Preview: Notre Dame vs. George Mason

20th Mar 2008

Well the NCAA Tournament is finally here and the Irish were given a reasonable number five seed. Before the loss to Marquette in the Big East Tournament, Notre Dame was expected to receive a four seed and certainly higher if they had won the whole thing. Obviously, that didn’t happen and Mike Brey’s team will have to take on the Patriots of George Mason who were chosen as a 12 seed after winning the CAA tournament.

George Mason may ring a bell considering they made it to the Final Four only two years ago (Lost to Florida). The Patriots made one of the most impressive Cinderella runs in the history of college basketball and still have two players who started for that team. Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas have the experience and leadership that could spark another impressive NCAA Tournament run. However, the Irish are going to do everything possible to make sure that that doesn’t happen.

GMU finished the regular season second in their conference with their 23-10 (12-6) record behind Virginia Commonwealth. They managed to defeat William & Mary in the CAA Tournament to get the auto bid which has put them in Denver to take on the Irish tonight. The Patriots biggest wins have come against teams such as Dayton, Kansas State, and South Carolina. They have an experienced coaching staff who knows how to win and should give Notre Dame a tough game.

The leading scorer for Geroge Mason is senior leader Folarin Campbell who averages 15.9 points per game. However their key player is Will Thomas who averages just a tenth of a point less while grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game. Will is also a leader of the team and similar to Harangody, averages a double-double every contest. The Thomas-Harangody matchup should be a fun one to watch but I believe the Big East Player of the Year will be too much to handle.

Points For:

Notre Dame - 80.6
George Mason - 69.9

Points Against:

Notre Dame - 70.5
George Mason - 62.3

The Fighting Irish have a lot more competition playing in the Big East and higher scoring games which would be the reasoning behind their point averages. They give up more points per game than George Mason but their average margin of victory is higher.

Notre Dames National Ranks

Scoring - 80.6 Points - 14th in the Nation

Rebounding - 41.6 rebounds - 5th in the Nation

Three Point Shooting - 41.0 Percent - 5th in the Nation

Scoring Margin - 10.1 Points - 26th in the Nation

Rebound Margin - 5.8 Rebounds - 20th in the Nation

Assists Per Game - 18.9 Assists - 1st in the Nation

Assist Turnover Ratio - 1.46 - 2nd in the Nation

Notre Dame obviously has one of the best offenses in the country and that should be on full display tonight. Luke Harangody has played well the entire season and when he hasn’t, Kyle McAlarney has had a big game. Luke is averaging 20.8 points and 10.2 rebounds heading into this game while Kyle is averaging 15.2 points. Senior captain Rob Kurz has played well this year and doesn’t want his Irish career to end in Denver. He is scoring 12.8 points per contest this season while also grabbing 7.5 boards. His leadership is even more important and he has done an unbelievable job guiding this young team.

Mike Brey’s team should be able to get the win tonight to advance to the round of 32 where they will take on either Washington State or Winthrop. Winthrop knocked the Irish off in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year but Wazzu should get their victory there. Notre Dame should at least make the Sweet 16 where they will take on North Carolina. A Hansbrough-Harangody matchup would be something everyone would want to see. But I can’t get ahead of myself, the Irish need to defeat the Patriots tonight. Catch the game on CBS tonight at 9:50 ET, it should be a fun one and as always, Go Irish!

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