Friday, February 29, 2008

Revisiting February 2nd

With the Irish playing DePaul again on Sunday, we go back to the previous matchup of the two teams for some added information.

Notre Dame 89, DePaul 80

DePaul Preview

That contest saw Luke Harangody pick up a double-double with 29 points and 14 rebounds. Kyle McAlarney had a cold game, shooting 5-17. Overall, it was a strong afternoon from the charity stripe that won the game, as Notre Dame made 17 of 20 free throws.

For the Blue Demons, Mac Koshwal, Draelon Burns, and Dar Tucker provided the majority of the offense. Koshwal scored 18 and had 9 rebounds, Burns and Tucker relied on their shooting abilities to score 17 and 19, respectively. Since then, Koshwal has been much less of a force offensively (though his 6'10" frame will still cause some trouble rebounding). Tucker had a good game against Louisville, but not much else. The most responsibility has fallen to Burns, who has averaged 18 since the earlier contest and scored 31 on Wednesday against West Virginia.

As a team, DePaul is 1-5 since our meeting, only defeating equally bad South Florida at home. This shouldn't be too difficult, but the first matchup was closer than expected so we need to come out playing focused.

On February 2nd, the Blue Demons shot 14 points higher than average from beyond the arc. After last night's performance, we need to improve on that perimeter defense. Offensively, Harangody showed an ability to control the game in the first matchup. Need to have another good game from him. If McAlarney plays better this time around, we should control from the opening tip. If not, need another good game by Ayers and see some creation by Tory Jackson.

That's it for tonight, I'll break down the starting lineup for DePaul tomorrow.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

ND beat them before and Will beat them again. After that Louisville Game how could they loose to a team like Depaul? I know it is possible but I find it hard to believe they will loose to Depaul after that Impressive Louisville Game!

GO IRISH!

Unknown said...

Lots of College Basketball Action will be going on around the league Today, Even though I am an ND fan I will watch other games today on Saturday! I will be tuned to ESPN and CBS!

Also is the ND vs Depaul game on National Tv again? Or on any network?
If it is I am set to watch the ND vs Depaul Game!

Unknown said...

I hope the Irish can win the rest of their games and them having a Good Record going into the Ncaa Tournament! And I hope they Win the Big East Tournament! Although it may be hard though because they have to play Marquette and GeorgeTown!