It may not be the most exciting style of basketball, but Notre Dame's methodical, slow, set play style of balling gets the job done. The 56-51 win for the #14 team in the Nation came at the expense of the possibly overrated #2 Pitt Panthers, and it's a pretty darn quality road win for the Irish. The slow pace of the game, and patience shown by the Irish offense, proved to do the trick pretty nicely.
And yes, it was slow. The 48 combined possessions were the lowest in any major conference game for this entire season. The Irish held the ball for the length of the shot clock on nearly each possession, and when Pitt got lazy and expected them to do it again, the Irish would throw in a quick strike just to surprise them. It threw Pitt off the game entirely. However, the slowness was the key, as the Irish made 37 of their 56 points with less than 11 seconds on the shot clock.
Ben Hansbrough was the hero for the Irish, as he was able to keep taking the ball to the hole over and over again. Three straight plays in the second half featured Hansbrough standing at the top of the key, and then simply running around his defender for an uncontested lay up. Three straight plays. The Panthers just looked stupid. Hansbrough went 6 for 7 for 13 points in the final 9:30 of the game. Pitt's entire team went 6 for 11 for 12 points.
Of course, the inability of Pitt to put back second chances after big offensive rebounds helped out a lot too. That, and their difficulty hitting free throws. But, none of what the Irish did would have been possible without quality ball handling (I considered a "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" reference here), barely any turnovers, and spot on shooting when it mattered. Coach Brey and the Irish deserve all the credit for the huge win. And, I'll give ESPN Mobile TV all the credit for allowing me to watch the game while I was at work on my cell phone.
Now at 17-4 (6-3 in the Big East), what happens to Notre Dame in terms of their ranking? Well, if Seton Hall can somehow upset Syracuse tonight (which they won't), ND would move to the #3 spot in the Big East, trailing just Pitt and 'Nova. Overall, though, I'd guess that this win could vault the Irish up to #10 in the Nation. We have Kentucky (15-4), A&M (17-2), Purdue (17-3), and Mizzou (17-3) between us and that 10 spot, and with Purdue and #1 Ohio State playing tonight, some more shifting is coming to be sure. Pitt, meanwhile, could drop out of the top 5, especially with an undefeated San Diego State knocking on the door of the elite squads (#4). It'll be interesting to see where everyone sits when the new rankings pop off.
February is going to start off as an easier month for the Irish, as we get DePaul (6-13), Rutgers (12-7), Louisville (15-4), South Florida (7-14), West Virginia (13-5), and Providence (12-8) in that order. But then we go against 'Nova as things move toward March, giving us our biggedt challenge left on the schedule. It's definitely going to be a hard finish to the tournament, but this Irish team looks like they have the potential to finish top 3 in the Big East, and in such a talented conference, that's pretty great.
Don't forget, we also have the Gauchos going toe to toe with the hated Mustangs of Cal Poly this week in the Big West. At 10-7 (3-3), and coming off of a tough loss to Fullerton, it's kind of a must win.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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