BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: DePaul @ Notre Dame

March 4, 2006

To me, this is the game of the day! With three wins in their last four games, out of nowhere, DePaul has played their way back into the mix. Thursday night's riveting 108-69 blowout of Syracuse should give the Blue Demon offense a little jolt of confidence as the head to Notre Dame to meet the Irish. Although the Blue Demons do not control their own destiny, like the Irish, they still have a shot with a win at getting to NYC. Notre Dame also needs this game and it is much simpler of a scenario for them: Win and your in!


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The scenario for DePaul is not too complicated, they need to win and hope Rutgers beats St. John's in Alumni Hall on the St. John's campus. So, in a conference where the road team is successful just under 37% of the time, that might be a lot to ask for to get two road wins in their favor on the home team's Senior Day. However, anything can happen, and if Depaul can score 108 pts in one game, well, I think it is proof that anything CAN and WILL happen when you play the game.

DePaul knows what they need to do. They can go small with Notre Dame and win the battle of athleticism at nearly every position. The question with DePaul is always will they make the right decisions with the ball and make their shots. On Thursday, they did just that and smashed the Orange. It was a performance so much out of line with what we have seen from DePaul in conference play you almost wondered if it was really them on the floor. Now, they have to get re-focused and understand that Notre Dame is going to be a pretty charged up team as well.

It will be Senior Day and the Irish fans will come out to sendoff Chris Quinn, Torin Francis and Rick Cornett in fashion. It has been a frustrating season for Notre Dame with many close losses, home and away, but these kids have never quit. Early in conferenc play, DePaul raced out to a huge lead early on and the Irish made a game of it before falling by six point in the end. The Irish will look to be ready from the get-go in this one.

I really like how DePaul matches up here. I think Wilson Chandler and Sammy Mejia should be able to use their match-ups and have good games. I think they have the personnel to defend Colin Falls on the perimeter and take him out of the game. Will they execute it? That remains to be seen.

However, I like Notre Dame in this situation. They will feed off the emotion of the crowd and with a bid to the conference tournament on the line and Senior Day for three very popular seniors, I see them being at their best. They looked very loose and comfortable Wednesday against Providence, however, that was not the case last Saturday in a loss to Marquette, when the weight of the situation seemd to hit them hard. That is concerning with all the emotion involved with Senior Day and the pressure to make the conference tournament, that worries me, but they are an experienced team determined to erase some bad memories from the season. It could all start here...

NBE Blogger Prediction:

Notre Dame 70 DePaul 68

Chris Quinn gets one to go HIS way...