I Bleed Blue and White

Rutgers made an early run in the 2nd half, but couldn’t sustain any success, losing to Notre Dame in the 1st round 61-50.

Although Luke Harangody had his worst game of the season (7 points on 3-17 shooting), Notre Dame was able to score just enough to get it done against the lowly Scarlet Knights. Tory Jackson paced the Irish with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Hamady N’Diaye led Rutgers with 14 and 5.

This was by far the most painful game of the day. Not only did I not really care, but it was really, really ugly. I mean, at least the earlier games were somewhat exciting, even if the teams stink as well. The Fighting Irish now move on to face West Virginia.

Does this do it for Fred Hill? I’m not sure. I bet Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique are wondering what they got themselves into though. The people over at VUSports have named the new first round of the BET the “Fred Hill Charity Round.”

Come on, you laughed too.

Rutgers is down 28-19 at the half vs. Notre Dame. Mike Rosario and Greg Echenique have failed to get anything going so far, going 2-9 and 2-7 from the field, respectively.

Fighting Irish star Luke Harangody isn’t faring much better however. He’s just 3-11 from the field at the break. Kyle McAlarney has been able to get free for a couple long range shots, and is the leading scorer with 8 points.

This is by far the ugliest game of the day so far, though. Neither team is shooting well (Rutgers is shooting under 25%). Could the run of upsets end with this game? It’s looking like it. I definitely like Notre Dame to slowly pull away in the 2nd half. Hopefully I’m not jinxing myself though, I’d like to at least pick one game right today.

I’m watching the Cincinnati-DePaul game right now, and it doesn’t appear as this will be a highly attended game.

The Garden seats nearly 20,000 people for basketball games. I would be shocked if the actual attendance (not the “paid” attendance) is over 3,000. Not that I thought that this game, or any others today for that matter, were going to sell the place out, but this is going to be some ammo for the crowd that doesn’t think the extra day is a good thing.

My guess is we’ll see some spikes in the numbers for the local teams games as well as some more numbers from the Notre Dame and Georgetown contingents, but this isn’t pretty.

One of the most fun weeks of the year starts at noon today, and 4 more days of hoops madness follow. While Villanova doesn’t officially begin play until Thursday at 2:30, I’ll be watching as many games as I can because I just love this tournament.

(Before I forget, the team bus is leaving at 3:30 from The Pavilion today. If any students/faculty want to go out and wish them well, get out there at 3:15ish.)

Anyways, there are 4 games on tap for Tuesday. Below are the lines for the games, as well as some predictions. “Home Team” is in CAPS.

12:00 p.m. – CINCINNATI -7.5 DePaul

• The more I thought about this game, the more I realized how great it would be if DePaul was able to score a win or two in the Big East Tournament after going winless throughout the regular season. The Bearcats likely have too much for them with Deonta Vaughn and Yancy Gates, but I think this could stay close if Will Walker can knock down some 3’s for the Blue Demons. The first meeting between these two was close (a 4 point Bearcat victory) but Cincinnati is going to win and cover. If that spread were around 10 I’d be tempted to take the points (if I were a gambling man that is).

2:00 p.m. – GEORGETOWN -7 St. John’s

• I think Georgetown is going to crush the hometown Johnnies. I know they just lost to them, and I know they couldn’t even reach the 50’s against DePaul. But I just see no way in hell that a proud program like the Hoyas is going to melt down twice in a couple of weeks against the same terrible team (even though Georgetown is terrible in their own right). Georgetown wins and covers as well. And Greg Monroe might finally show he’s capable of the hype.

7:00 p.m. – NOTRE DAME-10.5 Rutgers

• Another game where I’m torn. ND struggled mightily with the Scarlet Knights a few weeks ago in a 5 point home win. But Rutgers is not good. I’m going to lay my hopes and prayers on Fred Hill’s boys to keep this one close in New York though. Notre Dame doesn’t have anyone that can stop Mike Rosario. And Rutgers doesn’t have anyone that can slow down Luke Harangody unless Greg Echenique magically comes to life. Notre Dame wins big if they shoot well and wins close if they don’t. Tough. I’ll go with the Irish and the cover.

9:00 p.m. -SETON HALL – 5 South Florida

• If the Big East Tournament was in Florida, I’d go with the Bulls. They showed improvement all throughout the season and are definitely a team to watch next year. They can defend well and they have a couple guys who can get hot. In New York though, Seton Hall is going to have the home crowd behind them and Jeremy Hazell will prove to be too much. I like The Hall to win by 10+.

If you aren’t in a local TV market for these games, apparently they can be seen on the Big East website for free. If that’s true (too early to tell) then it’s a +1 for the conference in my book. I was initially disappointed, but understood why the 1st round of games weren’t being televised nationally. But this would make up for it.

What does everyone else think about today’s games? I know I have all the higher seeds winning. Does anyone see an upset coming?

With the season finales taking place in the Big East yesterday, the seeding is finally set for the Big East Tournament, which begins play on Tuesday. Below is the schedule of games.

Tuesday March 10

• 12:00 p.m. – #9 Cincinnati vs. #16 DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. – #12 Georgetown vs. #13 St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. – #10 Notre Dame vs. #15 Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. – #11 Seton Hall vs. #14 South Florida

Wednesday March 11

• 12:00 p.m. on ESPN – #8 Providence vs. Cincinnati/DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. on  ESPN – #5 Marquette vs. Georgetown/St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – #7 West Virginia vs. Notre Dame/Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – #6 Syracuse vs. Seton Hall/South Florida

Thursday March 12

• 12:00 p.m. on ESPN – #1 Louisville vs. Providence/Cincinnati/DePaul
• 2:00 p.m. on ESPN – #4 Villanova vs. Marquette/Georgetown/St. John’s
• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – #2 Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia/ND/Rutgers
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – #3 UConn vs. Syracuse/Seton Hall/USF

Friday March 13

• 7:00 p.m. on ESPN – Semifinal #1
• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – Semifinal #2

Saturday March 14

• 9:00 p.m. on ESPN – Big East Championship Game

You can also go to VUHoops if you want to see the bracket.

…It’s just amazing that this is now a 5 day tournament…and I can’t help but laugh when I see Notre Dame and Georgetown seeded that low…who would have thought?…

…Anyways, I like our draw…I’d bank on Georgetown beating St. John’s after they just lost to them…that won’t happen twice…Georgetown-Marquette should be a pretty good game…and then I like our matchup with either a wounded and reeling Marquette or a revenge matchup with the Hoyas…

…Also like a potential revenge game with Louisville, gosh we should have won that game!…

After reading Tom Noie’s article in today’s South Bend Tribune, all I have to say is thank God that we have Jay Wright as our head coach. The article itslef is filled with most of what we’ve already read today. It was a great defensive effort by ‘Nova, Scottie Reynolds was amazing, blah blah blah. But one quote from Notre Dame Head Coach Mike Brey really stood out to me, and while at first I laughed, after thinking about it I really do feel bad for Fighting Irish fans.

“I don’t agree with that,” he (Brey) said. “Maybe because we’re not the fastest group, the most physical group, we can’t get up and fight you like some other teams. I think this group has tried their backsides off and hung in there. They played with huge expectations on them.”

So Mike, maybe you should recruit some better players? You are basically admitting that you’ve failed in constructing a team.

I don’t even care that Brey is completely making excuses to his fanbase and to his team. Notre Dame played with “huge” expectations? Really? Now, I know they were ranked 9th in the preseason in the mainstream polls, but judging from Brey’s preseason comments, he completely set his team up for a letdown.

“I’ve told the players that I want them to dream really big dreams this year,” Brey says. “We’re not going to put any cap on what we dream about and what we achieve.”

Wow. Say what you will about Jay Wright, but in the end, he never makes excuses when the team loses about any disadvantage they might have been at. 

In fact as the guys in the comment section below alluded to, Villanova thrives in being the undersized team who outworks their opponent.

Highlights from Villanova’s victory over Notre Dame, courtesy of ESPN.

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Hold on, I’m giving Luke Harangody a tissue. He might need a hug too.

Redding negated McAlarney for 40 straight minutes.

Okay, now we can talk. In case you missed the game here in the official recap and the box score.

I knew it was going to be a good night when I saw the impeccable crew of Bill Raftery, Jay Bilas and Sean McDonough. Raftery was even sporting the Villanova tie! Early onions for Raf!

So I’m just going to come out and say it, because I don’t know how else to put it. Villanova was awesome tonight. That was vintage ‘Villanova Basketball’ as we so often refer to it.While they played a tight 1st half, they had a plan and stuck to it and completely overpowered Notre Dame after the break.

It’s interesting that we talked earlier today about how Villanova lacked the ‘bail-out’ guy that could consistently put a team on their back. We talked about how both Scottie Reynolds and Dante Cunningham were the closest thing Villanova had, but for one reason or another they just weren’t that guy. So much for that theory.

Reynolds finished with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists (and juts 1 turnover) and was a blistering 6-7 from downtown. He was unstoppable all night and the Irish had no answer for him. Great to watch. His running mate Cunningham had 18 and 8 in yet another solid performance. He was especially great in the 2nd half, at one point going on a personal 8-0 run.

But the player of the game? That’s Reggie Redding, who single handedly (okay, he had a little help) took sharpshooter Kyle McAlarney out of the game. He had just 5 points on 2-7 shooting (just 1-3 from beyond the arc) with most of his shots coming in garbage time. That was a defensive performance for the ages. I can’t say enough about the game that Redding had tonight. He had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Vintage Redding.

Shane Clark turned it on in the 2nd half, including back to back possessions where he made Harangody look foolish. He finished with 13 points. Even the struggling Antonio Pena had a great bounceback effort. He was in foul trouble for most of the night but had some good offensive possessions and finished with 6 points and 3 rebounds in just 13 minutes. Oddly enough, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes had little impact on the game, combining for just 5 points.

Going into the game I was really worried about going to Notre Dame. They are typically very tough at home, but I really overestimated just how bad they are. Maybe I remember McAlarney’s 30 point outburst last year, maybe I watched them give UConn a tough battle, but they just aren’t very good.

Ryan Ayers was the big story tonight, finishing with 25 points on 7 3’s. Villanova continually left him open and he was hot and knocked them down. Credit him. The aforementioned Harangody finished with 18 and 7, and that was it for the Irish.

Speaking of Harangody, what a baby. I’ve never seen any who is supposedly the leader of a team bitch and whine like he did tonight. He acts like he is the best player on the court and he deserves the Michael Jordan treatment. Every time he was touched he flopped and screamed. It was actually embarrassing to watch. I’m telling you now, if he wins Big East Player of the Year again, it’s a crime. Good thing he won’t. I always thought he was a high character guy who worked hard and kept his mouth shut. Boy, was I wrong.

Anyways, great win for the Wildcats tonight. They really needed that. More importantly though, they appear back to playing good ball. That’s important with a desparate Providence team coming to town on Thursday.

Enjoy your night everyone.

The Game: #11 Villanova (23-6, 11-5) at Notre Dame (16-12, 7-9)

Location: The Joyce Center in South Bend, IN

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Broadcast: ESPN

Brief Rundown: Villanova has a quick turnaround following a disappointing home loss to Georgetown on Saturday. While the defense showed up for Villanova for the first time in weeks, the offense completely disappeared. Nothing was working for Villanova and they turned the ball over time and time again against a fairly weak Hoya defense.

The Fighting Irish return home after a tough loss at UConn on Saturday afternoon. They gave the Huskies all they could handle but Hasheem Thabeet, Jeff Adrien and company proved to be too much to handle. Luke Harangody is the main man for Notre Dame, leading the Big East in scoring as well.

3 Keys to Victory:

1. Shadow McAlarney – Kyle McAlarney is the best shooter in the conference and has unlimited range. He’ll always look for the outside shot first, but can also get inside and finish with adequate success if teams overplay him. He’ll need to be guarded closely however, because when he’s on, he can be nearly unstoppable (as Villanova knows from last year). Reggie Redding should draw this assignment.
2. Don’t Obsess over Harangody – Luke Harangody leads the Big East in scoring and is the clear #1 guy for ND. That means that even when teams focus on stopping him, he still gets it done. Villanova’ s general defensive strategy has been to deny the big men and try to make teams beat them with the 3. The problem is, Notre Dame completely relies on the 3 ball outside of Harangody. ‘Nova can’t continuously collaspe on Harangody and leave the ND shooters open.
3. Don’t Push Too Hard – A lot of things went wrong on offense vs. Georgetown, but most importantly, it just felt like “one of those days” and Villanova continuously tried to do too much instead of letting the game come to them. ND is awful defensively, so it’s important not to stress out if things don’t go smoothly early. Villanova’s guards should be able to run circles about the Irish defenders. Just get into the flow of the game, and good things will happen.

Links:

• Lets Go Nova
• VUHoops
• Nova News
  
• ESPN
• Black and Green
  

…Lets Go Nova…will we rebound with a win tonight?…let’s chat about it below…

Shannon Ryan of the Chicago Tribune discusses Jim Calhoun’s dislike for the 18 game schedule. Calhoun believes that the uneven scheduling, in which some teams play stronger schedules than others, is hurting some teams’ chances at making the NCAA Tournament. Calhoun Georgetown and Notre Dame as victims of the scheduling format.

“I disagree with the 18 games,” Calhoun said, referring to the format this season where all 16 teams play each other once and three teams twice. “I want to see every team have a fair chance. I think the 18-game schedule is prohibitive.”

Notre Dame plays UConn and Louisville twice, while Georgetown plays Marquette and Syracuse twice. That is a very tough draw, considering that Marquette plays DePaul twice.

…I”m a little torn on this idea…I think the fairest way to fix this is to have everyone play everyone else just once…but as Rick Pitino points out, it’s more about making money than “fairness”…I say just deal with the hand you are dealt and if you play hard and play well, you’ll come out on top…