Irish Overcome Pitt for 35 in a Row
21st Feb 2008
Notre Dame 82
Pittsburgh 70
The Fighting Irish spark an incredible comeback to defeat the Panthers by 12 in South Bend. The home winning streak is now at 35 games with two Joyce Center matches remaining this season. Tory Jackson and Luke Harangody each had double-double’s in tonight’s win over the Panthers after trailing by 11 with 13:48 left in the second half of action. Notre Dame improved its record to 20-5 (10-3) which puts them a half of game behind Georgetown/Louisville. Pittsburgh is now 19-7 (7-6) on the season with Louisville coming up next on Sunday.
Once again, Tory Jackson is the player of the game with 16 points and 13 rebounds. That’s right, 13 rebounds for a 5′11″ point guard. He had the same numbers of rebounds as 6′7″ DeJuan Blair and more than the second best rebounder in the Big East, Luke Harangody. Six of his thirteen were offensive and he also had an incredible block in the first half. I hope I can find a video of his rejection because it was SICK! Tory also scored when it was needed and made some acrobatic plays to get to the line. He made some big shots, including a big three with 4:36 left and recorded his second double-double in a row. He has really played well recently and his confidence has surely skyrocketed.
Luke Harangody bounced back from his poor performance against Rutgers and had 23 points and 12 rebounds. There was no doubt in my mind that he would score at least twenty heading into this game, but he had to work very hard for those numbers. DeJuan Blair of Pittsburgh kept Luke frustrated and out of rhythm for most of the game. But by taking 19 shots, Harangody was able to get his usual numbers and help the Irish get a W. This game keeps him at the top of the list for Big East Player of the Year and if he continues to play well, he should win it.
Senior Captain Rob Kurz played very well early on in the game, scoring 7 of his 14 points within the first few minutes. He did receive somewhat limited playing time because of foul trouble but still managed to put up more points than his average. Rob only had 5 rebounds in the match but Tory Jackson made up for it as Notre Dame out-rebounded the Panthers 41 to 35.
Kyle McAlarney struggled early in the game and couldn’t get his shots to go in the first half. But he came out of halftime with confidence and started hitting NBA-ranged three’s which jump-started Notre Dame’s comeback. He hit two deep shots from behind the arc which tied the game at 61. From that point on the Irish scored 21 points compared to 9 for Pittsburgh. Kyle finished with 15 points, including three, three-point shots.
Other contributors were Ryan Ayers with 5 points, Zach Hillesland with 4, Jonathan Peoples had 3, and Luke Zeller put in 2. Notre Dame made 28 of 67 shots, 41.8%, which is exactly the same as their last game, against Rutgers. They took the same numbers of shots and made the same amount of baskets against the Scarlet Knights. They made the same amount of three’s (8) but took a couple more shots tonight (24) in the 12 point win. The most impressive statistic of this game is the Notre Dame free throw shooting. The Big East’s best free throw shooting team made 18 of 20 attempts tonight, that’s 90%.
The stars for Pittsburgh were Sam Young with 20 points, Keith Benjamin with 15, DeJuan Blair had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Levance Fields added 10 more points. The Panthers shot 40.0% from the floor and 28.0% from beyond the arc. They led the Irish by 5 at halftime and as many as 11 in the game, but couldn’t put it away. The Notre Dame fans were too much and cheered their loudest so far this year, as Mike Brey’s team came back and won.
This was a very exciting game for Notre Dame and a quality win with only a few games left. I’d also like to mention that Jon Tenuta was in the stands tonight with Charlie Weis who goes to most of the basketball games. Up next is Syracuse on Sunday which is another big matchup and will be televised on CBS. I’ll have a preview up on Saturday and as always, Go Irish!
