Notre Dame Tip-In: Irish de-compose on the road

By Brian Hamilton

Diving after the loose balls following the end of No. 8 Notre Dame's seven-game win streak in a deflating 72-58 loss at West Virginia on Saturday...

1. Strike the poise. In three straight victories on the road, the composure of a senior-laden lineup shined through for Notre Dame. The Irish were remarkably unshaken by the wasp's nest that is Pittsburgh's Petersen Events Center, then resolutely took care of business against lesser foes in road tilts at DePaul and South Florida.

Notre Dame didn't go haywire at West Virginia on Saturday, but when the Mountaineers made the inevitable push in the second half, the Irish played too fast and loose. A couple quick shots by a team that prides itself on searching for the best possible look merely fed the frenzy instead of providing an answer.
"It's really tough, especially having had some success these last few weeks -- we really haven't been in that position where we have to grind one out," Irish forward Tim Abromaitis said.

"We did take a couple quick ones. Guys got frustrated when they were able to score on us a couple times when they hit tough shots. You have to give them credit for hitting their shots, but maybe we didn't do the best job of staying together and trying ti finish it out."

To condemn the Irish for that is a bit much, given that Pittsburgh was the only team in the nation not to lose a road game before Saturday. Nearly every top 10 team lost a road game last week. It's not easy, and it is a reminder for Notre Dame that its poise must be near-perfect in meaningful road trips to Providence and Connecticut before the season is out.

"Our poise was OK but not good enough," Irish coach Mike Brey said. "We got a little more rattled at times here than we did in Pitsburgh. That's a learning experience for us. It really doesn't matter who you play."

2. Technically speaking. First came Carleton Scott nearly decapitating West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla, with the officiating crew swallowing its whistles on the play and sending Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins into an apoplectic fit, earning Huggins a technical foul in the process.

Later, it was Mike Brey's turn, with Ben Hansbrough called for a blocking foul one possession after a similar sequence resulted in an offensive foul call against the Irish. So Brey jumped out near midcourt, waved his arms at officials and got T'd up himself.

"The play you're talking about, they got the same call on the baseline literally 30 seconds before," Hansbrough said. "So if they're going to make that (call), it has to be both ways. But give (West Virginia) credit."

Consistency was an issue all game and the officiating crew let the game get away from them for a spell in the second half before things settled down again. But it went both ways. And while Brey very obviously wanted to get dinged with the technical, he chalked it up to a lack of poise himself afterward.

"I just thought it was similar to the charge in front of me," Brey said. "I thought it was a similar play down there. I told our guys, first five minutes of the second half, I don't think you guys concentrated well, and I apologize, I didn't help you with that technical. But I'm definitely going down swinging with us.

He hastened to add this: "Officiating had nothing to do with this game."

3. Swing low. Maybe the Irish are a surprise team in general, ascending into the top 10 when few would have expected that before the season. But assuming the non-conference effort did enough to convince observers of its mettle, Notre Dame has endured or produced a distinct lack of surprises during Big East play.

The victory at Pittsburgh clearly qualifies. And then very little else has diverged from script. Even victories over Georgetown and Connecticut in the first week of league play can't be considered monumentally shocking. The Irish have lost the games (mostly) that you'd expect them to lose, Saturday included, and won the games you'd expect them to win.

But here come the swing games. According to kenpom.com, the Irish only have a better than 70 percent win probability against Seton Hall among the last four games, and even the Pirates historically have given the Irish fits. With some surprises here and there, the Irish can climb tantalizingly close to a Big East title -- or slip quite a few rungs down the standings.

"We have a lot of opportunities left," Hansbrough said, and that cuts both ways.

Source: http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2011/02/notre-dame-tip-in-irish-de-compose-on-the-road.html

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