Irish Sports Daily

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The first 30 minutes of this afternoon’s Notre Dame/Marquette was a matchup of two scrappy, undersized ball teams that played each other almost even. During the final 10 minutes of the game the red hot Fighting Irish buried Marquette, announcing to the college basketball world that they are legitimate force to be reckoned with.

Notre Dame used a 20-5 second half run to bury the No. 15 ranked Golden Eagles 76-59, giving the Irish three wins against ranked opponents in their last four contests.

Notre Dame came out of the locker room cold, making just five of its first 17 field goal attempts. The Irish shooters were just 1-of-5 from behind the arc as Marquette took a 16-12 lead midway through the opening half of the game.

Marquette senior guard Darius Johnson-Odom fueled the early Golden Eagle run, scoring eight points and hitting his first three shots.

Notre Dame faces another stiff test this afternoon as it looks to continue to build up its NCAA Tournament resume. The Irish will look to extend their winning streak to four games. In order to do that they will have to beat one of the hottest teams in the country. Buzz Williams and the No. 15 Marquette Golden Eagles (19-4 overall, 8-2 Big East) will look to win their eighth game in a row in hopes of staying right in the thick of the race for the top spot in the conference.

Marquette dropped two of its first three conference games and four of six overall during a rough three week period that stretched from December 19 to January 7. After back-to-back road losses to Georgetown (73-70) and Syracuse (73-66) the Golden Eagles got hot. They pounded St. John’s (83-64) and No. 21 Louisville (74-63) en route to seven straight wins, putting them just a game behind Syracuse at 8-2 in Big East play.

The Golden Eagles are one of the top scoring teams in the conference, ranking second in the Big East at 76.1 points per game. Marquette is an aggressive offensive team that excels at getting to and converting from the free throw line. Marquette leads the conference in free throw attempts and ranked second with a 71.1-percent conversion rate from the line. The Golden Eagles also move the ball extremely well on the offensive end, leading the conference with 17.4 assists per game.

Two weeks ago the defending champion Connecticut Huskies ended Notre Dame’s 29-game home winning streak. Today, Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish men’s basketball team got redemption, beating the Huskies 50-48 in Storrs despite a poor shooting effort from the field.

Notre Dame continues to struggle to consistently knock down shots, but the Irish continue to battle on the defensive end of the court. Notre Dame’s last three opponents have scored just 49.3 points.

The Irish have now three games in a row and five of seven, three of which have come over ranked opponents.

When the two teams last met the Huskies dominated in the paint, and during the early portions of today’s contest Connecticut freshman center Andre Drummond and junior forward Alex Oriakhi continued that interior dominance. The pair scored UConn’s first ten points as Oriakhi scoring four quick points.

Two weeks ago the defending national champion Connecticut Huskies ended Notre Dame’s 29-game home winning streak with a 67-53 victory in South Bend. Now Notre Dame looks to repay the favor as the Irish look put another win over a ranked opponent on their NCAA tournament resume.

The night before Notre Dame and Connecticut were set to meet, talented Husky freshman Ryan Boatright was suspended for the second time this season pending an NCAA investigation. While the Huskies were able to grind out a win over the Irish, their lack of depth without Boatright has proven costly.

Connecticut has dropped its last two games without its freshman point guard, including a 70-67 home loss to Cincinnati on Wednesday night. The loss was Connecticut’s first at home this season, dropping them to 10-1 in Storrs on the season. In the three games without Boatright, Husky guards Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napier have been forced to play extra minutes in an already thin backcourt. Lamb has played all but one minute of Connecticut’s last three games and Napier has played all but four minutes of those contests.

In the Big East any road win is a good win, regardless of how ugly it might be. Ugly is the best way to describe Notre Dame’s 55-42 victory over Seton Hall, but it was a much needed victory for the Irish.

Notre Dame (13-8 / 5-3) came into tonight’s matchup against Seton Hall (15-5 / 4-4) looking to fight back into the mix for the team’s third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid. Heading into their weekend matchup against undefeated and top ranked Syracuse the Irish’s tourney hopes were on life support.

After whipping the Orange at home, ending their 20-game winning streak, Notre Dame’s tourney hopes began to breathe new life. To keep their tourney hopes alive the Irish desperately needed a road over Seton Hall, a team that has been tough to beat on its home court of late. The Pirates entered the night undefeated at home on the season, having won its last 12 home contests dating back to last season.

The 2011-12 Notre Dame Basketball schedule is found below:

On Saturday, Mike Brey and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team played the role of giant slayer, taking down undefeated and then No. 1-ranked Syracuse 67-58. Notre Dame’s NCAA Tournament hopes are hanging by a thread and the victory over the Orange was a much needed resume booster.

Now the Irish head out on the road and face another must-win situation as they take on Kevin Willard’s Seton Hall Pirates. Notre Dame is just 1-3 on the road this season, with its only win coming against No. 10 Louisville in early January. The Irish are 17-8 all-time against Seton Hall and have won eight of the last nine against the Pirates. Notre Dame is 6-6 when playing the Pirates on the road. Brey is 11-4 in his career against the Pirates.

After going 13-17 in Willard’s first season in South Orange, the Pirates have become one of the surprise teams in the Big East. Seton Hall comes into tonight’s matchup with a 15-4 record, 4-3 in the Big East. Willard’s club is ranked No. 7 in the RPI thanks to three wins over teams ranked in the Top 25 of the RPI. Seton Hall’s only non-conference loss was an 80-73 loss to Northwestern in the championship of the Charleston Classic. The Pirates beat 2010-2011 Final Four team Virginia Commonwealth in the first round of that tournament by a 69-54 score. Seton Hall also notched an impressive 81-59 victory over Auburn and a 68-54 home win over Wake Forest. The Pirates also traveled to Dayton and beat the Flyers 69-64.

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - In winning its first 21 games the No. 1 ranked Syracuse Orange beat teams with hustle and good shooting, as the Orange came into tonight's game ranked 22nd nationally in field goal percentage. In Notre Dame's upset win over the No. 1-ranked Orange the Irish beat Syracuse at its own game as Notre Dame fought and hustled its way to a 67-58 victory in Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.

The opening minute of the first half was indicative of how the game would go. Syracuse won the tip but point guard Scoop Jardine quickly missed a short layup, one of several easy misses for the Orange during the game.

Notre Dame answered with back-to-back triples from freshman Pat Connaughton and Eric Atkins as the Irish jumped to a quick 6-0 lead. Connaughton hit another triple from the right corner off of a great ball rotation as Notre Dame pushed its lead to 11-2.