IFP Hoops - Week 3

This Week
Notre Dame (2-2) managed just one win in three Paradise Jam matchups last week at Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands (i.e., St. Thomas). The Irish handled Monmouth with little trouble in their tourney opener (76-33), but fell in tight ones to Baylor (68-64) and Georgia Tech (70-69).

Senior captain Rob Kurz led the Irish rout of Monmouth, scoring 15. Ryan Ayers had 13 points and 7 rebounds for ND. The Irish opened with a 17-4 run over the Hawks, who shot 27% from the floor (13-49) and only hit 3-20 from beyond the arc.

Notre Dame stepped up in class in their Paradise Jam Round 2 matchup, meeting the steadily improving Baylor Bears from the Big 12 led by head coach Scott Drew (K.Bice’s Butler fraternity brother). Despite a game high 22 points from Luke Harangody and a 10 point lead midway through the 2nd half, the Irish could not shake Baylor, were ultimately out-shot (41% to 34%) by the Bears, and lost 68-64. Cold outside shooting particularly in the second half, at least in part due to a lack of consistent dribble penetration by the Irish perimeter (McAlarney, Jackson), was an issue in this one.

The Irish lost an even closer game to Georgia Tech to close out their stay in St. Thomas. A Matt Causey three pointer with 2 seconds left gave the Yellow Jackets their only lead since the opening minutes of the game. ND did not play enough solid defense in this one to put away a Tech them they probably could have otherwise handled. Tech shot 47% from the floor (vs. 41% for the Irish) and hit 10-17 from beyond the arc (vs. 5-16 for ND).

Next Week
The Irish return home for a pair next week. Improving Horizon Leaguer Youngstown State (2-1) visits the Joyce tonight (Sat Nov 24) and Colgate (4-1) from the Patriot League visits on Monday Nov 26. YSU has made progress over the past two years under coach Jerry Slocum, pulling themselves out of the H-League cellar and notching 7 conference wins + a win in the Horizon League tourney last spring. The Penguins enter the 2007-08 season sans their two best players from a year ago, however, and may have trouble repeating their modest level of success in 2006-07. Colgate lost to Marist by 1 last time out (wins over Monmouth, Canisius, Texas State, and Kennesaw Mountain Landis State prior). A lot has been expected from Colgate and not much delivered over the past two years. The Raiders are off back-to-back 4-5 conference win seasons. Injuries, improving league competition, and perhaps a little talent over-estimation by the Hamilton, NY faithful are all at fault here.

IFP says the Irish win both of these games by 15, minimum.

Miscellaneous Irish Hoops
Through four games, the Irish are getting 45% of theirs scoring (per game) from the bookends, Harangody and Kurtz. Would like to see more production from McAlarney and Jackson as we get closer to Big East play. Also need to pick up the pace at the charity strip. Shooting only 67% from the FT line as a team.

Other Week 3 Games of Interest
DePaul vs. North Carolina A&T (Sat Nov 24)
DePaul vs. Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Wed Nov 28)
Illinois-Chicago at Central Michigan (Wed Nov 28)
Butler vs. Virginia Tech (Thurs Nov 22, Great Alaska Shootout)
Butler vs. Texas (Sun Nov 25, Great Alaska Shootout)
Indiana vs. Illinois State (Fri Nov 23, Chicago Invitational, Hoffman Estates, IL)
Indiana vs. Kent State or Xavier (Sat Nov 24, Chicago Invitational)
Indiana vs. Georgia Tech (Tues Nov 27, ACC-Big Ten Challenge)
Illinois at Maryland (Wed Nov 28, ACC-Big Ten Challenge)

Chatter
DePaul (1-1) won a white-knuckler vs. cross-town “rival” Northwestern last week on a Draelon Burns floater with 6 seconds left in regulation, 54-53, at Allstate Arena The Blue Demons shot a miserable 35% from the floor but pounded the N-Cats on the boards. DePaul’s 18-2 edge on the offensive glass kept them in this one -- a game they very easily could have lost. Two very winnable nonconference games next: NC A&T and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, but an early December trip to Lawrence, Kansas to tangle with the #4 Jayhawks and a tough trip to San Juan for the annual December “Shootout” loom for the Demons (Clemson, who surprised a solid Mississippi State team on the road last week, is in the San Juan field).

UIC (2-3) lost to Winthrop (by 14), Charlotte (by 1) and Wichita State (by 7) to go oh-for-the-beach in the same Paradise Jam that the Irish fell short in this week. The Flames were really never in the Winthrop game (too many turnovers) but competed vs. Charlotte and WSU. The loss to Charlotte was a wire job – a 49er three pointer with 12 seconds left was basically the difference in a game where neither team shot that well (both < 39% from the floor). On the road to Mt. Pleasant, MI to face the Central Michigan Chips next Wednesday.

Butler is 5-0 and looking worthy of every bit of their Top 25 ranking, winning their first two in Alaska this week (Michigan and Va Tech). Texas Tech next for the D-Dawgs.

Sources/References
07-08 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook
Sporting News 2007-09 College Basketball
Chicago Tribune
www.espn.com
http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/nd-m-baskbl-body.html