Letting even one Big East basketball game get away heightens the sense of urgency and narrows the margin of error for a squad seemingly walking the finest of lines between putting it all together or seeing it all fall apart.
Some 56 hours after having its 29-game home win streak end at the
hands of defending national champion Connecticut, Notre Dame continues
its league journey Monday at Rutgers. Visiting a building where it?s a
battle for opposing teams to keep its collective senses, the Irish
(11-7, 3-2 Big East) also face the first of many crossroads in
conference play.
Notre Dame awoke Saturday in fourth place in the Big East. By the time
the Irish went to bed, they were in eighth. Another league loss sends
them further south. A dozen conference contests still await after this
late holiday start , but for Notre Dame, only the next
40 minutes matter.
?Two straight losses in this league would kill us,? said sophomore
guard Eric Atkins. ?We can?t let that happen.
?In our mind-set, this is the biggest game of the year for us.?
A glance at the Irish schedule and Atkins? offering has merit.
Saturday?s game against Connecticut opened a stretch for Notre Dame of
five of the next six games against ranked teams. The only opponent not
among the Associated Press Top 25?
Rutgers.
Like the Irish, the Scarlet Knights (10-8, 2-3) experienced their
share of Saturday struggles. While Notre Dame was handed a 14-point
loss back in Indiana, Rutgers lost at West Virginia by 24. This after
Rutgers had won at Pittsburgh by limiting the Panthers to a
mind-boggling 39 points.
Some selective memory may help the Irish. Heading into the first of
two Saturday-Monday swings in league play, Notre Dame plans to think a
whole lot more of what it did the last time out on the road ? a Jan. 7
double-overtime win over No. 14 Louisville ? and a whole lot less (OK,
not at all) about what happened at Purcell Pavilion against a
Connecticut squad that simply was better in every phase.
Saturday?s game ended around 1:10 p.m. By 1:20, with a sour sellout
crowd likely still trying to find the most efficient route out of the
arena parking lot, the Irish insisted they had all but forgotten about
falling into an 18-point hole in the second half to the Huskies and
never really being in it.
In this league, win or lose, teams turn the page quickly. Long before
Saturday?s sun set, Notre Dame was thinking not of what it couldn?t do
against Connecticut but what it needed to do against Rutgers.
?That?s how it?s got to be,? said Irish coach Mike Brey, whose team
was scheduled to practice twice (Sunday and Monday) at the RAC. ?You
need to get your energy back as much as possible.?
Rutgers looks to make life a whole lot more difficult for their
guests. Like many a league team ? see Louisville, see Connecticut, see
Syracuse ? Rutgers likes to quicken the pace and force teams to play
far faster than their collective comfort zones allow. They?ll guard.
They?ll rebound. They?ll run. They?ll get the home crowd revved up.
They do it riding the work of guards Eli Carter, Myles Mack and Dane
Miller with the interior presence of skilled big man Gilvydas Biruta.
Many league teams may have more talent, but few offer as much effort
every night as the Scarlet Knights, who have beaten Connecticut and
Florida at the RAC this season.
?It?s tougher to win at the RAC this year, ?cause they?re really
good,? Brey said of Mike Rice?s squad. ?Like, they?re really good.
?They?re a confident group.?
Confidence for the Irish remains shaky after another game where they
struggled to score. Notre Dame needs to be a more together unit than
the one that worked for extended periods as individuals against
Connecticut. The Irish managed only nine assists Saturday, a number
that?s usually a decent output for a half for a team that moves and
cuts and shares the ball so unselfishly.
But as the shots didn?t fall ? Notre Dame shot 32.3 percent from the
floor, 23.1 percent from 3 ? the ball movement stopped. So did the
sharing. Then too did the scoring as the Irish were held to fewer than
60 points for the seventh time this season. Six have resulted in
losses.
Defensively, the Irish have played well enough to win. Offensively,
every possession is a struggle to get everyone on the same scoring
page.
?We just have to let loose,? Atkins said, ?and play our game.?
If the Irish don?t, it will result in loss No. 8 ? one more than all
of last season.
?We just have to get back into our offense, moving the ball around and
knocking in shots,? said Irish guard Jerian Grant. ?To win this one at
Rutgers would be huge.?
Some 56 hours after having its 29-game home win streak end at the
hands of defending national champion Connecticut, Notre Dame continues
its league journey Monday at Rutgers. Visiting a building where it?s a
battle for opposing teams to keep its collective senses, the Irish
(11-7, 3-2 Big East) also face the first of many crossroads in
conference play.
Notre Dame awoke Saturday in fourth place in the Big East. By the time
the Irish went to bed, they were in eighth. Another league loss sends
them further south. A dozen conference contests still await after this
late holiday start , but for Notre Dame, only the next
40 minutes matter.
?Two straight losses in this league would kill us,? said sophomore
guard Eric Atkins. ?We can?t let that happen.
?In our mind-set, this is the biggest game of the year for us.?
A glance at the Irish schedule and Atkins? offering has merit.
Saturday?s game against Connecticut opened a stretch for Notre Dame of
five of the next six games against ranked teams. The only opponent not
among the Associated Press Top 25?
Rutgers.
Like the Irish, the Scarlet Knights (10-8, 2-3) experienced their
share of Saturday struggles. While Notre Dame was handed a 14-point
loss back in Indiana, Rutgers lost at West Virginia by 24. This after
Rutgers had won at Pittsburgh by limiting the Panthers to a
mind-boggling 39 points.
Some selective memory may help the Irish. Heading into the first of
two Saturday-Monday swings in league play, Notre Dame plans to think a
whole lot more of what it did the last time out on the road ? a Jan. 7
double-overtime win over No. 14 Louisville ? and a whole lot less (OK,
not at all) about what happened at Purcell Pavilion against a
Connecticut squad that simply was better in every phase.
Saturday?s game ended around 1:10 p.m. By 1:20, with a sour sellout
crowd likely still trying to find the most efficient route out of the
arena parking lot, the Irish insisted they had all but forgotten about
falling into an 18-point hole in the second half to the Huskies and
never really being in it.
In this league, win or lose, teams turn the page quickly. Long before
Saturday?s sun set, Notre Dame was thinking not of what it couldn?t do
against Connecticut but what it needed to do against Rutgers.
?That?s how it?s got to be,? said Irish coach Mike Brey, whose team
was scheduled to practice twice (Sunday and Monday) at the RAC. ?You
need to get your energy back as much as possible.?
Rutgers looks to make life a whole lot more difficult for their
guests. Like many a league team ? see Louisville, see Connecticut, see
Syracuse ? Rutgers likes to quicken the pace and force teams to play
far faster than their collective comfort zones allow. They?ll guard.
They?ll rebound. They?ll run. They?ll get the home crowd revved up.
They do it riding the work of guards Eli Carter, Myles Mack and Dane
Miller with the interior presence of skilled big man Gilvydas Biruta.
Many league teams may have more talent, but few offer as much effort
every night as the Scarlet Knights, who have beaten Connecticut and
Florida at the RAC this season.
?It?s tougher to win at the RAC this year, ?cause they?re really
good,? Brey said of Mike Rice?s squad. ?Like, they?re really good.
?They?re a confident group.?
Confidence for the Irish remains shaky after another game where they
struggled to score. Notre Dame needs to be a more together unit than
the one that worked for extended periods as individuals against
Connecticut. The Irish managed only nine assists Saturday, a number
that?s usually a decent output for a half for a team that moves and
cuts and shares the ball so unselfishly.
But as the shots didn?t fall ? Notre Dame shot 32.3 percent from the
floor, 23.1 percent from 3 ? the ball movement stopped. So did the
sharing. Then too did the scoring as the Irish were held to fewer than
60 points for the seventh time this season. Six have resulted in
losses.
Defensively, the Irish have played well enough to win. Offensively,
every possession is a struggle to get everyone on the same scoring
page.
?We just have to let loose,? Atkins said, ?and play our game.?
If the Irish don?t, it will result in loss No. 8 ? one more than all
of last season.
?We just have to get back into our offense, moving the ball around and
knocking in shots,? said Irish guard Jerian Grant. ?To win this one at
Rutgers would be huge.?
