Last month, Pitt came from behind and then held on to beat Notre Dame. Tomorrow, 7 pm on ESPN2, they play in South Bend.
Pitt is still hot, while Notre Dame has lost 3 out of 4. They are desperate for a win. They are at home, which is one of the few places Pitt hasn’t won in recent years.
Notre Dame has played well against good teams, but has fallen short. Most recently was last week’s loss to Kentucky.
Pitt’s game notes are here (big PDF file).
If you want to look for something disturbing, check the box on page 4, “WHERE PITTSBURGH RANKS NATIONALLY
IN THE 2003-04 NCAA STATISTICS.” Pitt is ranked 297 out of 321 at 62.4% in free throws. The team can keep spinning the lines about how they make ’em when they have to (as Dixon said after the last ND game), but this will cost them; and as the season gets later the time it when it costs could be huge.
If you want to have a weird sort of fun listening to the game tomorrow, listen for these game themes as promoted by the Pitt athletic department.
At 7-1, Pittsburgh is off to best all-time start in Big East play.
Pittsburgh enters the contest with a nation-leading 21 wins. The program reached the 20 win plateau for a school record third consecutive season.
Pittsburgh’s seniors Jaron Brown, Toree Morris and Julius Page are 0-3 all-time at Notre Dame. Notre Dame has claimed each of the last five games against Pittsburgh in the Joyce Center.
Pittsburgh’s defense leads the way as it has held 15 of 22 opponents under 60 points and 19 of 22 under 70 points.
National Coach of the Year candidate Jamie Dixon is the first rookie head coach since Bill Hodges (1978-79) to begin a season with 18 consecutive wins. The national record is 33 consecutive wins by Hodges’ Larry Bird-led ISU team.
One of the things that has been a bit troublesome for Pitt, though it too, hasn’t cost them a game yet, has been the struggling Julius Page. It seems as if he hasn’t been in rythm all year. As if that ankle has never fully healed and has deprived him of a lot of his explosiveness.
Julius Page played only 22 minutes against St. John’s because of foul trouble and because he “tweaked” his troublesome left ankle, which he injured in the preseason.
Though, no one has used it as an excuse. His continual struggles have been noticed. I recommend the article, if for no other reason, it was something I was actually getting ready to write on considering Page’s 4-point, 1-6 shooting against St. Johns.
Finally, I don’t have much to say on the incident with St. John’s players and an over-the-hill stripper (I’d put 38, at way past the prime in terms of stripping) who was at Club Erotica in McKees Rocks outside of Pittsburgh (partial disclosure, I’ve been there for a bachelor party). The only reason I mention it is that on “Pardon the Interruption” on ESPN this evening, they were brought it up with Digger Phelps. Phelps said that St. John’s needed to hire Pitt assistant coach Barry Rohrssen. This is the sort of thing I’ve been worrying about. Give him a big raise now.
