Game 20: Notre Dame
Jan. 25, 2009
As per coach Buzz Williams' preference MU arrived in South Bend, Ind. later Saturday night, giving the Golden Eagles more than a day and a half of on-site prep time heading into a critical Big East game on Monday night against Notre Dame.
When they hit the court for tip-off, it appears they'll be facing a Fighting Irish lineup featuring at least one new starter. According to my colleague Michael Rothstein of the Fort Wayne-Journal Gazette, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey mentioned following the Irish's loss on Saturday that some changes were in store.
The most likely candidate? Forward Zach Hillesland, a glue guy who's averaging 5.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 18 starts for the Irish (12-6, 3-4). In his place could be Luke Zeller, a 6-foot-11 senior who is most comfortable shooting from the perimeter rather than mixing it up on the inside.
Another player who at the very least could see more playing time for the somewhat athletically challenged Irish is forward Tyrone Nash, who was a recruiting target of MU's a few years ago.
The big news coming into this one of course is the fact that Notre Dame saw its 45-game winning streak at the Joyce Activity Center snapped by Connecticut on Saturday night, 69-61.
The loss dropped the Irish into 10th place in the Big East as they continue with a stretch of games that sees them play five consecutive ranked opponents for the first time in school history. They've lost in overtime at Louisville, at Syracuse and to Connecticut, and after facing MU will travel to Pittsburgh.
It's a stretch of games that's almost identical to the one the Golden Eagles will face to close out their season.
Once again, Notre Dame is being led by reigning Big East player of the year Luke Harangody, who's actually putting up even better numbers than he did last season by averaging 24.8 points and 13.1 rebounds per game.
Off-guard Kyle McAlarney is averaging 16.6 points on the strength of 77 three-pointers, while point guard Tory Jackson (11.2) and wing Ryan Ayers (10.8) also score in double figures.
As a team Notre Dame is shooting 44.6% overall, an incredible 40.6% from beyond the arc and 70.1% from the free-throw line. The Irish also take terrific care of the basketball, averaging less than 10 turnovers per game.
You can take a closer look at the Irish's stats
here. Williams didn't have a lot to offer on Notre Dame following MU's 79-70 victory over DePaul on Saturday, but here's what he had to say when asked to look ahead to the Irish.
"When you’re in the situation mentally that I’m in, you can’t get ahead," he said. "So I’ll go home and change and shower and then I’ll get to work on Notre Dame. We have unique system, I think, in regards to how we do scouting reports as it relates to our staff. I have done a poor job of giving our staff credit for the work that they’ve done in preparation because when I get back to the office in a couple hours I’ll know what’s going on.
"They break down all of the video from an offensive-defensive standpoint and then watch all of their sets. So I’ll have a pretty good feel for them tomorrow night around 9 or 10 o’clock, and then we’ll wake up early Monday and keep working. Guys want to play. I think all that is just rhetoric. We play in 52 hours. They’re 19-, 20-, 21-year-old kids. It’s a big game, it’s a road game, it’s Notre Dame, it’s Marquette, so they’ll be ready to play."
I asked Wesley Matthews following the DePaul game if he thought MU's two victories in three meetings with Notre Dame last season gave the Golden Eagles any sort of mental edge.
"It might. I mean, we’ll take it," he said. "If it doesn’t, then we start from zero like every other game. They’re going to be ready. It’s a rivalry game, they know we’re the last team to beat them at home (prior to Connecticut), we got them two out of three times last season, and it’s the next game. They’re excited, they’re at home and they’re a confident team, so we’re going to be in for a fight."
-- Another thing to keep an eye on earlier tomorrow will be the Associated Press' top 25.
With Michigan State, Syracuse and Clemson all having suffered losses last week and MU having won its only game, there's a good chance the Golden Eagles could rise from 11th to as high as eighth.
MU, which will be going for its 10th consecutive victory, was last ranked as high as eighth on Nov. 28, 2006, after beating Duke in the championship game of the CBE Classic in Kansas City.
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