Post by elp525 on Mar 12, 2010 5:41:58 GMT -5
March 12, 2010
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
NEW YORK - When last West Virginia and Notre Dame played, the Mountaineers spent most of the second half climbing out of a 22-point deficit before losing at the buzzer.
When the teams meet again tonight in the semifinals of the Big East tournament, don't expect either to be behind by 22 points. In fact, the way Notre Dame is managing games these days, just getting to 22 is sometimes a chore.
Thursday night the Irish once again showed off their new deliberate style of play, holding the ball on almost every possession and then making it count at the end of the shot clock. The result was a 50-45 upset of second-seeded and No. 16 Pitt in the tournament quarterfinals.
That sends Notre Dame into tonight's second semifinal game, at about 9:30 p.m., against West Virginia.
The Irish (22-10) not only continued a hot streak that has seen them win six in a row now, they have also blended Luke Harangody back into the mix and changed the way they manage the game, simply taking the air out of the ball.
Add it all up and Notre Dame is suddenly formidable after losing three straight when Harangody was first injured in early February.
"I love it. It calms us down,'' said Notre Dame guard Tory Jackson. "It gives our guys great shots, open shots. A lot of teams don't want to guard for the whole 30, 35 seconds. So it kind of wears them down.''
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins agrees completely.
"They're not very deep, so they shorten the game,'' Huggins said after his team defeated Cincinnati 54-51 to reach the semifinals. "It's smart."
Notre Dame shot 53 percent, made six of its 13 3-point attempts and held Pitt to 38 percent shooting in becoming the third straight team on Thursday to upset one of the league's top four. In addition to third-seeded Pitt, No. 1 seed Syracuse and No. 4 seed Villanova also lost.
The results all day simply served to illustrate not only the balance of the Big East, but also what appears to be an actual disadvantage to the teams that finished in the top four of the standings and earned a double bye into the quarterfinals. Not only were those teams 0-for-3 on Thursday heading into the late game, they were just 2-2 last season, the first in the format.
The problem, of course, is that those top four teams jump into the tournament cold and usually against an NCAA tournament team that warmed up against one of the teams from the bottom half of the standings.
Even Notre Dame coach Mike Brey admitted it was probably an advantage for the Irish.
"So much for the double byes, huh?'' Brey asked after Thursday night's win in which Jackson and Harangody each scored 12 points. "I do think there's some advantage to being able to play a little bit.''
By Dave Hickman
Staff writer
NEW YORK - When last West Virginia and Notre Dame played, the Mountaineers spent most of the second half climbing out of a 22-point deficit before losing at the buzzer.
When the teams meet again tonight in the semifinals of the Big East tournament, don't expect either to be behind by 22 points. In fact, the way Notre Dame is managing games these days, just getting to 22 is sometimes a chore.
Thursday night the Irish once again showed off their new deliberate style of play, holding the ball on almost every possession and then making it count at the end of the shot clock. The result was a 50-45 upset of second-seeded and No. 16 Pitt in the tournament quarterfinals.
That sends Notre Dame into tonight's second semifinal game, at about 9:30 p.m., against West Virginia.
The Irish (22-10) not only continued a hot streak that has seen them win six in a row now, they have also blended Luke Harangody back into the mix and changed the way they manage the game, simply taking the air out of the ball.
Add it all up and Notre Dame is suddenly formidable after losing three straight when Harangody was first injured in early February.
"I love it. It calms us down,'' said Notre Dame guard Tory Jackson. "It gives our guys great shots, open shots. A lot of teams don't want to guard for the whole 30, 35 seconds. So it kind of wears them down.''
West Virginia coach Bob Huggins agrees completely.
"They're not very deep, so they shorten the game,'' Huggins said after his team defeated Cincinnati 54-51 to reach the semifinals. "It's smart."
Notre Dame shot 53 percent, made six of its 13 3-point attempts and held Pitt to 38 percent shooting in becoming the third straight team on Thursday to upset one of the league's top four. In addition to third-seeded Pitt, No. 1 seed Syracuse and No. 4 seed Villanova also lost.
The results all day simply served to illustrate not only the balance of the Big East, but also what appears to be an actual disadvantage to the teams that finished in the top four of the standings and earned a double bye into the quarterfinals. Not only were those teams 0-for-3 on Thursday heading into the late game, they were just 2-2 last season, the first in the format.
The problem, of course, is that those top four teams jump into the tournament cold and usually against an NCAA tournament team that warmed up against one of the teams from the bottom half of the standings.
Even Notre Dame coach Mike Brey admitted it was probably an advantage for the Irish.
"So much for the double byes, huh?'' Brey asked after Thursday night's win in which Jackson and Harangody each scored 12 points. "I do think there's some advantage to being able to play a little bit.''
