Rutgers Preview

UCONN needed overtime to beat South Florida by one. Truly the most surprising game of the year in the Big East. A Craig Austrie runner with 0.2 seconds left kept the Bulls from picking up conference win #3.

Speaking of surprising, how about Syracuse? Knocked off #8 Georgetown at the Carrier Dome. Their 16 point halftime lead was more than enough to help the Orange coast to the upset.

Now, tomorrow's contest. The Irish travel to New Jersey to take on the 10-16 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Only 2-11 in the conference, Rutgers does boast wins over Villanova and Pittsburgh.

Starters:
#15 JR Inman- 12.9 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 32% 3PA
#2 Anthony Farmer- 10.3 PPG, 2.3 APG, 38% 3PA
#31 Mike Coburn- Freshman, 8.3 PPG, 2.3 APG, 36% 3PA
#32 Jaron Griffin- 7.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 25% 3PA
#5 Hamady N'Diaye- 6'11"- 5.4 PPG, 6.4 RPG

Bench-
#1 Corey Chandler- Freshman, 12.0 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 32% 3PA, 24.5 MPG
#21 Byron Joynes- 2.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG 19.1 MPG
#11 Earl Pettis- Freshman, 2.5 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 30.4% 3PA, 11.8 MPG

Rutgers has the lowest scoring offense in the conference at 62.9 PPG. Notre Dame has the highest at 80.7 PPG. Both allow 68.5 PPG on defense, exactly midway through the Big East.

Rutgers is a terrible shooting team, making only 40% of their attempts. 31% from beyond the arc. They allow 38 rebounds a game and have the worst turnover margin in the league. Assist/turnover ratio is 0.61 (Notre Dame is second highest at 1.38).

There really is little positive to say about the opponent. Ranked 205th in the RPI, Rutgers has no more than a 35% chance to win one of its last games (according to kenpom.com) and is the underdog by double digits in its next three contests.

The Irish should expect nothing less than a victory tomorrow. Need to get another Seton Hall-type win and avoid any possibility of a letdown, as UCONN found out today.