Notre Dame begins final Big East appearance against Rutgers
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
Mike Brey’s Fighting Irish are enjoying every moment in New York City this week, knowing this will be their last appearance in the Big East Tournament before heading to the ACC next season earlier than expected.
Notre Dame begins play at 9 p.m. tonight in Madison Square Garden. The sixth-seeded Irish will face No. 11-seed Rutgers, a 76-57 winner over No. 14-seed DePaul Tuesday night, on ESPN2.
This doesn’t figure to be an easy matchup for the Irish, especially when you consider Rutgers gave them quite a game back in January in South Bend. Notre Dame eventually prevailed in that game, 69-66, but the Scarlet Knights had a chance to win it down one with just seven seconds left before being called for a questionable charge on Eli Carter near the hoop.
Jack Cooley was the star for Notre Dame, scoring a team-high 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while Carter paced all scorers with 20.
Unfortunately for Rutgers, which comes into tonight’s action with a .500 mark at 15-15, Carter is out after breaking his leg last month. He was the team’s leading scorer (14.9 points per game).
“We’re playing a team that’s playing very well,” said Irish coach Mike Brey after the team’s shoot-around at the Garden this morning. “We had to escape with a win against them at our place.
“I thought Rutgers’ front line played great last night, their guards are confident, they’re in a real good rhythm so we’ll have a dogfight on our hands tonight.”
Brey is concerned about Rutgers’ front line and how is team holds up against it rebounding the basketball.
Watch out for forward Wally Judge, who set a Big East Tournament record in the win over DePaul by hitting all nine of his shots from the floor and finished with a team-high 20 points.
Rutgers doesn’t wow you statistically. It ranked near the bottom in both scoring and defense in the Big East, averaging 65.5 points per game and allowing 66.1. However, the Scarlet Knights proved they’re more than capable of beating Notre Dame earlier this season.
Rutgers is a team that’s a pretty decent free throw shooting squad and ranked fifth in the league in three-point shooting (36 percent).
With Carter out, 5-foot-9 guard Myles Mack is the No. 1 scoring threat as he averages 13.5 points per game.
In the end though, Notre Dame should get past Rutgers even though the Scarlet Knights are fighting for their postseason lives. It is a more veteran team and has had some recent success in the Big East Tournament.
The Irish are the only Big East team to advance to the league semifinals in each of the last three seasons.
Overall Notre Dame hasn’t fared too well in the event, posting a 9-17 all-time record.
Notre Dame has won eight of those nine games under Brey while suffering 12 setbacks. The furtherest the Irish have ever advanced is the semifinals in (2002, 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012).
Even though it is the No. 6 seed, Notre Dame did receive a favorably draw in that it is in the opposite bracket of Big East regular-season champion Georgetown.
Assuming 23-8 Notre Dame wins its opening game, it will face No. 3-seed Marquette on Thursday night for the second time in less than two weeks.
The Golden Eagles beat the Irish, 72-64, March 2 in Milwaukee, but Cooley was far from 100 percent due to an illness. He missed his only shot from the floor and had one rebound in 15 minutes of action.
Looking even further down the road, a date with Louisville in the semifinals could be waiting on Friday night. The Irish split with Rick Pitino’s Cards in the regular season.
If Notre Dame advances to its first Big East championship game ever, it could face Georgetown, a team that handled the Irish easily, 63-47, in South Bend and one that’s vying for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance.
Speaking of the Big Dance, a good showing in New York could help Notre Dame’s seeding when the field is announced on Sunday. Right now, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, the Irish are looking at a 7 seed. But with a good run in NYC, perhaps a 6 or even 5 could be earned.
Brey though isn’t about to fall into the trap of looking into the future. He’s focused on Rutgers and that’s it.
“We can’t look past tonight,” Brey warned. “We’re trying to survive and advance. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Big East Tournament or the NCAA Tournament. If we can pull out a nailbiter tonight, I’ll be the happiest guy in New York City.”
A lot of people aren’t happy though that this will be the finale of the Big East Tournament as we know it. Currently Connecticut, Cincinnati and South Florida are the only holdovers not committed to either the new “Big East” or another conference.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame, Louisville, Syracuse and Pitt will call the ACC home in 2013-14.
Like the aforementioned, Notre Dame would love to leave MSG hoisting the Big East Tournament championship trophy.
It appears to be a fairly wide open tournament although Georgetown, along with Louisville, are the favorites. The Hoyas have won 12 of their last 13 games, while the Cardinals are looking like the team that many tabbed earlier in the season as the best in the land.
Notre Dame has a shot, too. Rutgers won’t be a walk in the park and Marquette will be challenging to say the least, but if the Irish bring their A game, they’ll be playing Louisville on Friday with a chance to make history and advance to their first ever Big East championship game on Saturday in this their last hurrah as a Big East member.
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