Game stats: Georgetown 63, Notre Dame 47

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Visitor                         Home      
.            Georgetown                      Notre Dame         
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            28        27        55

Points          34        29        63          21        26        47   

Effic.        120.9     107.1     113.9        74.7      96.0      84.9  
 
eFG%           65.9      56.5      61.1        32.5      39.7      36.7  
TO%            10.7      22.1      16.3        14.2       3.7       9.0  
OR%            10.0      33.3      22.7        11.8      25.0      18.9  
FTA/FGA        36.4      17.4      26.7        65.0      17.2      36.7  
 
Assist Rate    76.9      81.8      79.2        50.0      72.7      64.7  
Block Rate     13.3       5.6       9.1         0.0      13.3       6.7  
Steal Rate      3.6       3.7       3.6         3.6      18.5      10.8  
 
2FG%           66.7      46.7      56.7        33.3      55.6      45.5  
3FG%           42.9      50.0      46.7        20.0       9.1      12.5  
FT%            62.5      75.0      66.7        61.5      60.0      61.1 

It's going to be one of those years, isn't it?

More stats after the jump

Georgetown 59, Notre Dame 41

Image from here

Is [Notre Dame's poor shooting due to] fatigue? - Sean McDonough
I think they're tired of looking at long armed athletes right on top of them. - Jay Bilas

The Hoyas put together one of their best all-around games of the season tonight, absolutely shutting down the Fighting Irish while putting together one of their better offensive performances. (Fifty nine points in 53 possessions against a decent defense is a strong offensive game for this team.)

On defense, the Hoyas gave Notre Dame very few good shots.  Jack Cooley, who until Saturday had been the scourge of the Big East, was completely shut down on the interior.  Jerian Grant, who has been excellent as a playmaking wing, was forced into tough shot after tough shot.  The Hoyas even managed to force a few more turnovers than normal and owned the defensive boards.

The Irish didn't help themselves much, either, missing many of the few open looks they received.  But at the end of the day the biggest different was in watching Notre Dame attempt to execute their burn offense.  They would run the clock down, and then attempt, in the last ten to fifteen seconds, to get the open shot they have been able to get over the last ten or so games.  But today, it wasn't there -- a long, active Hoya defender would turn away the easy shot, forcing a poor one or a bad pass.  There were few open jumpers.

More importantly, there were few shots at the rim.  The Irish shot 32 jump shots and only 16 layups.  The Irish guards could not penetrate and Cooley did nothing inside.

The Hoyas actually weren't that much better in their shot selection (27 jumpers, 17 layups), but offensively, the team seemed to do everything else right.  They crashed the offensive boards well and despite a number of frustrating turnovers, kept the overall TO count down.  And then they went and made a lot of those jumpshots (something we probably shouldn't count on them continuing).

But the most impressive aspect was the team's cutting to the basket.  The cuts came often and were fast and decisive.  Clark and Whittington, particularly, continually forced their men to trail them as they looked for easy baskets. Henry Sims had five assists, mostly on cuts.  And he and his teammates actually missed quite a few open cutters.  Perhaps the Irish weren't well-prepared or maybe the Hoyas simply were clicking, but either way, those easy baskets were the key reason the team was able to put up 28 in the first half.

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Home                            Visitor   
.            Georgetown                      Notre Dame         
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            26        28        53
 
Points          28        31        59          18        23        41   

Effic.        109.4     111.4     110.5        70.3      82.6      76.8  
 
eFG%           56.5      57.1      56.8        37.0      36.0      36.5  
TO%            15.6      25.1      20.6        19.5      21.6      20.6  
OR%            33.3      45.5      39.1        20.0      33.3      27.3  
FTA/FGA        17.4      42.9      29.5        13.0      28.0      20.8  

Assist Rate    66.7      45.5      56.5        50.0      37.5      43.8  
Block Rate      5.9      14.3       9.7         0.0       0.0       0.0  
Steal Rate      7.8      10.8       9.4        11.7      14.4      13.1  
 
2FG%           55.6      60.0      57.6        41.2      42.9      41.9  
3FG%           40.0      33.3      36.4        16.7      18.2      17.6  
FT%            50.0      77.8      69.2        33.3      71.4      60.0  

More thoughts and stats after the jump

Just a couple of odds and ends

HoyaSaxa.com has a link to a nice article about John Thompson III from the Washingtonian. Not a lot of new material, but a very nice overview of the man.

And, in light of tomorrow's game against Notre Dame, I found this old highlight package on my hard drive from the 2007 BET semi-final, an epic. We might remember the Hoyas from that game, but you can forget how good Russell Carter, Rob Kurz and Colin Falls were for the Irish that year. And Tory Jackson had his coming-out party at the Garden in the closing minutes of the game, lighting up Jessie Sapp and others.

Sorry for the lousy quality of the clip - probably why I hadn't bothered to upload to YouTube until today.

BE Game of the Night: Notre Dame 56, Pitt 51

Just a quicky for the BE Game of the Night post today.

Image take from here.

Notre Dame walked into the Peterson Event Center tonight, and walked out even more slowly with a five point win over the Pitt Panthers.

This was a big win for the Irish - Pomeroy pegged them as an 11-point underdog going into the game - and effectively turns the rest of their Big East season from playing for a Big East tournament bye to playing for a double-bye (i.e. a top-4 seed).

The main reason I wanted to look at the game is because of Notre Dame's "burn" offense, which shortens the game by stalling until 10 seconds or so remains on the shot clock for each offensive possession. For the game, the Irish averaged an amazing 29.2 seconds per possession, and they sucked Pitt into this pace: the Panthers averaged more than 20 seconds on their offensive possessions. The end result was a 48(!)-possession game.  Contrast this with the last Pitt game I looked at (vs. Syracuse), when Pitt punished the Orange by getting scores early in the shot clock.

To put that in perspective, the slowest-paced team in college this season, the Wisconsin Badgers, averages 58 possessions per game and hasn't played a game with less than 50 possessions all year.

The Irish were led by a hot shooting night from Carleton Scott (5/6 3FG), and forced a defensive mismatch by isolating Ben Hansbrough. Additionally, the normally sharp-shooting Pitt guards struggled from behind the arc:  Ashton Gibbs leads the team in 3FG%, but was 1-5 tonight, and Gilbert Brown - a 41% shooter himself - was 1-4.  I wonder if Notre Dame's size across the backline [Hansbrough 6'3", Abromitis 6'7", Scott 6'8"] had something to do with that?

The fancy-pants stats package is after the jump.

Recap: Notre Dame 69, Georgetown 55

So who do you think is more embarrassed right now, Tarik El-Bashir or John Gasaway?

The Georgetown Hoyas responded to a pair of glowing articles about their extraordinary shooting prowess with a brutal display from behind the arc [4/22] tonight in South Bend, falling to the Fighting Irish 69-55.

Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Visitor                         Home      
.            Georgetown                      Notre Dame         
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            33        31        64

Effic.         78.3      93.8      85.8       102.4     113.2     107.6  
 
eFG%           41.1      51.9      46.3        42.6      48.0      45.2  
TO%            21.1      25.9      23.4        21.1      12.9      17.2  
OR%            28.6      30.8      29.4        38.9      25.0      32.4  
FTA/FGA        25.0       7.7      16.7        51.9      52.0      51.9  
 
Assist Rate    80.0      61.5      69.6        60.0      80.0      70.0  
Block Rate     21.1      11.8      16.7        13.3       5.9       9.4  
Steal Rate      9.0       9.7       9.4         3.0      16.2       9.4  
 
2FG%           46.7      70.6      59.4        36.8      35.3      36.1  
3FG%           23.1      11.1      18.2        37.5      50.0      43.8  
FT%            42.9     100.0      55.6        78.6      84.6      81.5

The stats for the game are a bit surprising, in that they belie the impression I took away from the game that Georgetown was beat in about every facet.

• The Hoyas were just a bit worse shooting from the field in the Lift-off half than the Irish, and were better shooters in the Vesper half.  Overall, the Hoyas actually out-shot Notre Dame.  How?  In spite of going 4/22 [18%] from 3FG for the game, the Hoyas were much better on 2FGs tonight, 19/32 [59%] to 13/36 [36%].

• Georgetown was more effective inside because they took better shots inside - 15/22 [68%] on dunks, layups and tips versus 4/10 on 2-pt jumpers.  Notre Dame was forced into taking half of their 2FGs as jumpers [4/18, 22%], and only converted half of their layups [9/18].

• Rebounding was a big concern tonight coming into the game, as the Irish were the third best defensive rebounding team in the nation at tip-off.  Notre Dame did win the battle, but not in any sort of rout [29% vs. 32%].  ND simply grabbed one more offensive rebound than the Hoyas on the same number of opportunities - almost a statistical draw.  The big difference was that the Irish were able to generate more points off of those offensive rebounds [16 to 9], with nine points on second chances in the first half.

• Turnovers were another interesting story coming into the game, a sort of irresistible force (NDU, at 15.3%, was 2nd from last in TO% forced coming into the game) versus the immovable object (Georgetown gives the ball up on 20.7% of its possessions).  Tonight the object won in a landslide, as the Hoyas managed 15 turnovers on 65 possessions (23%), although only 6 were via Notre Dame steals.  Strangely, the Irish were also generous, as they committed 11 turnovers themselves, above expectation - Notre Dame's TO% on offense was also 15.3% coming in.

So where did the wheels fall off?

Obviously the outside shooting was a big problem, but this wasn't Georgetown's first bad night shooting from outside this season - they went 2/9 vs. Utah State.  But against the Aggies, the Hoyas compensated by pounding the ball inside [35:9 2FGA:3FGA] and got to the line, outscoring Utah St. 20-4 at the stripe.

Not tonight, as Georgetown sent the Irish to the bonus at 9:57 of the first half, and ended up trailing 11-3 in FTM at the break.  It didn't get better in the second half (11-2), but quite a bit of that difference came on futile fouling by the Hoyas late in the game.

In the end, the combination of a bad night from behind the arc and Karl Hess behind the whistle was the downfall for the Hoyas.

But it wasn't nearly as bad as you think.

Deep bench, short rotation

JT3 subs in five players - documented! (Joseph Silverman / The Washington Times)

Alan's excellent post about likely minutes for the upcoming season got me thinking about John Thompson III's reputation for playing a short rotation.  I think this rep was developed in his first two seasons, when the cupboard was mostly bare beyond the first 6 or 7 players on the roster.  But now that he's been coaching the Hoyas for six seasons, I wonder if this reputation is myth or reality.

But before I can dig into the question of whether JT3 goes with fewer players than he should, I need to work through some basics and find a reasonable measuring stick.

First, we need to decide what constitutes being part of the rotation for a player, rather than just playing garbage minutes.  Next, we need to have some meaningful comparison of the size of Georgetown's rotation versus what other coaches/teams run.  Finally, we'll need to consider what to do about injured/suspended players and their effect on the rotation.

More after the jump

Recap: Notre Dame 78, Georgetown 64

Alan Greene is pinch-recapping for Brian today.

Apparently, Austin Freeman was sick. The rest of the Hoyas played like they had the flu as well. I can only hope to find out that they did.

In a game where Notre Dame got a good 80% of the loose "50-50" balls, the Hoyas' lack of focus on defense once again allowed a less talented Big East squad to upset them.

It's worth noting that of Georgetown's three bad conference losses, in all three the defense gave up a defensive efficiency of over 110. Today, the Hoyas put forth of the their worst defensive performances in years.

Notre Dame is a good offensive team. But they were also missing their best offensive weapon and only interior threat in Luke Harangody. A brief four minute segment in the second half highlighted by a five possession streak of three forced turnovers and two missed, contested shots highlighted what the Hoyas should have been able to do on defense for most of the game instead of four minutes.

How did they give up 1.4 points per possession? Mostly by giving up open shots. Yes, the Irish are good shooters, but they aren't a team used to getting seven dunks and twelve mostly easy layups. Georgetown often loses the battle in certain elements of the game: getting good shots is almost never one of them.

The blame can be laid at both the coaching staff and the players. The Hoyas' switching, constantly helping defense is not a great style to play against a team with few individual stars that passes and shoots well. In other games where this has been the case, the Hoyas have adjusted by helping less. Today, that didn't seem to happen.

What's worse, I'm not sure it would have worked. Notre Dame guards often got into the lane on drives that were not particularly quick. Rotations were incredibly slow and at times lackadaisical.

Adding to that, the Hoyas gave Notre Dame an huge amount of extra shots. At the end of the game, Notre Dame had a 50% off. rebounding pct., but it was 63% in the first half and many of the Hoyas' def. rebounds came later in the game.

The offense doesn't get completely off the hook. It wasn't nearly as big a problem as the D, especially without a healthy Freeman. But while a 112 efficiency sounds good, the Hoyas could have done better against a poor Irish defense.

The most disappointing part of all this is that while one or two disappointing games are bound to happen over the course of a season, even to the best of teams, as a fan, you'd like the team to take those loses and use them as reasons to focus and improve. The Hoyas have now lost three of their last four "easier" Big East games.

How bad must Providence feel?

Let's run the numbers:

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE 
.            Home                            Visitor   
.            Georgetown                      Notre Dame         
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            24        33        57 
Effic.        110.8     112.8     111.9       127.2     143.3     136.3   

eFG%           69.4      53.7      60.0        51.8      83.3      65.3  
TO%            24.6      18.3      21.0        20.5      21.3      21.0  
OR%            12.5      41.2      32.0        62.5      25.0      50.0  
FTA/FGA        11.1      44.4      31.1        14.3      66.7      36.7  

Assist Rate    90.0      46.2      65.2        53.8      60.0      57.1  
Block Rate     21.4       0.0      11.1        20.0      29.4      25.9  
Steal Rate     20.5       6.1      12.2        24.6      12.2      17.5   

2FG%           50.0      58.8      55.6        71.4      76.9      74.1  
3FG%           62.5      30.0      44.4        21.4      62.5      36.4  
FT%           100.0      66.7      71.4        50.0      85.7      77.8

What to point out individually?

With Austin Freeman out, those shots had to go somewhere. Hollis Thompson looked comfortable and I wish he'd be as easy taking a shot all the time. His defense is still that of a freshman, but it was nice to see him feel he had a green light and just play.

With Harangody out, Greg Monroe should have taken more shots. He didn't, and it left Chris Wright to step in. This is really never good for the Hoyas -- when Wright is feeling it, he should shoot as much as possible. When when we need someone to be force fed, it shouldn't be the 6' point guard who's streaky from three. Chris is best in transition -- which is impossible to do when you don't defend or rebound. There's a huge gap in usage between Austin and Hollis, and Monroe needed to take those shots and possessions, and he didn't.

Julian Vaughn almost looks like he had a good game until you realize he had two rebounds in 23 minutes and "played interior defense."

Jerelle Benimon and Freeman played 38 invisible minutes combined. Jerelle's an unheralded frosh and Freeman, again, was sick, so it's tough to criticize, but that's a started who gave nothing (and not much on D, either).

Jason Clark made some shots and actually rebounded, so kudos.

Vee Sanford had his usual few minutes and a steal while Henry Sims had an awful turnover but also one of the team's few def. rebounds in a not so bad defensive set of sequences when in. Frankly, in a game like this, I'd have been intrigued to go to a "D" lineup that included both Sims and Sanford.

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

Georgetown            Off     %           Pts      Def           Pts   
Player                Poss  Poss  O.Rtg   Prod     Poss  D.Rtg  Allow    Net Pts
Thompson, Hollis       36   22.8  121.1    9.9      35   122.1    8.6      +0.7  
Wright, Chris          55   26.2   90.1   13.0      57   135.1   15.4      -4.5  
Monroe, Greg           51   24.1  113.1   13.9      49   118.3   11.6      +0.8  
Clark, Jason           47   13.7  142.5    9.2      48   132.4   12.7      -1.4  
Vaughn, Julian         26   26.4  123.0    8.5      28   154.2    8.6      -1.2  
Sanford, Vee           10    8.3  200.0    1.7      11    91.7    2.0      +0.3  
Freeman, Austin        34    9.3  110.5    3.5      31   140.8    8.7      -3.1  
Benimon, Jerrelle      17    5.9    0.0    0.0      21   169.7    7.1      -4.4  
Sims, Henry             4   25.0    0.0    0.0       5    49.1    0.5      -0.5  
TOTALS                 56         109.9   59.6      57   132.0   75.3     -14.1  

Notre Dame            Off     %           Pts      Def           Pts   
Player                Poss  Poss  O.Rtg   Prod     Poss  D.Rtg  Allow    Net Pts
NASH, Tyrone           52   14.9  129.6   10.0      49   117.1   11.5      -0.2  
JACKSON, Tory          57   15.9  105.1    9.5      56   101.5   11.4      -0.8  
ABROMAITIS, Tim        53   26.7  137.4   19.5      51   114.1   11.6      +5.6  
HANSBROUGH, Ben        56   23.1  159.9   20.7      55   114.2   12.6      +7.0  
SCOTT, Carleton        53   19.3  143.4   14.6      49   105.6   10.3      +4.1  
PEOPLES, Jonathan       5    0.0    -      0.0       6   104.4    1.3      -1.3  
COOLEY, Jack            9    8.5  200.0    1.5      14   107.0    3.0      -0.4  
TOTALS                 57         138.2   75.9      56   110.1   61.6     +15.0

HD BOX SCORE
Notre Dame vs Georgetown
02/27/10 12:00 at Verizon Center
Final score: Notre Dame 78, Georgetown 64

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
NASH, Tyrone           33:25  +19   8/72  2- 3  0- 0  4- 5  3/42  3/23  0/49  2/52  1/23  2/20  4/20   2
JACKSON, Tory          40:00  +14   9/78  2- 3  1- 4  2- 4  7/49  3/25  5/56  2/57  0/27  0/24  1/25   1
ABROMAITIS, Tim        36:12  +13  19/72  6-10  1- 9  4- 4 19/45  3/18  1/51  1/53  2/26  3/23  1/24   2
HANSBROUGH, Ben        38:59  +15  21/76  4- 5  3- 5  4- 5 10/46  4/20  1/55  3/56  1/27  1/22  2/25   3
SCOTT, Carleton        35:22  +15  17/72  4- 4  3- 4  0- 0  8/45  3/18  2/49  3/53  3/25  4/23  5/23   2
PEOPLES, Jonathan      04:49  + 0   0/ 8  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 7  0/ 4  1/ 6  0/ 5  0/ 1  0/ 3  0/ 1   0
COOLEY, Jack           11:13  - 6   4/12  2- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/11  0/ 4  0/14  0/ 9  0/ 6  0/ 5  3/ 7   3
TOTALS                 40:00       78    20-27  8-22 14-18    49 16/28 10/56 12/57  7/27 12/24 17/25  13
.                                        0.741 0.364 0.778       0.571 0.179 0.211 0.259 0.500 0.680    

Georgetown              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Thompson, Hollis       26:10  - 8  12/38  3- 3  2- 4  0- 1  7/27  3/10  2/35  2/36  0/13  0/15  0/16   2
Wright, Chris          38:50  -17  10/61  2- 8  2- 4  0- 1 12/43  6/18  1/57  3/55  0/27  1/24  0/24   3
Monroe, Greg           35:03  - 7  15/56  4- 7  0- 0  7- 8  7/41  2/16  1/49  4/51  0/20  0/24  4/17   4
Clark, Jason           33:03  -11  12/58  0- 0  4- 7  0- 0  7/39  2/17  2/48  1/47  0/23  2/21  3/16   3
Vaughn, Julian         23:11  -10   8/31  4- 6  0- 0  0- 0  6/23  2/ 8  0/28  1/26  1/12  2/12  0/13   0
Sanford, Vee           03:36  - 1   2/10  0- 0  0- 0  2- 2  0/ 9  0/ 3  1/11  0/10  0/ 4  0/ 6  1/ 4   0
Freeman, Austin        22:31  - 1   5/42  2- 3  0- 2  1- 2  5/28  0/11  0/31  0/34  1/18  0/17  0/15   2
Benimon, Jerrelle      14:32  -15   0/21  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/12  0/ 8  0/21  0/17  1/16  0/ 4  1/10   0
Sims, Henry            03:04  + 0   0/ 3  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 3  0/ 1  0/ 5  1/ 4  0/ 2  0/ 2  1/ 5   0
TOTALS                 40:00       64    15-27  8-18 10-14    45 15/23  7/57 12/56  3/27  8/25 12/24  14
.                                        0.556 0.444 0.714       0.652 0.123 0.214 0.111 0.320 0.500    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.368, Georgetown 1.143
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.653, Georgetown 0.600
Substitutions: Notre Dame 16, Georgetown 35

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 7-7, Georgetown 1-1
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 8-12, Georgetown 11-19
Jumpers: Notre Dame 5-8, Georgetown 3-7

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 8 (12.5), Georgetown 2 (3.7)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 14 (140.0), Georgetown 13 (185.7)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 25.0, Georgetown 17.4

-------

Team stats pages will be updated tomorrow; player stats pages will be updated after West Virginia game.

Big East HD Box Scores 09-10: Notre Dame

Go to:

Cincinnati | UConn | DePaul | Georgetown | Louisville | Marquette | Notre Dame | Pitt
Providence | Rutgers | St. John's | Seton Hall | S. Florida | Syracuse | Villanova | W. Virginia

What's an HD box score? Invented by Ken Pomeroy, it shows both counting stats and opportunities for those stats; see here for more info about HD box scores. If you're looking for a team without a live link, here's why it's not available.

Big East Schedule:

Date        Visitor         Home              HD Box?
30-Dec-09   Providence      Notre Dame          Yes
02-Jan-10   Notre Dame      Connecticut         Yes
05-Jan-10   Notre Dame      South Florida       Yes
09-Jan-10   West Virginia   Notre Dame          Yes
16-Jan-10   Notre Dame      Cincinnati          Yes
18-Jan-10   Syracuse        Notre Dame          Yes
23-Jan-10   DePaul          Notre Dame          Yes
27-Jan-10   Notre Dame      Villanova           Yes
30-Jan-10   Notre Dame      Rutgers             Yes
04-Feb-10   Cincinnati      Notre Dame          Yes
07-Feb-10   South Florida   Notre Dame          Yes
11-Feb-10   Notre Dame      Seton Hall          Yes
14-Feb-10   St. John's      Notre Dame
17-Feb-10   Notre Dame      Louisville
24-Feb-10   Pittsburgh      Notre Dame
27-Feb-10   Notre Dame      Georgetown
03-Mar-10   Connecticut     Notre Dame
06-Mar-10   Notre Dame      Marquette

---------

Big East Conf. games only - updated 2/02/10

Player                 Min      On    Off     On/40 Off/40  Net/40
Nash, Tyrone          226:19   + 29  - 47     + 5.1  -14.1   +19.2
Abromaitis, Tim       310:16   -  5  - 13     - 0.6  -10.5   + 9.8
Harangody, Luke       342:14   - 37  + 19     - 4.3  +42.8   -47.1
Jackson, Tory         349:01   - 32  + 14     - 3.7  +51.0   -54.7
Hansbrough, Ben       311:56   - 13  -  5     - 1.7  - 4.2   + 2.5
Peoples, Jonathan     151:36   - 11  -  7     - 2.9  - 1.3   - 1.6
Scott, Carleton       81:08    - 17  -  1     - 8.4  - 0.1   - 8.2
Brooks, Joey          23:40    - 13  -  5     -22.0  - 0.6   -21.4

See here for more info on this table; plus-minus stats only tracked for games with available HD box scores.

-------------

Providence vs Notre Dame
12-30-09 9:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Notre Dame 93, Providence 78

Providence              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
BROOKS, Marshon        27:11  -14  12/51  6-11  0- 5  0- 1 16/53  3/15  1/53  0/53  0/29  4/34  2/29   4
PETERSON, Jamine       29:44  -13  24/64  7-13  1- 4  7-10 17/56  1/17  1/55  1/56  1/30  2/33  7/31   1
DIXON, Bilal           25:19  + 1   8/56  3- 6  0- 0  2- 2  6/51  0/21  0/45  2/47  3/29  2/28  6/29   3
CURRY, Sharaud         33:37  - 2  23/72  7-14  3- 7  0- 0 21/65  2/18  1/62  2/62  0/37  3/38  4/37   4
MCKENZIE, Brian        22:50  -16   3/38  0- 1  1- 3  0- 0  4/40  1/15  0/41  2/40  0/28  1/25  2/27   3
MONDY, Duke            13:18  + 3   5/34  1- 1  1- 3  0- 0  4/25  0/10  0/25  0/26  0/13  1/13  0/14   2
LACY, Johnnie          02:56  - 1   0/ 3  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 1  0/ 5  0/ 6  0/ 1  0/ 4  0/ 3   1
WRIGHT, Kyle           07:07  + 5   3/14  0- 0  1- 2  0- 0  2/14  0/ 5  0/12  1/12  0/ 6  0/ 8  0/ 6   2
COUNCIL, Vincent       23:17  -22   0/36  0- 3  0- 2  0- 0  5/46  2/15  2/43  1/41  1/28  2/33  0/21   2
PERMENTER, Russ        02:54  - 3   0/ 3  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 6  0/ 1  0/ 6  1/ 6  1/ 3  1/ 5  0/ 4   0
STILL, James           02:30  - 9   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 0  0/ 5  1/ 5  0/ 3  1/ 5  1/ 2   0
HALL, Ray              09:17  - 4   0/19  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/14  0/ 6  0/18  0/16  0/ 8  0/ 9  0/ 7   1
TOTALS                 40:00       78    24-50  7-26  9-13    76  9/31  5/74 11/74  6/43 19/47 22/42  23
.                                        0.480 0.269 0.692       0.290 0.068 0.149 0.140 0.404 0.524    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           26:25  + 1   8/54  4- 7  0- 0  0- 0  7/41  0/13  1/48  2/49  1/37  5/30  3/31   1
Abromaitis, Tim        29:22  +11  22/62  3- 6  5- 8  1- 2 14/51  1/15  0/53  5/52  0/34  4/31  3/34   2
Harangody, Luke        36:22  +13  19/83  6-19  0- 2  7-14 21/61  1/22  1/69  2/69  1/47  5/41  8/45   3
Jackson, Tory          40:00  +15  11/93  4- 5  0- 2  3- 4  7/65  7/27  1/74  0/74  0/50  0/42  2/47   2
Hansbrough, Ben        39:05  +15  10/93  2- 3  1- 5  3- 5  8/65 10/28  0/73  4/73  1/50  1/41  7/46   2
Peoples, Jonathan      26:03  +19  23/71  1- 2  5- 5  6- 8  7/38  2/16  2/48  0/48  1/31  2/23  4/30   1
Scott, Carleton        02:43  + 1   0/ 9  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 4  0/ 3  0/ 5  0/ 5  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 2   2
TOTALS                 40:00       93    20-43 11-22 20-33    65 21/31  5/74 13/74  4/50 20/42 28/47  13
.                                        0.465 0.500 0.606       0.677 0.068 0.176 0.080 0.476 0.596    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.257, Providence 1.054
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.562, Providence 0.454
Substitutions: Notre Dame 18, Providence 45

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 2-2, Providence 1-1
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 17-23, Providence 11-19
Jumpers: Notre Dame 1-18, Providence 12-30

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 6 (8.2), Providence 0 (0.0)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 9 (180.0), Providence 5 (100.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 16.7, Providence 15.6

 --------------------------------

Notre Dame vs Connecticut
1-2-10 12:00 p.m. at XL Center  Hartford, Conn.
Final score: Connecticut 82, Notre Dame 70

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           21:34  - 2  11/41  5-11  0- 0  1- 1 11/42  2/11  2/39  1/39  0/23  6/27  2/13   2
Abromaitis, Tim        32:15  -11   8/57  1- 3  2- 6  0- 0  9/58  1/20  1/60  2/60  0/35  1/36  3/22   4
Harangody, Luke        39:14  -12  31/68 13-23  1- 4  2- 2 27/69  0/13  1/70  3/72  0/48  3/44  6/32   2
Jackson, Tory          39:14  -14   6/68  0- 2  2- 5  0- 1  7/69  8/25  1/71  2/72  0/48  0/44  3/32   4
Hansbrough, Ben        38:06  -11  14/68  1- 6  3- 5  3- 4 11/68  2/23  2/68  0/68  0/47  1/43  2/32   5
Peoples, Jonathan      12:06  - 3   0/19  0- 1  0- 1  0- 0  2/17  1/ 7  1/21  3/23  0/17  0/12  1/15   1
Brooks, Joey           00:46  + 0   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  1/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 0  1/ 1   1
Broghammer, Mike       00:46  + 2   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 1   0
Scott, Carleton        15:13  -11   0/23  0- 2  0- 1  0- 0  3/24  2/10  0/27  0/28  1/22  0/14  1/16   1
Cooley, Jack           00:46  + 2   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 1   0
TOTALS                 40:00       70    20-48  8-22  6- 8    70 17/28  8/72 12/73  1/48 13/44 21/33  20
.                                        0.417 0.364 0.750       0.607 0.111 0.164 0.021 0.295 0.636    

Connecticut             Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
MAJOK, Ater            04:02  - 6   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 1  0/ 7  1/ 7  1/ 7  0/ 4  1/ 6   2
ROBINSON, Stanley      35:31  +11  22/74  6-13  3- 6  1- 2 19/53  1/17  2/64  2/64  2/45  4/30 12/41   1
ORIAKHI, Alex          23:37  + 4   4/40  1- 6  0- 0  2- 2  6/38  0/15  0/43  1/43  4/31  4/23  6/25   1
DYSON, Jerome          39:31  +12  20/80  6-10  0- 3  8-10 13/60 10/24  2/72  0/71  2/46  0/33  2/41   4
WALKER, Kemba          37:52  +14  11/80  3- 4  0- 1  5- 6  5/57 10/26  1/68  6/68  1/45  0/31  4/42   0
BEVERLY, Donnell       02:27  - 2   0/ 4  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 3  0/ 1  0/ 6  0/ 5  0/ 5  0/ 2  1/ 5   0
COOMBS-McDANIEL, J     15:47  +14   2/39  0- 0  0- 2  2- 2  2/22  0/12  0/32  1/31  0/17  0/12  0/18   1
EDWARDS, Gavin         27:17  + 7  13/61  6-10  0- 0  1- 1 10/39  1/16  1/51  1/49  0/33  1/19  1/30   2
OKWANDU, Charles       13:56  + 6  10/30  5- 5  0- 0  0- 0  5/23  0/ 8  0/22  1/22  1/11  3/11  2/12   2
TOTALS                 40:00       82    27-48  3-12 19-23    60 22/30  6/73 13/72 11/48 12/33 31/44  13
.                                        0.562 0.250 0.826       0.733 0.082 0.181 0.229 0.364 0.705    

Efficiency: Connecticut 1.139, Notre Dame 0.959
eFG%: Connecticut 0.525, Notre Dame 0.457
Substitutions: Connecticut 20, Notre Dame 25

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Connecticut 4-5, Notre Dame 1-2
Layups/Tips: Connecticut 10-12, Notre Dame 10-19
Jumpers: Connecticut 13-31, Notre Dame 9-27

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Connecticut 10 (15.9), Notre Dame 14 (21.9)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Connecticut 5 (83.3), Notre Dame 13 (162.5)
Seconds per poss: Connecticut 15.0, Notre Dame 18.3

-------------------

Notre Dame vs USF
1-5-10 7 p.m. at Tampa, Fla. (Sun Dome)
Final score: Notre Dame 74, USF 73

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           30:09  +11  11/59  3- 8  0- 0  5- 6  8/44  2/16  0/46  1/49  0/27  6/27  1/20   2
Abromaitis, Tim        35:04  - 3  10/63  3- 6  1- 4  1- 1 10/55  3/18  1/55  2/57  0/32  1/35  3/22   0
Harangody, Luke        40:00  + 1  36/74  9-18  4- 5  6- 7 23/61  1/12  1/63  2/64  0/38  3/38  3/26   3
Jackson, Tory          40:00  + 1  11/74  2- 9  1- 3  4- 4 12/61  3/22  1/63  1/64  0/38  0/38  3/26   3
Hansbrough, Ben        36:30  + 3   3/65  1- 4  0- 2  1- 2  6/55  3/21  0/56  2/57  0/34  0/35  2/24   3
Peoples, Jonathan      09:46  - 4   0/20  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/15  1/ 6  0/18  0/17  0/12  1/ 9  0/ 6   2
Scott, Carleton        08:31  - 4   3/15  0- 0  1- 1  0- 0  1/14  1/ 5  0/14  1/12  2/ 9  2/ 8  3/ 6   1
TOTALS                 40:00       74    18-45  7-16 17-20    61 14/25  3/63  9/64  2/38 16/38 18/26  14
.                                        0.400 0.438 0.850       0.560 0.048 0.141 0.053 0.421 0.692    

USF                     Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
FAMOUS, Jarrid         35:44  + 1  14/64  7-10  0- 0  0- 0 10/45  0/16  0/57  4/55  4/41  3/23  3/36   4
FITZPATRICK, Toarlyn   35:48  + 6  13/69  4- 5  0- 0  5- 7  5/45  0/22  0/58  2/58  3/41  2/21  4/34   3
HOWARD, Chris          39:43  - 1   8/73  0- 2  2- 4  2- 2  6/51  4/25  1/64  2/62  0/45  1/26  2/38   2
JONES, Dominique       40:00  - 1  26/73  6-13  3- 7  5- 6 20/51  5/18  1/64  3/63  0/45  1/26  3/38   1
MERCER, Mike           36:05  - 4  10/63  4- 7  0- 2  2- 2  9/45  0/19  4/57  1/56  1/40  1/24  9/35   3
KARDOK, Ryan           00:41  + 0   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 1   0
BURWELL, Mike          11:59  - 6   2/23  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/17  0/ 8  0/19  0/19  0/12  0/ 9  0/ 8   1
TOTALS                 40:00       73    22-38  5-13 14-17    51  9/27  6/64 12/63  8/45  8/26 22/38  14
.                                        0.579 0.385 0.824       0.333 0.094 0.190 0.178 0.308 0.579    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.156, USF 1.159
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.467, USF 0.578
Substitutions: Notre Dame 15, USF 11

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 0-0, USF 4-4
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 11-27, USF 7-10
Jumpers: Notre Dame 7-18, USF 11-24

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 0 (0.0), USF 4 (6.8)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 0 (0.0), USF 9 (150.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 18.6, USF 19.2

-----------------

West Virginia vs Notre Dame
1-9-10 8:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Notre Dame 70, West Virginia 68

West Virginia           Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
BUTLER, Da'Sean        36:00  - 1  13/63  1- 8  3-12  2- 2 20/63  3/21  2/53  1/53  0/25  4/40  5/20   2
EBANKS, Devin          14:39  -23   0/11  0- 3  0- 1  0- 0  4/29  2/ 5  0/23  1/23  0/11  1/24  2/ 5   1
JONES, Kevin           34:38  + 8  17/63  7- 8  1- 3  0- 0 11/63  2/17  0/52  0/51  0/28  8/40  2/23   2
SMITH, Wellington      31:45  +13   8/60  1- 5  2- 5  0- 1 10/58  3/20  1/46  0/48  0/27  5/37  2/22   2
BRYANT, Darryl         26:01  - 9  11/33  1- 5  3- 6  0- 0 11/49  1/10  0/36  1/37  0/18  0/36  2/16   4
THOROUGHMAN, Cam       04:16  -12   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 8  0/ 1  0/ 6  0/ 6  0/ 1  0/ 7  0/ 0   1
MAZZULLA, Joe          15:17  +10   6/30  3- 3  0- 0  0- 1  3/24  1/ 9  2/25  0/24  0/10  0/13  3/14   4
JENNINGS, Danny        05:24  - 4   4/ 9  2- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/ 9  0/ 2  0/11  0/ 9  1/ 3  0/ 5  1/ 3   2
PEPPER, Dalton         11:19  + 8   6/30  0- 1  2- 5  0- 0  6/18  3/ 9  0/20  1/19  0/ 9  0/ 7  1/ 8   0
MITCHELL, Casey        09:25  + 0   3/19  0- 0  1- 4  0- 0  4/18  0/ 6  0/15  0/15  0/12  0/12  0/ 5   0
FLOWERS, John          11:16  + 0   0/20  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/21  4/ 8  0/13  0/15  0/ 6  0/14  2/ 4   1
TOTALS                 40:00       68    15-35 12-37  2- 4    72 19/27  5/60  5/60  1/30 19/47 20/24  19
.                                        0.429 0.324 0.500       0.704 0.083 0.083 0.033 0.404 0.833    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           31:33  + 6  13/54  5- 5  0- 0  3- 6  5/30  1/12  0/47  0/46  1/31  2/17  4/42   4
Abromaitis, Tim        33:42  + 8  17/60  1- 3  3- 4  6- 6  7/39  2/16  0/48  3/52  0/30  0/22  8/39   2
Harangody, Luke        37:00  + 0  24/66  7-12  2- 3  4- 4 15/38  0/12  0/55  1/55  1/30  1/21  4/41   2
Jackson, Tory          37:26  + 2   5/63  1- 4  0- 3  3- 4  7/39  7/19  0/56  4/56  0/33  0/23  2/45   2
Hansbrough, Ben        38:43  + 5   6/68  1- 2  1- 2  1- 4  4/41 10/20  1/58  0/58  0/35  0/23  9/47   1
Peoples, Jonathan      12:27  - 6   0/22  0- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/14  1/ 7  1/20  1/19  0/ 8  1/ 8  0/10   1
Brooks, Joey           09:09  - 5   5/17  1- 2  1- 1  0- 0  3/14  0/ 6  0/16  0/14  0/ 8  0/ 6  0/11   1
TOTALS                 40:00       70    16-30  7-13 17-24    43 21/23  2/60  9/60  2/35  4/24 28/47  13
.                                        0.533 0.538 0.708       0.913 0.033 0.150 0.057 0.167 0.596    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.167, West Virginia 1.133
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.616, West Virginia 0.458
Substitutions: Notre Dame 17, West Virginia 30

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 2-2, West Virginia 1-1
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 6-9, West Virginia 7-15
Jumpers: Notre Dame 8-19, West Virginia 7-19

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 2 (3.8), West Virginia 2 (3.0)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 0 (0.0), West Virginia 8 (160.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 18.8, West Virginia 20.9

---------------

Notre Dame vs Cincinnati
1-16-10 4 p.m. at Fifth Third Arena - Cincinnati, Ohio
Final score: Cincinnati 60, Notre Dame 58

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           13:42  + 3   0/23  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/18  1/ 8  0/22  0/22  0/13  0/13  0/15   5
Abromaitis, Tim        36:08  - 2  16/53  4- 6  1- 4  5- 8 10/49  0/15  2/59  1/59  1/38  0/33  8/39   1
Harangody, Luke        37:25  - 6  14/51  3-15  2- 5  2- 6 20/49  1/14  0/59  4/59  0/40  0/34 11/43   4
Jackson, Tory          37:28  - 2  12/56  6- 8  0- 0  0- 0  8/51  3/15  2/60  1/61  0/41  0/34  3/44   1
Hansbrough, Ben        38:43  - 5   8/53  3- 4  0- 3  2- 4  7/52  5/17  0/61  0/61  0/43  1/36  0/45   3
Peoples, Jonathan      19:55  - 1   3/28  0- 3  1- 2  0- 0  5/27  0/11  0/31  0/31  0/24  1/16  0/23   0
Brooks, Joey           01:57  + 0   0/ 2  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 4  0/ 1  1/ 4   0
Scott, Carleton        14:42  + 3   5/24  1- 1  1- 3  0- 1  4/22  0/ 7  1/25  0/25  1/17  0/13  3/22   1
TOTALS                 40:00       58    17-37  5-17  9-19    54 10/22  5/64  6/64  2/44  4/36 27/45  15
.                                        0.459 0.294 0.474       0.455 0.078 0.094 0.045 0.111 0.600    

Cincinnati              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
GATES, Yancy           32:39  +12  11/52  5-11  0- 0  1- 2 11/54  0/14  0/51  0/52  0/31  6/37  7/32   2
TOYLOY, Steve          10:57  -15   0/10  0- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/17  0/ 3  0/19  1/17  0/10  0/15  2/ 7   1
VAUGHN, Deonta         35:58  - 1  15/53  2- 4  3- 9  2- 2 13/60  0/13  0/58  1/59  0/32  0/45  7/31   3
DAVIS, Larry           19:54  - 4   0/30  0- 1  0- 4  0- 0  5/30  1/10  0/32  3/31  0/20  1/21  1/16   2
STEPHENSON, Lance      24:49  - 1   9/34  3- 8  0- 1  3- 5  9/41  2/ 8  1/39  3/40  0/19  2/32  3/23   1
DIXON, Dion            23:06  +10   7/38  2- 7  0- 2  3- 3  9/41  2/12  0/37  0/39  0/21  2/29  3/23   0
WILKS, Darnell         12:20  + 7   2/20  1- 4  0- 0  0- 0  4/23  0/ 7  0/21  0/21  0/13  2/16  6/15   3
BISHOP, Rashad         24:04  +10  10/39  2- 5  1- 2  3- 4  7/37  1/11  1/36  1/37  0/23  3/24  2/23   2
THOMAS, Ibrahima       02:36  - 2   1/ 4  0- 1  0- 0  1- 2  1/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 5  0/ 4  0/ 2  0/ 2  1/ 2   0
PARKER, Jaquon         13:37  - 6   5/20  1- 1  1- 3  0- 0  4/20  1/ 5  0/22  0/20  0/14  0/14  0/ 8   2
TOTALS                 40:00       60    16-44  5-21 13-18    65  7/21  2/64  9/64  0/37 18/45 32/36  16
.                                        0.364 0.238 0.722       0.333 0.031 0.141 0.000 0.400 0.889    

Efficiency: Cincinnati 0.938, Notre Dame 0.906
eFG%: Cincinnati 0.362, Notre Dame 0.454
Substitutions: Cincinnati 33, Notre Dame 19

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Cincinnati 1-1, Notre Dame 0-0
Layups/Tips: Cincinnati 6-13, Notre Dame 5-11
Jumpers: Cincinnati 9-30, Notre Dame 12-26

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Cincinnati 6 (12.8), Notre Dame 10 (20.4)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Cincinnati 4 (200.0), Notre Dame 6 (120.0)
Seconds per poss: Cincinnati 19.9, Notre Dame 17.6

-----------

Syracuse vs Notre Dame
1-18-10 7:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Syracuse 84, Notre Dame 71

Syracuse                Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
JACKSON, Rick          25:41  +10   6/55  2- 4  0- 0  2- 2  4/32  2/16  0/44  2/41  3/30  2/16  2/28   0
JOHNSON, Wesley        40:00  +13  22/84  6-11  2- 4  4- 6 15/53  3/18  1/68  0/66  0/37  1/32  7/41   4
ONUAKU, Arinze         32:37  + 7  13/62  4- 7  0- 0  5- 9  7/43  1/16  1/53  2/52  1/23  3/28  4/29   3
RAUTINS, Andy          38:12  + 9  21/80  0- 0  5- 9  6- 6  9/52  2/20  1/64  5/63  0/33  1/32  3/36   3
TRICHE, Brandon        27:07  + 7   8/48  1- 4  1- 4  3- 3  8/37  4/12  1/45  1/44  1/22  0/27  1/26   2
JARDINE, Scoop         15:13  +14   6/44  2- 4  0- 0  2- 2  4/19  6/12  0/28  1/27  0/20  1/ 6  2/21   0
JOSEPH, Kris           21:10  + 5   8/47  3- 6  0- 0  2- 3  6/29  1/10  1/38  0/37  0/20  3/19  2/24   2
TOTALS                 40:00       84    18-36  8-17 24-31    53 19/26  5/68 11/66  5/37 13/32 25/41  14
.                                        0.500 0.471 0.774       0.731 0.074 0.167 0.135 0.406 0.610    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           19:12  - 4   1/37  0- 3  0- 0  1- 2  3/27  0/12  1/34  1/36  0/19  1/15  1/19   4
Abromaitis, Tim        37:58  - 7  26/69  5- 6  5-11  1- 2 17/63  3/15  0/62  1/64  1/35  2/38  0/31   4
Harangody, Luke        40:00  -13  31/71 12-21  1- 5  4- 4 26/67  0/13  1/66  2/68  0/36  5/41  9/32   4
Jackson, Tory          40:00  -13   2/71  0- 4  0- 3  2- 2  7/67 15/26  2/66  3/68  0/36  0/41  1/32   1
Hansbrough, Ben        31:12  -17   9/57  0- 0  2- 7  3- 3  7/50  2/17  0/55  2/57  0/31  0/31  1/26   4
Peoples, Jonathan      12:42  - 7   0/19  0- 0  0- 2  0- 0  2/24  0/ 9  0/18  1/17  0/ 9  0/15  2/ 9   3
Scott, Carleton        18:56  - 4   2/31  1- 3  0- 2  0- 0  5/37  2/12  0/29  1/30  0/14  6/24  3/11   3
TOTALS                 40:00       71    18-37  8-30 11-13    67 22/26  4/66 11/68  1/36 16/41 19/32  23
.                                        0.486 0.267 0.846       0.846 0.061 0.162 0.028 0.390 0.594    

Efficiency: Syracuse 1.273, Notre Dame 1.044
eFG%: Syracuse 0.566, Notre Dame 0.448
Substitutions: Syracuse 11, Notre Dame 18

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Syracuse 5-5, Notre Dame 1-2
Layups/Tips: Syracuse 3-9, Notre Dame 10-16
Jumpers: Syracuse 10-22, Notre Dame 7-19

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Syracuse 4 (6.7), Notre Dame 2 (3.3)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Syracuse 6 (120.0), Notre Dame 4 (100.0)
Seconds per poss: Syracuse 15.3, Notre Dame 20.2

------------

DePaul vs Notre Dame
1-23-10 2:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Notre Dame 87, DePaul 77

DePaul                  Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
HILL, Devin            38:17  - 9  15/66  5- 8  1- 3  2- 4 11/60  1/21  0/60  0/59  4/40  3/35  5/38   5
FABER, Krys            18:15  -11   4/37  1- 5  0- 0  2- 2  5/28  1/14  0/29  1/28  0/20  2/13  2/14   4
KELLY, Jeremiah        40:00  -10   0/77  0- 2  0- 4  0- 0  6/68  4/31  1/66  1/66  0/41  2/39  0/38   0
WALLACE, Eric          19:19  - 5   6/27  3- 5  0- 1  0- 1  6/33  0/ 9  0/29  0/28  1/19  1/22  2/19   3
WALKER, Will           40:00  -10  35/77 11-17  4-13  1- 1 30/68  4/16  1/66  1/66  0/41  0/39  5/38   1
STOVALL, Mike          24:07  - 4  14/53  1- 5  4- 4  0- 0  9/45  4/16  0/38  0/40  0/23  0/24  3/20   4
ROGERS, Nate           11:57  + 2   3/29  0- 0  1- 1  0- 0  1/24  0/10  0/24  1/26  0/11  1/15  3/12   3
FREELAND, Tony         03:01  - 3   0/ 5  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 2  0/ 6  0/ 6  0/ 5  0/ 3  1/ 5   2
DREW, Jimmy            00:48  + 0   0/ 6  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 4  0/ 2  0/ 3  0/ 4  0/ 0  0/ 2  0/ 0   1
OBI, Kene              04:16  + 0   0/ 8  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 5  0/ 3  0/ 9  1/ 7  0/ 5  0/ 3  2/ 6   2
TOTALS                 40:00       77    21-42 10-26  5- 8    68 14/31  2/66  5/66  5/41 10/39 25/38  25
.                                        0.500 0.385 0.625       0.452 0.030 0.076 0.122 0.256 0.658    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           33:13  +11  13/74  4- 6  0- 0  5- 7  6/51  2/18  0/56  0/56  0/32  4/33  6/32   2
Abromaitis, Tim        33:49  +21  30/82  4- 7  5- 9  7- 8 16/52  3/15  1/57  0/59  0/32  0/33  6/33   0
Harangody, Luke        38:27  +14  24/87  8-18  0- 2  8-11 20/57  2/18  0/64  1/65  2/39  3/36  8/38   3
Jackson, Tory          37:00  + 7   5/82  1- 3  0- 1  3- 4  4/52  7/23  0/61  0/62  0/41  1/33  1/36   3
Hansbrough, Ben        33:58  + 8  15/76  2- 5  2- 4  5- 7  9/51  7/20  0/58  1/58  0/38  3/32  7/35   1
Peoples, Jonathan      13:00  - 2   0/21  0- 1  0- 1  0- 0  2/20  1/ 6  1/19  0/18  0/12  0/14  0/10   2
Brooks, Joey           02:13  - 4   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 3  0/ 1  0/ 3  0/ 2  1/ 3   0
Scott, Carleton        08:20  - 5   0/13  0- 1  0- 1  0- 0  2/10  0/ 4  0/12  0/11  0/13  1/ 7  0/ 8   0
TOTALS                 40:00       87    19-41  7-18 28-37    59 22/26  2/66  2/66  2/42 13/38 29/39  11
.                                        0.463 0.389 0.757       0.846 0.030 0.030 0.048 0.342 0.744    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.318, DePaul 1.167
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.500, DePaul 0.529
Substitutions: Notre Dame 18, DePaul 17

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 4-4, DePaul 0-1
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 7-17, DePaul 10-15
Jumpers: Notre Dame 8-20, DePaul 11-26

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 4 (6.8), DePaul 4 (5.6)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 2 (100.0), DePaul 5 (250.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 16.3, DePaul 20.2

-------------

Notre Dame vs Villanova
1-27-10 7:00 PM at Wachovia Center (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Final score: Villanova 90, Notre Dame 72

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           25:01  - 9  12/52  4- 5  0- 0  4- 7  5/35  2/14  0/46  1/48  0/25  2/23  4/18   4
Abromaitis, Tim        33:17  -15  16/62  1- 5  2- 8  8-10 13/41  2/16  0/58  1/58  0/29  2/27  3/29   3
Harangody, Luke        34:54  -29  21/56  8-12  0- 2  5- 9 14/45  1/10  1/63  4/63  1/34  3/34  6/32   2
Jackson, Tory          38:12  -23   6/67  0- 2  2- 4  0- 2  6/49  7/19  2/69  3/69  0/36  0/35  0/35   3
Hansbrough, Ben        18:11  -11   7/34  1- 1  1- 2  2- 2  3/27  2/10  1/34  4/36  0/16  0/17  1/12   5
Peoples, Jonathan      28:53  - 5   8/54  1- 2  2- 5  0- 0  7/35  2/14  0/49  3/48  2/28  1/23  2/29   2
Brooks, Joey           06:50  - 2   2/12  1- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/ 8  1/ 3  1/10  0/12  0/ 2  0/ 6  0/ 3   0
Scott, Carleton        12:24  - 1   0/18  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/13  1/ 4  1/19  0/19  3/10  1/10  1/16   3
Cooley, Jack           02:18  + 5   0/ 5  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 1   0
TOTALS                 40:00       72    16-29  7-22 19-30    51 18/23  6/70 16/71  6/36 14/35 19/35  22
.                                        0.552 0.318 0.633       0.783 0.086 0.225 0.167 0.400 0.543    

Villanova               Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
PENA, Antonio          31:41  +21  14/73  5- 8  0- 0  4- 6  8/48  3/17  0/59  1/58  0/21  2/29  8/31   2
REYNOLDS, Scottie      21:40  +29  17/59  5- 9  1- 4  4- 4 13/36  1/13  3/38  2/42  0/12  1/19  0/20   3
FISHER, Corey          27:51  +24  17/70  3- 4  2- 3  5- 5  7/42  6/18  1/52  3/50  0/16  1/21  1/25   2
REDDING, Reggie        19:53  +11   9/48  2- 2  1- 2  2- 3  4/32  3/14  3/34  0/34  0/16  2/17  2/18   3
STOKES, Corey          28:16  +13   9/66  1- 2  2- 6  1- 2  8/41  2/18  0/52  1/52  1/17  1/24  3/22   2
WAYNS, Maalik          20:00  + 0  10/39  1- 5  1- 1  5- 6  6/29  4/10  0/35  4/33  0/18  0/20  1/18   3
YAROU, Mouphtaou       08:59  - 2   2/18  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/12  1/ 6  0/14  1/14  0/ 9  0/ 5  1/ 6   1
CHEEK, Dominic         10:40  -10   4/16  0- 1  1- 2  1- 2  3/14  0/ 3  0/18  0/17  0/11  2/11  1/ 8   0
SUTTON, Maurice        03:00  - 8   0/ 0  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 4  0/ 0  0/ 4  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 4  0/ 1   0
KING, Taylor           22:04  - 4   8/42  1- 3  2- 6  0- 0  9/32  0/11  0/38  1/35  1/19  2/20  2/20   3
ARMWOOD, Isaiah        05:56  +16   0/19  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/10  0/ 6  0/11  0/12  0/ 4  0/ 5  0/ 6   4
TOTALS                 40:00       90    19-36 10-24 22-28    60 20/29  7/71 13/70  2/29 16/35 21/35  23
.                                        0.528 0.417 0.786       0.690 0.099 0.186 0.069 0.457 0.600    

Efficiency: Villanova 1.286, Notre Dame 1.014
eFG%: Villanova 0.567, Notre Dame 0.520
Substitutions: Villanova 45, Notre Dame 29

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Villanova 1-1, Notre Dame 2-3
Layups/Tips: Villanova 10-20, Notre Dame 10-13
Jumpers: Villanova 8-15, Notre Dame 4-13

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Villanova 12 (17.6), Notre Dame 2 (3.8)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Villanova 13 (185.7), Notre Dame 5 (83.3)
Seconds per poss: Villanova 15.7, Notre Dame 18.7

------------

Notre Dame vs Rutgers
1-30-10 6:00 p.m. at Piscataway, N.J. - The RAC
Final score: Rutgers 74, Notre Dame 73

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           25:30  +12   6/52  3- 5  0- 0  0- 0  5/43  2/17  3/41  2/44  0/26  0/23  1/27   4
Abromaitis, Tim        38:41  - 7  17/67  3- 6  3- 7  2- 2 13/67  2/21  0/68  1/67  0/37  3/41  7/41   4
Harangody, Luke        38:52  - 5  19/69  7-21  1- 5  2- 2 26/66  2/19  0/69  1/68  1/36  1/40  6/40   0
Jackson, Tory          39:41  - 5  11/67  4- 6  1- 2  0- 1  8/65  3/21  1/68  2/67  0/38  1/40  5/42   5
Hansbrough, Ben        37:28  + 0  18/71  3- 8  3- 4  3- 3 12/64  5/21  4/67  2/67  0/33  1/38  4/38   3
Peoples, Jonathan      16:44  - 2   2/29  0- 2  0- 1  2- 2  3/28  1/10  0/31  0/30  0/17  1/19  0/19   4
Brooks, Joey           02:45  - 2   0/ 4  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 4  0/ 1  1/ 4  0/ 4  0/ 3  0/ 3  0/ 3   0
Scott, Carleton        00:19  + 4   0/ 6  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 3  0/ 0  0/ 1  0/ 0   0
TOTALS                 40:00       73    20-49  8-19  9-10    68 15/28  9/70  8/70  1/38 10/41 27/42  20
.                                        0.408 0.421 0.900       0.536 0.129 0.114 0.026 0.244 0.643    

Rutgers                 Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
MILLER, Dane           34:32  - 1  12/65  3-10  1- 5  3- 5 15/51  2/17  1/61  5/60  0/42  5/36  5/36   1
MITCHELL, Jonathan     33:59  +10  12/70  3- 9  2- 5  0- 0 14/52  0/18  1/60  0/60  0/40  4/35  3/36   1
NDIAYE, Hamady         37:26  + 0  10/70  3- 6  0- 0  4- 5  6/56  0/20  0/65  1/65  6/46  1/39  4/38   3
ROSARIO, Mike          34:04  + 6  24/69  4- 7  4- 8  4- 4 15/54  1/15  0/60  2/61  0/41  2/35  5/34   2
BEATTY, James          33:21  + 5  10/67  2- 4  1- 2  3- 6  6/50  5/18  3/60  2/60  0/41  1/35  8/34   1
JOHNSON, Austin        07:58  - 8   0/ 8  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/11  0/ 2  0/14  1/14  1/12  0/ 9  2/ 8   3
JACKSON, Patrick       05:28  + 2   0/ 9  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/ 9  0/ 3  0/ 9  1/10  1/ 7  0/ 6  2/ 5   0
COBURN, Mike           13:12  - 9   6/12  1- 2  0- 1  4- 6  3/17  2/ 3  0/21  0/20  0/16  0/15  1/14   0
TOTALS                 40:00       74    16-38  8-22 18-26    60 10/24  5/70 12/70  8/49 15/42 31/41  11
.                                        0.421 0.364 0.692       0.417 0.071 0.171 0.163 0.357 0.756    

Efficiency: Rutgers 1.057, Notre Dame 1.043
eFG%: Rutgers 0.467, Notre Dame 0.471
Substitutions: Rutgers 19, Notre Dame 20

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Rutgers 1-3, Notre Dame 0-1
Layups/Tips: Rutgers 9-12, Notre Dame 14-28
Jumpers: Rutgers 6-23, Notre Dame 6-20

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Rutgers 12 (21.4), Notre Dame 9 (14.1)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Rutgers 8 (160.0), Notre Dame 15 (166.7)
Seconds per poss: Rutgers 18.2, Notre Dame 16.1

-------------

Cincinnati vs Notre Dame
2-4-10 9:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Notre Dame 83, Cincinnati 65

Cincinnati              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
BISHOP, Rashad         28:26  - 1   8/55  4- 7  0- 2  0- 0  9/44  2/15  0/47  1/49  1/31  3/25  3/29   3
THOMAS, Ibrahima       18:41  - 9   5/25  0- 2  1- 2  2- 4  4/24  0/ 6  0/28  0/30  0/13  1/17  3/16   4
GATES, Yancy           25:53  -13  10/43  4- 8  0- 0  2- 3  8/38  2/11  0/46  4/46  0/30  1/24  5/27   4
WRIGHT, Cashmere       24:25  - 3   4/37  1- 3  0- 6  2- 2  9/37  1/13  3/38  0/40  0/23  0/24  1/26   3
VAUGHN, Deonta         30:03  -10  11/50  0- 0  2- 8  5- 5  8/43  6/14  1/50  2/51  1/30  0/28  2/27   2
DIXON, Dion            01:14  - 2   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 3  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 1  2/ 2   0
DAVIS, Larry           20:18  - 6  12/39  0- 0  4- 8  0- 0  8/26  0/ 8  0/34  0/35  0/22  0/15  1/19   0
WILKS, Darnell         09:21  - 8   2/13  1- 1  0- 1  0- 0  2/10  0/ 3  0/14  2/15  0/ 7  0/ 6  0/ 8   1
STEPHENSON, Lance      20:37  -14   8/34  2- 4  0- 0  4- 4  4/27  1/ 8  0/34  0/35  1/22  1/17  5/15   2
TOYLOY, Steve          11:13  - 8   4/16  2- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/15  1/ 3  1/18  0/16  0/15  1/11  1/13   0
PARKER, Jaquon         09:49  -16   1/13  0- 0  0- 0  1- 2  0/10  1/ 3  0/18  1/16  0/12  1/ 7  0/ 8   2
TOTALS                 40:00       65    14-27  7-28 16-20    55 14/21  5/66 10/67  3/41  8/35 24/38  21
.                                        0.519 0.250 0.800       0.667 0.076 0.149 0.073 0.229 0.632    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           25:49  + 9   4/51  1- 2  0- 0  2- 5  2/40  1/17  0/41  2/42  0/14  2/26  4/23   4
Abromaitis, Tim        30:38  +17  22/68  3- 6  3- 4  7- 7 10/50  4/18  1/52  0/54  0/20  0/31  3/26   5
Harangody, Luke        37:40  +21  37/80 15-23  0- 2  7- 8 25/57  2/13  0/63  0/63  0/24  6/35  8/32   1
Jackson, Tory          37:51  +20   1/78  0- 3  0- 3  1- 2  6/58  8/27  0/63  3/63  0/25  0/37  3/33   2
Hansbrough, Ben        38:34  +22  12/83  1- 1  3- 9  1- 2 10/57  9/25  2/65  2/63  0/25  2/34  6/34   3
Peoples, Jonathan      12:51  - 2   2/21  1- 4  0- 0  0- 0  4/19  1/ 7  0/20  1/19  0/10  0/12  1/10   0
Brooks, Joey           01:06  + 1   3/ 3  0- 0  1- 1  0- 0  1/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 2   0
Scott, Carleton        14:25  + 1   2/28  1- 2  0- 1  0- 0  3/22  0/ 8  0/27  0/24  1/15  1/15  1/13   2
Cooley, Jack           01:06  + 1   0/ 3  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 2   0
TOTALS                 40:00       83    22-41  7-20 18-24    61 25/29  3/67  9/66  1/27 14/38 27/35  17
.                                        0.537 0.350 0.750       0.862 0.045 0.136 0.037 0.368 0.771    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.258, Cincinnati 0.970
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.533, Cincinnati 0.445
Substitutions: Notre Dame 24, Cincinnati 46

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 6-6, Cincinnati 1-1
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 9-15, Cincinnati 7-9
Jumpers: Notre Dame 7-20, Cincinnati 6-17

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 6 (9.2), Cincinnati 0 (0.0)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 3 (100.0), Cincinnati 0 (0.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 18.8, Cincinnati 17.3

---------

USF vs Notre Dame
2-7-10 12:00 p.m. at Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
Final score: Notre Dame 65, USF 62

USF                     Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
FAMOUS, Jarrid         28:30  - 8  18/43  8- 9  0- 0  2- 7  9/44  0/10  0/39  1/41  0/31  6/32  2/20   2
FITZPATRICK, Toarlyn   24:22  - 7   2/37  1- 5  0- 0  0- 0  5/38  0/13  2/36  1/38  2/25  2/28  1/18   0
HOWARD, Chris          37:12  - 6  23/56  7-10  2- 5  3- 5 15/52  2/12  1/54  1/55  0/35  1/36  4/29   3
CRATER, Anthony        30:43  + 4   3/50  1- 1  0- 3  1- 2  4/46  5/19  2/46  0/46  1/25  0/31  2/24   4
JONES, Dominique       39:03  - 7  10/58  1-11  2- 6  2- 4 17/57  8/20  0/56  0/57  1/35  2/40  3/30   3
RIVAS, Alex            11:53  + 7   2/21  0- 0  0- 0  2- 2  0/14  0/ 7  1/19  1/18  0/ 6  1/ 8  5/11   5
NORIEGA, Shaun         00:04  + 0   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 1  0/ 0   0
MERCER, Mike           28:13  + 2   4/45  2- 8  0- 0  0- 0  8/38  2/15  1/40  1/39  0/23  0/24  3/23   1
TOTALS                 40:00       62    20-44  4-14 10-20    58 17/24  7/58  5/59  4/36 12/40 20/31  18
.                                        0.455 0.286 0.500       0.708 0.121 0.085 0.111 0.300 0.645    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Nash, Tyrone           24:42  +13   5/41  1- 5  0- 0  3- 4  5/33  1/14  1/41  0/34  3/31  4/18  4/35   4
Abromaitis, Tim        27:57  + 5   8/47  1- 2  2- 4  0- 0  6/38  2/12  0/39  1/44  0/28  0/23  4/26   3
Harangody, Luke        40:00  + 3  19/65  4-15  1- 2  8- 8 17/51  2/16  0/59  1/58  0/44  2/31 13/40   4
Jackson, Tory          38:43  + 2  18/62  7-10  0- 3  4- 5 13/48  4/13  1/57  3/56  1/43  1/29  1/39   0
Hansbrough, Ben        38:55  + 7  13/65  1- 3  3- 6  2- 4  9/51  2/17  0/57  2/57  0/43  3/31  3/40   2
Peoples, Jonathan      19:50  - 3   2/32  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/25  1/ 8  0/28  1/27  0/22  0/17  1/16   0
Scott, Carleton        08:44  -11   0/10  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 8  0/ 3  0/12  0/12  0/ 8  0/ 5  1/ 4   1
Cooley, Jack           01:09  - 1   0/ 3  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 1  0/ 1  0/ 0   1
TOTALS                 40:00       65    15-36  6-15 17-21    51 12/21  2/59  8/58  4/44 11/31 28/40  15
.                                        0.417 0.400 0.810       0.571 0.034 0.138 0.091 0.355 0.700    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.121, USF 1.051
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.471, USF 0.448
Substitutions: Notre Dame 28, USF 28

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 0-0, USF 4-5
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 8-18, USF 13-19
Jumpers: Notre Dame 7-18, USF 3-20

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Notre Dame 6 (12.5), USF 6 (11.5)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Notre Dame 1 (50.0), USF 7 (100.0)
Seconds per poss: Notre Dame 21.1, USF 20.4

-----------

Notre Dame vs Seton Hall
2/11/10 7:00 p.m. at Newark, N.J. - Prudential Center
Final score: Seton Hall 90, Notre Dame 87

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
NASH, Tyrone           28:52  - 4  13/62  5- 7  0- 0  3- 4  7/36  1/17  1/51  2/49  0/32  1/17  5/23   5
ABROMAITIS, Tim        38:20  - 2  18/85  0- 2  2- 5 12-12  7/48  2/24  0/70  2/70  0/41  1/25  7/32   1
HARANGODY, Luke        29:14  +14  13/70  3- 9  1- 1  4- 4 10/38  2/18  0/49  2/50  1/30  1/18  5/24   2
JACKSON, Tory          40:00  - 3  25/87  5- 6  4- 6  3- 5 12/50  6/18  1/72  6/71  0/41  0/26  0/33   2
HANSBROUGH, Ben        31:37  -15  10/55  2- 3  2- 4  0- 0  7/38  1/13  1/56  2/55  0/33  0/22  3/23   4
PEOPLES, Jonathan      14:51  + 0   0/39  0- 0  0- 1  0- 0  1/20  1/12  0/30  0/28  0/14  1/10  1/14   2
BROOKS, Joey           06:17  - 1   3/13  1- 1  0- 0  1- 2  1/ 5  0/ 2  1/12  0/11  0/ 6  0/ 3  0/ 6   2
SCOTT, Carleton        10:49  - 4   5/24  1- 3  1- 2  0- 0  5/15  1/ 4  0/20  0/21  0/ 8  0/ 9  4/10   0
TOTALS                 40:00       87    17-31 10-19 23-27    50 14/27  4/72 14/71  1/41  6/25 26/32  18
.                                        0.548 0.526 0.852       0.519 0.056 0.197 0.024 0.240 0.812    

Seton Hall              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
POPE, Herb             36:29  - 3   6/82  3- 7  0- 0  0- 1  7/55  1/27  2/67  2/66  2/29  1/29  8/22   3
ROBINSON, Jeff         22:01  +10  14/55  7-10  0- 0  0- 0 10/35  1/14  0/38  0/40  1/19  1/16  3/17   5
LAWRENCE, Keon         29:50  + 5   6/64  3- 8  0- 2  0- 1 10/44  5/21  1/53  1/54  1/25  1/23  3/21   0
HARVEY, Eugene         27:54  + 1   9/61  0- 2  1- 1  6- 6  3/44 10/22  1/51  1/52  0/24  0/26  1/23   3
HAZELL, Jeremy         36:10  + 6  35/83  4- 5  8-11  3- 5 16/54  1/18  4/64  2/65  0/29  1/29  2/25   1
THEODORE, Jordan       17:34  - 1   9/38  2- 2  1- 2  2- 2  4/23  5/10  1/31  2/31  0/11  0/14  0/ 7   1
JACKSON, Jamel         01:37  - 1   0/ 6  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 2  0/ 3  0/ 3  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0   1
MITCHELL, Robert       18:11  - 2   8/42  1- 6  2- 3  0- 0  9/28  0/12  0/32  0/33  0/10  0/16  0/ 9   3
HALL, Ferrakohn        04:34  + 0   2/10  1- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/ 9  0/ 3  0/ 8  0/ 8  0/ 4  1/ 6  0/ 1   1
GARCIA, John           05:40  + 0   1/ 9  0- 0  0- 0  1- 4  0/ 6  0/ 3  0/ 8  0/ 8  1/ 4  0/ 6  0/ 5   1
TOTALS                 40:00       90    21-41 12-19 12-19    60 23/33  9/71  8/72  5/31  6/32 19/25  19
.                                        0.512 0.632 0.632       0.697 0.127 0.111 0.161 0.188 0.760    

Efficiency: Seton Hall 1.250, Notre Dame 1.225
eFG%: Seton Hall 0.650, Notre Dame 0.640
Substitutions: Seton Hall 28, Notre Dame 24

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Seton Hall 1-2, Notre Dame 0-0
Layups/Tips: Seton Hall 6-12, Notre Dame 13-17
Jumpers: Seton Hall 14-27, Notre Dame 4-14

Fast break pts (% FG pts): Seton Hall 10 (12.8), Notre Dame 11 (17.2)
Pts (eff.) after steal: Seton Hall 13 (144.4), Notre Dame 1 (25.0)
Seconds per poss: Seton Hall 16.4, Notre Dame 17.1

Recap: Notre Dame 73, Georgetown 67

Perspective. Perspective is a wonderful thing.

Eight days ago, Georgetown was about to start league play with three games against Top 15 opponents, with two of those games on the road.

Seven days ago, Georgetown won convincingly on the road against then #2 UConn, and HoyaTalk exploded with visions of a third consecutive Big East title.

Two days ago, Georgetown was physically dominated at home by then #3 Pitt, and HoyaTalk exploded with the questioning of players' manhood and demands for sweatbands.

Tonight, Georgetown lost at #13 Notre Dame by 6 points. I have no idea what the mood is over at the psychiatric wing tonight, but I hope it's at least modestly upbeat. Why?

Let's run the numbers.

TEMPO-FREE BOX SCORE
 
.            Visitor                         Home      
.            GU                              Notre Dame 
.            1st Half  2nd Half   Total      1st Half  2nd Half   Total
Pace            29        32        62

Effic.         94.0     118.8     107.0       130.9     103.6     116.5

eFG%           43.3      46.7      45.0        51.6      52.0      51.8
TO%            16.8      12.2      14.4        13.4      15.2      14.4
OR%            36.8      45.0      41.0        47.1      20.0      34.4
FT Rate        13.3      60.0      36.7        22.6      36.0      28.6

Assist Rate    50.0      69.2      60.0        71.4      45.5      60.0
Block Rate     10.0       6.7       8.6        10.0       4.5       7.1
Steal Rate      6.7       9.1       8.0         6.7       0.0       3.2

2FG%           50.0      50.0      50.0        50.0      46.7      48.6
3FG%           20.0      25.0      22.2        36.4      40.0      38.1
FT%            50.0      61.1      59.1       100.0      88.9      93.8

Tonight's game was played at a relatively plodding pace, slower than either team has averaged so far this season. I suspect that Coach Thompson has decided to rein in his team due to the obscene number of offensive rebounds they've been allowing; you can't run if you don't rebound the ball.

In the first half, Notre Dame was better than the Hoyas in each of the four factors:

• they shot better from 3FG and from the line
• they had one fewer turnover (4 vs. 5) in one extra possession (30 vs. 29)
• they were stronger on the offensive glass, getting 8 of 17 own missed shots while allowing 7 of 19 available offensive rebounds to Georgetown (NDU earned 7 points for their effort, compared to G'town's 11)
• they were 7/7 on FTs for the half, to the Hoyas' 2/4.

This resulted in an 11-point halftime lead, and much groaning around here that Georgetown was in for another long night. I decided to take out my frustrations by folding laundry - hey, you do what you have to.

But a funny thing happened in the 2nd half - rather than wearing down and rolling over, the Hoyas kept at it, and some good things happened. Georgetown was able to take better care of the ball (GU: 4 TOs in 33 poss, NDU: 5/32), and did a much better job rebounding (GU: 9 OR in 20 available, NDU: 3/15). Georgetown even managed to get to the FT line twice as much as Notre Dame (18 to 9). In fact, the Hoyas played well enough that they ended the game ahead in three of four factors (TO %, OR %, FT Rate).

Unfortunately, G'town couldn't win the most important factor of all, eFG%. Notre Dame ended the game at 51.8%, slightly below their season average (53.4%). But Georgetown struggled shooting all night, and ended the game at 45%, well below their own season average (54.5%).

The Hoyas' shot selection doesn't appear to be the problem. Here's the attempts breakout for the game:

Shot            GU       NDU
Dunk             3        1
Layup/tip       24       11
2-pt jumper     15       23
3-pt jumper     18       21
Free throw      22       16

That is a textbook example of G'town's typically better shot selection - unfortunately, the Irish made a high percentage of each of their shots, while the Hoyas did not. In fact, if each team had just shot it's season average FT% tonight, the swing of seven points [GU: 13/22 (59%) to 16/22 (73%), NDU: 15/16 (94%) to 11/16 (69%)] would have covered the difference in the game.

Now to be clear, this is not to say that tonight was some sort of preternatural event where the opponent can't miss (e.g. the Tennessee game). Rather, the FT shooting for Notre Dame was very good, while the 3FG and FT shooting for Georgetown was poor. Since the game was played at the Joyce Center, I'd not call that unexpected.

To overcome this, Georgetown gave good effort to win the other three factors in the game, but unfortunately did not do enough to make up the difference.

INDIVIDUAL NET POINTS STATS

GU                    Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ                
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
Summers, DaJuan        39     7.8   108.1     8.5        34    111.8      7.6       +0.9
Monroe, Greg           59    16.3   135.1    22.0        58    109.7     12.7       +9.2
Wright, Chris          48    13.0    86.3    11.2        45    111.2     10.0       +1.2
Freeman, Austin        47     7.2    78.4     5.7        47    126.6     11.9       -6.2
Sapp, Jessie           52     6.0   108.7     6.5        51    108.3     11.0       -4.6
Clark, Jason           35     5.4   104.2     5.6        38    123.2      9.4       -3.8
Vaughn, Julian          3     0.0     -       0.0         4    -28.6     -0.2       +0.2
Sims, Henry            19     1.1   208.3     2.4        22    102.8      4.5       -2.1
Wattad, Omar            8     2.6    71.4     1.9        11    141.3      3.1       -1.2
TOTALS                 62    59.4   107.1    63.6        62    113.0     70.0       -6.4    

Notre Dame            Off    Poss           Individ     Def             Individ             
Player                Poss   Used    ORtg   Pts Prod    Poss    DRtg   Pts Allow   Net Pts
HILLESLAND, Zach       44     5.4   112.5     6.1        44    115.5     10.2       -4.1
HARANGODY, Luke        53    19.6   120.7    23.7        49     83.4      8.2      +15.5
JACKSON, Tory          56    10.0   127.5    12.8        55     97.1     10.7       +2.1
MCALARNEY, Kyle        62    14.1    98.3    13.8        62    107.3     13.3       +0.5
AYERS, Ryan            48     4.1   140.3     5.7        49    125.0     12.2       -6.6
NASH, Tyrone            0     0.0     -       0.0         1      0.0      0.0       +0.0
PEOPLES, Jonathan      13     1.4    73.5     1.0        14     89.4      2.5       -1.5
ZELLER, Luke           34     5.1   102.4     5.2        36     92.5      6.7       -1.4
TOTALS                 62    59.7   114.4    68.3        62    102.8     63.7       +4.6    

D. Summers picked up early 2nd, 3rd and 4th fouls, and was forced to sit more than usual tonight. He wasn't particularly aggressive when he did play (7.8 poss. used / 39 poss. played = 20% Poss. Used), appropriate for his efficiency level tonight. Summers did seem a bit more vocal about his foul calls, which I'd guess was pent up frustration from Saturday.

With Summers sitting, Coach Thompson turned to H. Sims for 19 possessions today. Sims responded with good defense and a singular offensive play (a Summers-like monster put-back slam, resulting in a Raftery "Send it in!"). Watching the game, Sims still looks timid on offense, although I don't know if this is because he is still trying to pick up the offense or if he just is afraid to make mistake(s) that will result in a hook.

J. Sapp showed a few signs of a spark tonight, making two 3FGs in a game for the first time since Savannah St. Sapp continued to defer on offense (6.0 / 52 = 11.5% Poss. Used), which has been a puzzling trend all season. He also played a strong defensive game.

The other 2/3 of the 3-guard set - C. Wright and A. Freeman - struggled, putting up similar ORtg numbers to the Pitt game. Perhaps expectations were raised too high after their great game against UConn, but the fact remains that the composition of this team requires good performances from all 5 starters for it to win against top-flight competition. Freeman's defense was a particular problem tonight, and Coach Thompson swapped him in for offense and out for defense in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, O. Wattad served as his switching partner, and he struggled even more defensively. Wright just took too many contested shots.

J. Clark played near-starter possessions tonight, and chipped in solidly on offense. His defense was a bit sub-par, but this is part of the learning process of most freshmen.

Most freshmen, that is, except tonight's Player of the Game . . . Greg Monroe. With his teammates struggling to make shots, Monroe used 27% of his possessions played and scored with a number of spins and hookers near the basket, while gathering 7 offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, it was asking too much for him to carry the team to the win. Monroe also made only 3/7 FTs.

And an H.P. tip-of-the-cap to L. Harangody, who was truly the star of the game (31 pts, 11 reb., 1 post-game with Jay Bilas). He uses an extraordinarily high percentage of possessions (19.6/53 = 37%), but it's hard to argue with the results.

HD BOX SCORE

GU vs Notre Dame
1-5-09 7:00 p.m. at Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN
Final score: Notre Dame 73, GU 67

GU                      Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
Summers, DaJuan        22:23  + 7  11/47  3- 5  0- 2  5- 5  7/36  0/13  1/34  2/39  1/13  1/23  4/13   4
Monroe, Greg           37:00  - 2  21/67  9-17  0- 0  3- 7 17/58  3/16  2/58  2/59  0/28  7/37  3/26   3
Wright, Chris          29:59  + 2  13/53  4- 8  1- 6  2- 4 14/47  4/15  0/45  3/48  0/27  1/31  4/24   4
Freeman, Austin        30:22  -14   5/44  2- 4  0- 2  1- 2  6/45  3/16  0/47  0/47  0/29  1/29  2/23   2
Sapp, Jessie           32:45  + 6   7/63  0- 2  2- 5  1- 2  7/50  2/21  1/51  0/52  0/22  1/30  1/23   0
Clark, Jason           24:09  -11   5/35  2- 4  0- 1  1- 2  5/34  3/10  0/38  0/35  2/25  1/25  3/23   1
Vaughn, Julian         03:00  - 4   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 2  0/ 0  0/ 4  0/ 3  0/ 7  0/ 2  2/ 6   0
Sims, Henry            14:06  - 7   2/18  1- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/22  0/ 7  1/22  0/19  0/19  1/15  1/16   0
Wattad, Omar           06:16  - 7   3/ 8  0- 0  1- 2  0- 0  2/ 6  0/ 2  0/11  1/ 8  0/ 5  0/ 3  0/ 6   1
TOTALS                 40:00       67    21-42  4-18 13-22    60 15/25  5/62  9/62  3/35 16/39 21/32  15
.                                        0.500 0.222 0.591       0.600 0.081 0.145 0.086 0.410 0.656    

Notre Dame              Min   +/-   Pts  2PM-A 3PM-A FTM-A  FGA    A    Stl    TO   Blk    OR    DR   PF
HILLESLAND, Zach       27:24  + 6   2/55  1- 2  0- 0  0- 0  2/40  1/17  0/44  2/44  1/31  4/23  1/26   1
HARANGODY, Luke        33:08  + 7  31/60 11-19  0- 0  9- 9 19/47  1/ 9  1/49  3/53  0/35  1/28 10/34   4
JACKSON, Tory          35:24  + 7  10/66  3- 7  0- 1  4- 4  8/50  7/19  1/55  2/56  1/36  1/29  4/34   4
MCALARNEY, Kyle        40:00  + 6  17/73  0- 3  5-11  2- 3 14/56  3/20  0/62  2/62  1/42  0/32  5/39   1
AYERS, Ryan            30:54  -10   8/50  1- 1  2- 4  0- 0  5/41  1/14  0/49  0/48  0/34  0/25  0/29   2
NASH, Tyrone           00:11  + 0   0/ 0  0- 0  0- 0  0- 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 1  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0  0/ 0   0
PEOPLES, Jonathan      08:22  + 3   0/15  0- 1  0- 0  0- 0  1/12  0/ 6  0/14  0/13  0/11  1/ 6  0/11   0
ZELLER, Luke           24:37  +11   5/46  1- 2  1- 5  0- 0  7/34  2/15  0/36  0/34  0/21  0/17  1/22   5
TOTALS                 40:00       73    17-35  8-21 15-16    56 15/25  2/62  9/62  3/42 11/32 23/39  17
.                                        0.486 0.381 0.938       0.600 0.032 0.145 0.071 0.344 0.590    

Efficiency: Notre Dame 1.177, GU 1.081
eFG%: Notre Dame 0.518, GU 0.450
Substitutions: Notre Dame 24, GU 38

2-pt Shot Selection:
Dunks: Notre Dame 1-1, GU 3-3
Layups/Tips: Notre Dame 6-11, GU 12-24
Jumpers: Notre Dame 10-23, GU 6-15

Fast break pts: Notre Dame 4 (0.069), GU 2 (0.037)
Seconds per off. poss: Notre Dame 18.7, GU 20.0

Guest blogger: Ray Floriani's pregame notes on ND

We're setting a breath-taking pace here on H.P., as this marks the fifth post in five days to start the new year. Don't expect us to keep it up!

Ray Floriani sent along a short note ahead of tonight's game with Notre Dame with some observations of St. John's upset of the Irish on Saturday.

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ – I covered Notre Dame-St. John’s at the Garden on Saturday and have a few notes on the Hoyas’ opposition tonight.

Perimeter oriented. The Irish saw 27% of their field goal attempts come from beyond the arc. They shot 4 of 17 from downtown, thanks to good, solid perimeter defense by the Red Storm. Paris Horne did a nice job on ND’s Kyle McAlarney, forcing him into a 10 point afternoon (4 of 12 from the floor and 1 of 5 from three).

Game Plan. St. John’s coach Norm Roberts saw on film that Luke Harangody is an outstanding passer out of the low post double team. Roberts decided to play Harangody straight up with Justin Burrell. Harangody scored 28 (12 of 24 from the field) but worked for virtually everything. In fact, the only uncontested field goal he had was on a screen and roll where St. John’s failed to switch.

Pace. In their win over DePaul on New Year’s Eve, the Irish pushed the tempo to a 72 possession contest. St. John’s got them into a 67 possession contest which was more to the Red Storm’s liking.

Caring for the ball. Mike Brey’s club does not commit a great deal of turnovers and handled any St. John’s 2-2-1 pressure well. Against DePaul, ND had a 13% TO rate and on Saturday it was 16%. Both great numbers.

Harangody. A great player, the ND star has size at 6-8 255-pounds yet is agile as a swing man fifty pounds lighter. Harangody can power you inside or put it on the floor and use an assortment of post moves. He has outstanding footwork and is a seemingly tireless competitor. Can’t say Hoya fans will enjoy watching him but they will admire him.

Pitt / Notre Dame Preview

The Hoyas are one game into an absolutely murderous run of seven games (West Virginia's strong start has elevated them), and the Hoyas are already ahead of expectations thanks to an emphatic win at Connecticut.

Of course, the reward for the Hoyas is to get an incredibly physical Pitt team at home and then face a Notre Dame team that has won their last seven thousand games in South Bend.

Here are the current four factors for Pitt:

.                    Offense         Defense
Adj. Efficiency     117.9 (12)       84.9 (13)
eFG%                 52.2 (71)       42.3 (16)
Turnover %           17.7 (25)       21.4 (154)
Off Rebound %        42.4 (8)        29.9 (66)
FT Rate              22.4 (231)      24.6 (15)

Pitt is a very good team, ranked fifth by Pomeroy. They are a much more balanced team than UConn or Notre Dame, both of whom match high octane, if not diversified, offenses with pedestrian (or worse) defenses. Pitt defends and scores.

The number that explodes off that page, of course, is the 42.4% offensive rebounding percentage, ranking eighth in the country. Pitt has been a much better offensive rebounding team than Connecticut or Memphis, which spells trouble for the Hoyas.

The amazing thing is that it is pretty much all DeJuan Blair. Tyrell Biggs is pretty good, and Sam Young isn't bad at all on the offensive boards, but Blair is grabbing a freakish 25% of all of Pitt's misses. That's amazing.

Logically, that should make Pitt's huge advantage here easier to offset -- one would think you could focus on boxing out Blair, but no one has really done that yet. Blair is strong and bulky, freakishly quick for his size and boasts a wingspan over seven feet. He has a nose for the ball as well and just seems to always bounce his body into the right spot.

In the Connecticut game, the Hoyas managed to offset Connecticut's offensive rebounding with some fairly strong offensive rebounding of their own. Pitt isn't invulnerable on their own defensive glass, so the Hoyas will have to put in the effort on their own offensive glass like they did versus Connecticut to hope to keep the rebounding margin under ten.

Pitt neither commits nor forces turnovers. Given the results of the Connecticut game, I expect a positive turnover advantage for the Hoyas. However, Blair and Young are better with the ball than Thabeet and Adrien, so the advantage may not be as pronounced.

Other than rebounding, fouls on offense and defense are the other key for the Hoyas. Pitt doesn't draw very many fouls, which seems a tad odd for a team with a strong offensive rebounder and a couple of strong scorers in Fields and Young. But while none of them are poor at drawing fouls, none of them are particularly strong. Monroe will have to watch himself around Blair, but this won't be the most difficult assignment in terms of avoiding foul trouble.

On the other end, the Hoyas offense has been so devastating because they are attacking the rim and getting to the line. Pitt is ranked 15th in terms of not fouling people, but are significantly more foul prone than Connecticut. The Hoyas didn't draw many fouls in the first half against the Huskies, but kept attacking and eventually wore them down. Wright, Mornoe and Summers will likely all have a significant quickness advantage versus their defenders, which should help generate trips to the line.

The keys to the game:

• Keep Blair off the boards as much as possible. I don't really care how -- whether by getting him in foul trouble or double teaming him on the box out -- but it needs to be done.

• Attack the hoop. It is imperative that the Hoyas remain the aggressors. Pitt's physicality could intimidate the Hoyas more than Thabeet's shotblocking, and if the Hoyas aren't driving and attacking, the offense is not nearly as impressive. Factor in that Jamie Dixon will actually switch to zone, and it would not be a shock to see the team slip into a three-point dependent offense.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luckily, we have Pitt at home. Notre Dame isn't nearly as good, but it is a road game.

Here are the current four factors for Notre Dame:

.                    Offense         Defense
Adj. Efficiency     121.9 (3)        98.1 (135)
eFG%                 53.9 (34)       46.2 (85)
Turnover %           13.2 (2)        17.5 (315)
Off Rebound %        36.4 (77)       29.2 (52)
FT Rate              19.1 (302)      18.7 (1)

Notre Dame has a great interior scorer in Luke Harangody, hits their threes and doesn't turn the ball over at all. The result is a very good offensive team that isn't nearly as dependent on three point shooting as people think (3PA/FGA of 34.4%).

The offense does have a few weaknesses, however. Harangody has been bothered by taller players in the past, though he exploded in his last games last year versus Thabeet. It's worth noting that Harangody struggled offensively versus a great shotblocking team in Ohio State, but it is hard to tell if his 10-25 shooting was due to Dallas Lauderdale and BJ Mullens or simply the fact that he was coming back from injury. However, he was impressive versus Texas and respectable versus UNC before getting hurt.

The Hoyas have been spoiled because Hibbert was an awful matchup for Harangody. Harangody simply wasn't quick enough to exploit Hibbert away from the hoop and Roy was otherwise too tall and too strong for Luke. Monroe has proven to be a capable low post defender, but he's neither as tall nor as strong as Roy.

The less obvious weakness for Notre Dame is that despite not turning the ball over much, their point guard is actually decidedly mediocre at that skill. Tory Jackson turns the ball over an average of three times per game, and while that may not seem like a lot, he'll be facing a team that is getting very good at forcing turnovers.

Notre Dame's big weakness, of course, if on defense. They simply aren't very good at it. They are decent at defensive rebounding and they don't foul much, but they don't force turnovers and they give up lots of easy shots. In fact, while not fouling is usually a good thing, in Notre Dame's case it signals the fact that they simply aren't contesting shots much.

However, the Hoyas can't assume a cakewalk on the offensive end. For one, the Hoyas will likely see a zone. Also, Notre Dame hasn't been impressive on defense, but it also hasn't had too many absymal defensive days, and one of those was against UNC.

Keys to the game:

• Rebound. Notre Dame isn't a great rebounding team. But until the Hoyas prove that this isn't an issue against even mediocre rebounding teams, it's going to be a key to the game.

• Get out on three point shooters. For the past few years, Georgetown has been very good at preventing threes from going in, pressuring shooters on the perimeter. This year has been no exception so far. Notre Dame is a great three-point shooting team that has shooters that don't need to be open. The fewer missed rotations and open looks the Hoyas allow, the better the chances of winning. The Hoyas help on penetration, but this may be one of the games where the Hoyas should consider not doing that.