Preview: Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh
21st Feb 2008
The Fighting Irish will be hosting Pittsburgh tonight at 7:00 in the Joyce Center. This Big East game will be televised on ESPN and you should make sure you watch it. The Panthers are coming into South Bend two games behind the Irish in the conference but have a very similar overall record. Notre Dame is currently 19-5 (9-3) which puts them one game behind Georgetown/Louisville for first place in the Big East. Pittsburgh stands at 19-6 (7-5) coming off a a big loss at Marquette, 72-54.
Number 21 Notre Dame is looking to again, extend its home winning streak which is currently third best in the nation at 34 games. Mike Brey’s squad is 14-0 in South Bend so far this season while the Panthers are 4-5 on the road. It’s going to be incredibly difficult for Pittsburgh to leave Indiana with a victory considering their road record and the energy of the Irish fans in the Joyce Center. With only a few more games left in the regular season, both teams need as many wins as possible heading into the tournaments.
Sam Young leads the way for the Panthers, averaging 17.9 points per game as a 6′6″ forward. He is a very athletic player who can drive to the lane and shoot from anywhere on the court. Sam is shooting 40.3% from beyond the arc on 67 attempts but makes his impact in the paint and on short-range jump shots. He’s going to be a tough task for the Irish if they go with a man defense, so they should stick with some form of a zone.
Luke Harangody is coming off one of his worst games this season. He only had 10 points and 8 rebounds against Rutgers in 27 minutes of play. Those numbers seem pretty decent for a Sophomore, but Harangody is much better than that. He got into foul trouble early and wasn’t making any of his shots. He should bounce back against Pittsburgh and put up his normal numbers with his all-around ability. Luke still leads the Big East in scoring with 20.4 points per contest and should have a big game. The Panthers don’t have an experienced big man to put up against Harangody so he should have no trouble scoring at least 20 tonight.
Some statistics: Notre Dame averages 80.3 points per game while Pittsburgh averages 74.0. The Panthers play better defense and only allow an average of 62.7 points while the Irish give up 68.5. ND leads the conference in rebounds (43.4) and assists (18.7) per game with Pitt not far behind. It’s a pretty close game based on the numbers and should turn out that way as well.
Let’s hope Mike Brey can lead his squad to 35 consecutive home wins and defeat the Pittsburgh Panthers. With only six regular season games left, including a visit to Louisville, the Irish need to put a game like this away for a top seed in the Big East tournament. Once again the game is on at 7 PM EST on ESPN, so try to watch it, and as always, Go Irish!
