IRISH INSIDER: Pittsburgh game much more important after loss
BY CHRIS FEDERICO
Sports Writer
They had the inside track to the Big East West Division title, and now they have to work and get some help.
After knocking off Georgetown in double overtime last Saturday, and after Big East leader and then second-ranked Pittsburgh lost to Syracuse later that night, Notre Dame stood in the driver's seat to take its second divisional title in three years.
With a one-game cushion over mighty No. 4 Pittsburgh, virtually all that would stand in their way would be a home matchup against the Panthers Sunday, assuming the Irish could handle the rest of their Big East opponents in the second half of the season.
But that was before No. 10 Notre Dame was upset Wednesday night at Seton Hall 78-72.
And now the Irish have their work cut out for them.
Currently, Notre Dame stands tied for second place in the West at 6-2 with Syracuse. After the Irish loss to the Pirates Wednesday night, the Panthers reclaimed their spot atop the standings.
Now if the Irish are to win the division, they will need to defeat Pittsburgh in the Joyce Sunday and take care of business for the rest of their Big East schedule by winning out. Then the Irish need some help from teams under them in the West Division standings.
If Notre Dame and Pittsburgh were to finish with the same conference record, the tie-breaking procedure would begin with head-to-head matchups, then record in the division, followed by record against the third place team in the division and continuing down through the standings until a distinction can be made.
Got that?
What it really boils down to is that if the Irish beat the Panthers Sunday and then both teams win the rest of their conference games, Notre Dame would need Syracuse to finish ahead of Seton Hall in the Big East standings, because Pittsburgh's conference loss came to the Orangemen and the Irish lost to the Pirates.
But now the Irish have to focus on a very formidable opponent in the Panthers, a team that manhandled Notre Dame earlier this season in a 72-55 victory at Pittsburgh's Petersen Center.
"The last time we played them, I think we went in there with the mindset that they were going to lay down for us based on the things we had done and the teams we had beaten at that point in the season," said Irish guard Torrian Jones, who played an instrumental role in Notre Dame's 93-92 victory last Saturday over Georgetown by sinking the game-winning free throw. "Obviously, that didn't happen, and it was really just the opposite."
Indeed, the Panthers had little difficulty disposing of the Irish in their first matchup as four Pittsburgh players scored in double digits.
Pittsburgh center Ontario Lett scored 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds as their was little opposition from the undersized Irish post players.
In addition, the hyped-up matchup between two of the conference's top guards in Notre Dame's Chris Thomas and Pittsburgh's Big East Preseason Player of the Year Brandin Knight wasn't much of a contest. Thomas was just 2-for-15 shooting for five points in one of his worst performances of the season. Knight appeared to be much more at ease in leading the potent Pittsburgh offense, sinking an efficient 60 percent of his shots for 12 points.
As a team, the usually accurate Irish shooters only made 32 percent of their shots, while Pittsburgh shot 53 percent during the game.
"We just need to play better as a team this time around," Jones said. "They have talent on the outside with Knight, but they can also take you inside like they did the last game against us. We just have to try to play better defense as a team to shut them down."
Tipoff Sunday is 3:30 p.m. in the Joyce Center.
All Sports Stories for Friday, February 7, 2003
