Preview: Notre Dame vs. Syracuse
23rd Feb 2008
Syracuse will be coming to town tomorrow to take on the Fighting Irish in another Big East matchup. The Orangemen look to end Notre Dame’s 35 game home winning streak and improve their resumé for the NCAA Tournament. They are 17-10 (7-7) on the season with some other important games coming up after the Irish, which include Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, and Marquette. After the big win against Pitt, Notre Dame improved its record to 20-5 (10-3) and are currently in third place in the Big East behind Georgetown and Louisville.
This is the first meeting between these two teams this year with the season dwindling down. Both teams appear to be in pretty good position to make the Big East tournament, but Syracuse cannot lose the rest of their games. Notre Dame is a lock for the conference tournament and are just trying to get the highest seed as possible.
Based on the numbers, the Fighting Irish have the edge over Syracuse coming into the game. Notre Dame averages 80.3 points per game while the Orangemen are close with 78.3. ND gives up less points, 68.6 compared to SU’s 72.7. They are close in rebounds per game, the Irish lead the Big East and are second in the nation with 43.5 and Syracuse is third in the conference with 40.1. Notre Dame leads the Big East in assists with 18.5 per game and the Orangemen are in second with 16.2.
Freshman Donte Green leads the way for Syracuse since the injury of star Eric Devendorf earlier in the season. Donte averages 17.6 points per game in his first year, often playing the entire game. The 6′11″ forward has never scored less than 8 points and should be tough to guard tomorrow. The second highest scorer is another freshman, Jonny Flynn who puts in an average of 15.2 points. He’s 6′0″ and likes to take a lot of three’s but doesn’t make too many of them. He is 2 of 12 from beyond the arc in his last two games and 33.0% on the year. Sophomores Paul Harris and Arinze Onuaku are the two other major scorers for Orangemen. Syracuse has a very promising future with their young talent and will certainly be in good shape next year with Devendorf coming back.
Harangody’s going to be looking to get another double-double and score 20+ points again. He averages 20.5 points and 10.4 rebounds heading into the game and should be able to put up those numbers. Kyle McAlarney scored 15 points last game and averages 15.1 on the season. Hopefully he can shoot a little better in the first half so the Irish don’t fall behind. Tory Jackson is hoping to continue his streak of 10+ point games, currently four in a row, and get another double-double, which would be three consecutively. A triple-double is always possible for Tory and will happen at some point in his career.
Notre Dame should win this game tomorrow but Syracuse is always a tough opponent. The game will be on CBS so everyone should be able to see it and I suggest you watch it. The Irish will attempt to win their 36th game in a row in the Joyce Center, all under Mike Brey. I’ll have some post-game analysis and as always, Go Irish!
