BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: SETON HALL @ NOTRE DAME

January 10, 2009


Notre Dame extended their home court winning streak to 44 games on Monday with a win over Georgetown. They will look for win #45 in a row at the Joyce Center when Seton Hall comes to town on Saturday afternoon.

The Irish rebounded from a surprising loss to St. John’s last weekend and are now 2-1 in Big East play. The short-handed Pirates are 0-3 in the conference. They did show some life after blowout losses to SU and WVU to begin conference play by taking Villanova to overtime this week. We will see if they can get their first win in conference play on the Irish home court.

Here are some pregame stories and previews from the web this morning:

Notre Dame Works on Maintaining Intensity (Chicago Tribune)
ND At its Best on Edge (South Bend Tribune)
Irish Try to Avoid Pirate Overthrow (Journal Gazette)

Last year, Notre Dame blitzed Seton Hall on the road, this year they will look to do the same in South Bend. Luke Harangody should have an absolute field day in the paint and the Seton Hall tendency to give wide open shots from the perimeter bodes very well for Kyle McAlarney and Ryan Ayers.

Seton Hall will score points, and the Irish defense is certainly susceptible to yielding points, but Tory Jackson matches up very well with Eugene Harvey and SHU’s penchant for pushing the pace falls into the hands of the preferred style of the Irish. Even with the college basketball lines pointing to the Irish as 14 ½-point favorites, it seems to be a number they will sail past.

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Notre Dame 87
Seton Hall 71