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.
With the back-to-back losses the Huskies have now dropped four of six, putting them at 14-5 on the season. It also drops them to sixth in the Big East with a 4-3 conference record. Connecticut now trails Notre Dame in the Big East by a half game, making this afternoon’s contest crucial to both team’s chances at catching Syracuse, who is now 9-1 in the conference.
Boatright will finally get his chance to face the Irish this afternoon as the NCAA has reinstated him after finishing its investigation. The 6-foot-0 freshman has been practicing with the team and should be ready to spell the Connecticut guards.
Notre Dame comes into the game having won four of six, giving the Irish a 13-8 overall record and a 5-3 Big East record. While Notre Dame still has plenty of work to do to get itself on the NCAA Tournament bubble, its recent success has kept its tourney hopes alive. After Connecticut ended Notre Dame’s long home winning streak the Irish went on the road and lost a tough game to Rutgers, dropping the Irish to 11-8 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
At that point Notre Dame’s tourney hopes were on life support, with even a chance at the NIT looking questionable with a home contest against No. 1 ranked Syracuse on the docket, followed by tough road contests against Seton Hall and Connecticut. That three game stretch would not necessarily make Notre Dame’s season, but it certainly had a chance to break it.
Notre Dame upset Syracuse at home in impressive fashion, leading by double digits for most of the game in a 67-58 win. Mike Brey’s club followed that up with an impressive 55-42 road win over Seton Hall, one if the Big East’s biggest surprise teams this season.
Now Notre Dame looks to pick up a big win against a more talented and longer Connecticut team. If the Irish can pull off the upset against the No. 19 Huskies it would put them squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble for the first time in weeks.
2011-2012 CONNECTICUT HUSKIES
HEAD COACH: Jim Calhoun
ASSISTANTS: George Blaney, Glen Miller, Kevin Ollie
2011-2012 RESULTS (14-5 overall / 4-3 conference)
Columbia W 70-57
Wagner W 78-66
Maine W 80-60
Coppin State W 87-70
vs. UNC-Asheville * W 73-63
vs. UCF * L 63-68
vs. Florida State * W 78-76 OT
Arkansas W 75-62
Harvard W 67-53
Holy Cross W 77-40
Fairfield W 79-71
at South Florida W 60-57
St. John’s W 83-69
at Seton Hall L 63-75
at Rutgers L 60-67
West Virginia W 64-57
at Notre Dame W 67-53
Cincinnati L 67-70
at Tennessee L 57-60
STARTING LINEUP:
G Shabazz Napier 6-1 Soph. 14.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 6.2 apg
G Jeremy Lamb 6-5 Soph. 17.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.1 apg
F Niels Giffey 6-7 Soph. 3.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.6 apg
F Alex Oriakhi 6-9 Jr. 6.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.5 apg
C Andre Drummond 6-10 Fr. 9.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.5 bpg
KEY RESERVES:
G Ryan Boatright 6-0 Fr. 10.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.5 apg
F DeAndre Daniels 6-7 Fr. 4.0 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 0.7 bpg
F Roscoe Smith 6-8 Soph. 3.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.5 bpg
F Tyler Olander 6-9 Soph. 5.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg
BACKCOURT
From an offensive standpoint, Connecticut has been fueled by its backcourt all season long. Sophomore wing man Jeremy Lamb has been one of the nation’s top players, averaging 17.9 points per game. Lamb ranks fourth in the Big East in scoring at 17.9 points per game, although he had his worst game of the season two weeks ago against the Irish. Notre Dame defended Lamb well and kept him from attacking the basket and getting clean looks from the perimeter. Lamb scored just six points on 3-of-11 shooting, missing all four of his three point attempts. In a sign of his growth as a player, Lamb chipped in seven boards against the Irish and did a solid defensive job against Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant, who finished 2-of-8 from behind the arc. That performance showed Lamb can still have an impact when his offensive game is struggling. The extra attention on Lamb allowed talented sophomore point guard Shabazz Napier to have a big game. Napier has run hot-and-cold all season and was held to single digits in two of the three games he played coming into the last matchup between these two teams. In fact, Napier was held scoreless in Connecticut’s victory over West Virginia right before the Notre Dame matchup. He scored 16 points against the Irish and dished out five assists while turning the ball over just once. Napier made several clutch shots for the Huskies and scored 10 points in the second half as Connecticut outscored Notre Dame 43-28 during that period. On the season he is scoring 14.8 points and averaging 6.2 assists per game. His assist totals rank him third in the Big East. Boatright’s return is huge for Connecticut, who gets back its top bench scorer at 10.2 points per game. Boatright was brilliant in UConn’s 75-62 win over Arkansas in December, scoring 23 points and dishing out six assists. His ability to push the tempo and score off the bench made Connecticut a more effective offensive team, something it has not been in the three games during his second suspension. Connecticut now has three talented and athletic guards it can throw at the Irish offense, which struggled to knock down shots in the first matchup between these two teams.
FRONTCOURT
Connecticut’s interior players gave the Irish fits in the first matchup. Notre Dame simply could not handle Connecticut’s length as the Huskies dominated Notre Dame on the boards, out-rebounding the Irish by a 42-30 margin. Connecticut also blocked five shots in the game, something UConn has done well all season. The Huskies come into today’s matchup averaging 6.9 blocks per game, good for third in the Big East. UConn’s strong interior defense is a big reason why the Huskies are second in the Big East in field goal defense. Freshman center Andre Drummond was outstanding in the second half of UConn’s victory over the Irish. The 6-foot-10 center scored eight points and grabbed nine boards in the second half alone. He finished the game with 10 points, 13 boards, and two blocked shots. Drummond has scored just 10 points combined in Connecticut’s last two games, both losses. Junior big man Alex Oriakhi has been an enigma this season. He has had moments where he looked outstanding, including a 12-point effort against the Irish on 5-of-8 shooting. In that game he hauled down seven boards, blocked two shots, and played physical interior defense. He has had a few games like that this season, and they are usually followed by bouts of inconsistent play on the offensive end of the court. In UConn’s last two games, both losses, Oriakhi has scored just seven combined points and hit just three of his 13 field goal attempts. Oriakhi is also shooting just 54.2-percent from the charity stripe. German swingman Niels Giffey has been starting more lately and has provided solid perimeter shooting. Giffey has drilled four of his last seven triples and has averaged over six points per game in Big East play. Freshman forward DeAndre Daniels provides athleticism and length off the bench and in the occasional start, but he has yet to provide any offense during Big East play. Daniels has averaged just 2.7 points per game during conference play. Sophomore forward Roscoe Smith was solid against the Irish in UConn’s road win, chipping in 10 points and six boards. In the other 18 games Smith has been a disappointment. His only other double digit scoring effort came against Coppin State back in November. Smith, a highly-touted recruit, has struggled with his shot during his Connecticut career. Athletic big man Tyler Olander has seen his minutes decrease over the last four games, and the talented big man has struggled to stay out of foul trouble at times during the season. If he is playing well he is a presence in the middle.
