Luck of the Irish?
January 31, 2006 04:49 PM | General
January 31, 2006
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Who said there is such a thing as the Luck of the Irish? It seems like every time Notre Dame steps onto the basketball court these days the date is Friday the 13th.
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| West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle believes Wednesday's game against Notre Dame will come down to which team can stop the other.
AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams |
The Irish go on the road to Marquette and lose by two when Steve Novak makes the same shot dead-eye sharpshooter Collin Falls misses. Four days later, the Irish fight back from 15 points down in the second half against Georgetown only to lose 85-82 in double overtime.
Once again against Villanova last Saturday, Notre Dame falls behind by 17 points in the second half and after a furious second half rally nearly pulls off an upset. But Villanova’s Kyle Lowry snatches victory from the jaws of defeat by tipping in a missed shot with 1.5 seconds remaining to knock off the Irish 72-70.
Of course it goes without saying that Notre Dame is the best 10-8 team in the country. The numbers certainly bear that out. All six of Notre Dame’s Big East losses have been by a combined 22 points and all eight have been by an average of just 4.9 points per game.
“Don’t be deceived by their league record because Notre Dame is a heck of a basketball team,” West Virginia coach John Beilein warned reporters Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ve got to be ready and focused because 1-6 doesn’t mean anything,” added Patrick Beilein.
A few bounces the right way and Notre Dame is right in the middle of the conference standings instead of desperately needing a victory Wednesday night in Morgantown just to keep its Big East tournament hopes alive.
“The ball has just bounced other people’s way,” Beilein shrugged. “You should have seen the shot Novak hit to beat them after Collin Falls had the same shot that went in and out. That’s how Marquette beat them.”
Senior guard Chris Quinn has drawn rave reviews for West Virginia’s players and coaches and leads the Irish with averages of 17.6 points and 6.8 assists per game.
“I think he’s one of the most underrated players in the Big East and in the country,” said West Virginia senior Mike Gansey. “Watching him on tape the last couple of days I’ve been really, really impressed with him.”
Quinn scored a season-high 31 in Notre Dame’s lone Big East win over Providence and has only had one off night this season – a five-point performance coming off an injury against Niagara.
“No disrespect to Chris Thomas, but I always thought the only time they dropped off was when Quinn was out of the lineup at the end of the year,” said Beilein. “Thomas is a great player, but Quinn I have as much respect for as any kid in the league. He’s a special player.”
Six-five junior Collin Falls has been a thorn in West Virginia’s side in the past, firing in 19 in a 70-57 win over the Mountaineers at the Coliseum last year. He is averaging 13.7 points per game including a 16.9-points-per-game average in Big Eat play.
Six-eleven center Torin Francis is a load in the paint averaging 12.2 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. For his career Francis has scored 1,150 points and grabbed 853 rebounds heading into the West Virginia game.
Notre Dame is looking to avoid its first four-game losing streak under sixth-year head coach Mike Brey.
“They’re going to come in here fired up and we’ve got to be able to match their intensity,” said Gansey.
West Virginia, meanwhile, righted its ship on Sunday at St. John’s after losing 58-52 to Marshall in Charleston on Jan. 25. Kevin Pittsnogle scored 19 points and grabbed 8 rebounds and Mike Gansey added 15 points including making four consecutive free throws to hold off the Red Storm’s late charge.
Pittsnogle is West Virginia’s top scorer averaging 19.8 points per game. The 6-foot-11-inch center is also averaging a career best 6.4 rebounds per game. Gansey averages 19.1 points per game and is shooting 60.9 percent from the floor for the season.
West Virginia (15-4, 6-0) is looking to snap an 11-game losing streak to Notre Dame dating back to the 1999 season. That equals Connecticut’s 11 consecutive wins against Georgetown for the longest running win streak in the Big East.
“There were two tight games and there were two that were not tight,” said Beilein of his team’s five straight losses to Notre Dame. “They out-smart you, they out-shoot you and they’re a good team.
“I watch tape of them and I don’t have answers,” Beilein added. “We have just got to go out and out-hustle them, try and bang around a little bit on the boards and keep things active. We have to make 10 or 11 3s and hope they have an off night. There are just not a lot of answers for this team.”
Pittsnogle believes tomorrow’s game will probably come down to which team can stop the other.
“Every game has been a close game except for the one last year,” he said. “I think (Wednesday’s) game is going to be close and whoever makes their shots and makes the better plays at the end will win.”
Tip off for Wednesday’s game is 7 pm. ESPN (Dave Pasch and Len Elmore) will televise the game nationally. There are no tickets remaining for the contest.
