Bracketology: West Virginia Mountaineers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish

       Looking at the schedule for the college basketball games tonight deciding which one I was going to watch, West Virginia at Notre Dame stood out to me from the rest of the matchups. The third place team in the Big East and #18 in the nation hosting a conference rival who is fighting for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. If watching two teams from the best conference in college basketball play wasn't enough, Notre Dame's come-from-behind four point victory at West Virginia two weeks ago gave the Mountaineers the chance to get a critical payback win over the ranked Fighting Irish.
       For the first fifteen minutes of the game, I thought West Virginia was going to pull off the upset and beat Notre Dame on their home court. West Virginia was controlling the tempo of the game. The Mountaineers took their time on offense and had good ball movement to find the best possible shot. West Virginia's big man, Deniz Kilicli was finding lots of open looks and utilized his unorthodox European jump-hook to get some early baskets. However, for the most part, Kilicli missed far too many easy shots at point-blank range. Notre Dame's 2-3 zone can be credited for West Virginia's shooting woes as their tight defense helf the Mountaineers to just over 30% shooting. Bob Huggins' squad dominated the offensive boards and allowed West Virginia to maximize their possesions on offense. Darryl Bryant and Kevin Jones were the only bright spots for West Virginia and their scoring was what gave them their first half lead. Notre Dame was extremely sloppy with the ball early in the game and the Fighting Irish committed dumb fouls over twenty feet away from the basket on defense. Notre Dame was not getting the ball inside to Jack Cooley, where he could attack Kilicli and Jones in order to get them in foul trouble.
       However, the momentum switched from West Virginia to Notre Dame after Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey had a technical foul called on him for arguing a moving screen call. Brey fired up his team and his technical sparked a 24-11 Notre Dame run and his team never looked back. Notre Dame outhustled West Virginia and dominated the Mountaineers in transition. Jerian Grant, Scott Martin, and Eric Atkins all caught fire for the Irish. Martin and Grant shot lights out beyond the arc, making a combined seven out of nine threes. The Fighting Irish rode the enthusiasm of the student section and won 71-44 after holding the Mountaineers to only sixteen second half points.

West Virginia Mountaineers
Conference: Big East (8th)
Record: 17-11 (7-8)
RPI: 45
Strength of Schedule: 19
Quality Wins:

• vs. Kansas State 85-80 (2OT)
• vs. #9 Georgetown 74-62

Bad Losses:

• vs. Kent State 70-60
• @ Seton Hall 67-48
• @ St. John's 78-62

Courtesy of http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700216729/Jones-leads-West-Virginia-over-Marshall-78-62.html

       West Virginia has played all over the spectrum this season. The Mountaineers have proven themselves against quality opponents but also lost to bad teams by big margins. West Virginia has had many opportunities to beat ranked Big East rivals but have fallen short at the end of games. They lost to #7 Baylor by two points in overtime, seven points to #16 Connecticut, two points to #2 Syracuse, four points to Notre Dame, and three points to #23 Louisville. West Virginia has three very good players in Kevin Jones, Darryl "Truck" Bryant, and Deniz Kilicli, but other than their main three players the Mountaineers have very little depth on the bench. Jones and Bryant are future NBA draft picks and the duo can take over a game for West Virginia. The Mountaineers are definitely a middle-of-the-road Big East team, which means they are deserving of a ticket to the Big Dance but I have difficulty seeing them making a run past the second round. The West Virginia Mountaineers are currently a ten seed in Joe Lunardi's projected bracket for ESPN.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Conference: Big East (2nd)
Record: 19-8 (11-3)
RPI: 37
Strength of Schedule: 17
Quality Wins:

• vs. #22 Pittsburgh 72-59
• @ #10 Louisville 67-65 (2OT)
• vs. #1 Syracuse 67-58
• @ #19 Connecticut 50-48
• vs. #15 Marquette 76-59

Bad Losses:

• @ Cincinnati 71-55
• @ Rutgers 65-58

Courtesy of http://urbanchristiannews.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-search.cgi?blog_id=2&tag=Notre%20Dame&limit=20

       Notre Dame Fighting Irish coach Mike Brey has led his team to a record nine straight conference wins and ND is one of the hottest teams in college basketball right now. The Irish have rebounded very impressively from last season after losing four starters including Tim Abromaitis, who was injured after in the team's second game of the season. Notre Dame has a lockdown defense and a balanced offense. Forward Jack Cooley averages nearly a double-double down low while Jerian Grant, Eric Atkins, and Scott Martin light it up from the outside. Notre Dame has transformed into a completely different team in the second half of the season and can play with the best of them. The Fighting Irish are a six seed and are on their way to improving their seed as their win streak continues. If Notre Dame can beat Providence and St. John's as well as Georgetown in the final three regular season games, the Irish could be a three or four seed in the NCAA Tournament. I think Notre Dame will be a Sweet Sixteen team in March.