MENS BASKETBALL:Irish resurrection continues against Pitt
By KATHLEEN O'BRIEN
Associate Sports Editor
NEW YORK
It's the moment of truth for the Notre Dame men's basketball team.
Can they get it done when it matters? The Irish open the post-season tonight with a Big East Tournament quarterfinals matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers, who knocked off the Miami Hurricanes Wednesday 78-69, with the chance to find out.
"I don't think we've played our best game to date yet where everybody's
clicking on all cylinders," Irish point guard Martin Ingelsby said. "The true test is going to be if we can do that at crunch time at the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament."
Pittsburgh (16-12, 7-9 Big East) led throughout its opening round game with Miami, bursting to an 8-1 lead and holding a 37-26 edge at halftime after making 14 of 15 first-half free throw attempts. The victory was Pittsburgh's first in the Big East Tournament since knocking off Connecticut in the first round in 1997.
The Hurricanes pulled to within two in the second half, but the Panthers put the game away with a fast-break layup by Donatas Zavackas, an Isaac Hawkins rebound and a Brandin Knight bucket. Both Zavackas and Knight scored 16 for the Panthers, while Ricardo Greer led Pittsburgh with 27 points. Notre Dame (19-8, 11-5) has defeated Pittsburgh twice this season, by scores of 74-58 and 75-67. That doesn't necessarily bode well for the Irish.
"It's tough to beat a team three times in one year," All-American Irish forward Troy Murphy said.
Tough, but not unheard of. Miami did it to Notre Dame a season ago.
To make some noise in this week's tourney, the Irish must do more than just hold off the Panthers, which they are expected to do. They need to keep on winning, at least until they earn a first-ever berth in the finals, despite a short bench.
Notre Dame's biggest weakness is one that could hurt it more in the Big East Tournament than the upcoming NCAA Tournament: depth. The Irish employ a six-man roster, but winning the Big East Tournament means winning three times in three consecutive nights, while the NCAA Tourney is better spaced out.
But the Irish should be deep and fresh enough to beat the Panthers tonight, following a first-round berth Wednesday. While Pittsburgh played a close opening round game, Notre Dame watched their upcoming opponents' game over dinner at ESPNZone in Times Square, following an early afternoon practice at John Jay College.
Notre Dame boasts a two-time Big East Player of the Year in Murphy, who led the league in scoring this season with 22.6 points per game, as well as being one of the top rebounders. Next in line is transfer power forward Ryan Humphrey, a third-team All-Big East selection after averaging 15 points and nine boards per game this year.
Ingelsby, a senior captain, tops the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio, with Matt Carroll and David Graves both boasting sharp shooting records from outside and Carroll also a strong assist man. Harold Swanagan rounds out the core six as a dirty work player who gets the boards and the floor burns.
No team is a clear-cut favorite this year to win the title, although Notre Dame and Boston College captured their respective divisional championships.
"It's going to be a heck of a tournament," Murphy said.
The Big East Tourney is full of parity this year, with any team capable of making a run. Syracuse, Seton Hall and Villanova all joined Pittsburgh in making it out of the first round. Both Syracuse and Seton Hall knocked off Notre Dame this season (the Hall doing so twice), while Notre Dame did not face cross-divisional rival Villanova.
Second round matchups for the day include Boston College and NCAA Tournament hopeful Villanova, Seton Hall and Georgetown, and Syracuse against Providence.
Should Notre Dame win, the Irish will advance to the semifinals for the first time against the winner of the Providence-Syracuse game. Last year's first-round win over Rutgers marked the first time Notre Dame had won a Big East Tournament game since joining the conference in 1995-96.
Can they make it one more? The Irish will see tonight.
All Sports Stories for Monday, March 19, 2001
