fans right now. A Tournament bid seems like a very attainable prospect, and if they Irish can do well in the Big East Tournament, they could get a high seed. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Try to keep your UND basketball expectations at a non-hubris level.
To get Notre Dame Fighting Irish basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.