Remember, even if you live outside of the Pittsburgh market, there is no excuse not to watch this as long as you have broadband. ESPN Full Court will be doing the free online preview this week. Just remember to use Internet Explorer, as Firefox likely won’t be accepted as the browser choice.

ND finally has their game notes out (PDF version). They acknowledge that they have yet to win at the Pete, but that the last 2 games have been decided by 5 points in total.

The Irish are on a 7 game winning streak, after hanging on to beat Wofford last week 74-71. It hasn’t been pretty.

Two games earlier, the Irish struggled before pulling out a 75-68 win against Columbia, and they barely escaped Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne, 65-63, Dec. 18. Still, the Irish have one of the better point guards in the Big East in Chris Quinn and a bona fide post player in Torin Francis.

Quinn and guards Kyle McAlarney and Luke Zeller all shoot better than 40 percent from 3-point range. On the season, they’ve combined to make 46 of 105 attempts. In the win against Wofford, the Irish made 3-pointers on five consecutive trips down the court. And starting guard Colin Falls also is a threat from the outside, though he has struggled a bit this season. He leads the team in 3-pointers made, with 32, but he has made just 36.8 percent of his attempts.

That foursome should put a lot of pressure on the Panthers to guard the perimeter, which is something they’ve done well all season. The Panthers top two perimeter defenders have been Krauser and Ronald Ramon, but Fields, Antonio Graves and Keith Benjamin have proven up to the task as well.

Notre Dame in the last few years has played tough against Pitt, but always fallen short. That’s because Pitt has completely dominated the inside, and all ND would do was hoist 3s. I don’t think that approach will be changing in this game as their soft 6’11” center Torin Francis is also the only starter over 6’5″. Pitt’s perimeter defense has been good at cutting off the inside, so the Domers will probably be shooting outside.

The counter challenge will be for Pitt not to start hoisting 3s of their own. Over the last 3 halves for Pitt, when they have kept their own 3-point shooting in control, they have been much more effective. The 1st half of the South Carolina game saw them putting up too many 3s, and not so coincidentally, losing.

For Pitt, obviously, it is about continuing to win. The stated theme from the coaches and players right now is to continue improving.

“We’re all trying to learn every day. We’re still not where we need to be, but we’re getting better,” said Pitt guard Levance Fields, one of three freshmen who are playing significant minutes for Pitt.
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Fields, along with fellow freshmen Sam Young and Tyrell Biggs, played at least 19 minutes each against the Badgers on Saturday, and Fields and Ramon, a sophomore, combined for nine assists and zero turnovers at point guard.

“We knew, as freshmen coming in, that we had to stick together no matter what — us, with the coaches and everybody else that’s beind us,” Fields said. “We just have to play hard and everything else will work itself out.”

So far, so good for the Panthers.

The need to keep improving is vital as the quality of the opponents improve the further into the season.

“Our whole thing has been about improving,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “Not a lot was expected of these guys by people, but they have been gaining confidence and we’re continuing to improve.”

The challenge now, of course, is that the schedule is improving, too.

The Panthers have played only one game outside Pittsburgh and have met only one ranked opponent – beating then-No. 24 Wisconsin 73-64 on Saturday night – but none of their remaining 13 opponents has a losing record.

Of the 13, six already have 10 or more victories, and three are ranked: No. 2 Connecticut (11-0), No. 9 Louisville (11-1) and No. 24 West Virginia (8-3). All but one of the 13 have won at least seven games, including traditional powers such as Syracuse, Cincinnati and Marquette.

But while the Panthers have lacked competition to date, they don’t lack confidence.

In a story previewing the Big East for the Irish, there is this about Pitt.

As for Pittsburgh’s style, Brey said the Panthers (11-0) look faster and play more of a half-court game than last season, but they’re still physical. Pittsburgh’s 73-64 victory over then-No. 24 Wisconsin on Saturday propelled the Panthers into the AP poll.

“They’re not the bulkiest of guys, but quick guys, good athletes and up in you and hand-checking and making it hard for you,” Brey said. “Probably the way they can be physical is they always have fresh guys on the court.

“Us handling the basketball and swinging it and our second big guy being good with it is going to really be key because they’re going to be up on us and up underneath us,” Brey said.

The article also quotes Brey as thinking 9-7 would be good for ND again — translation on the bubble once more. What a confident coach.

Carl Krauser gets a puff piece in the South Bend paper.

Instead of handling the ball all the time, Krauser often defers to underclassmen Ronald Ramon and LeVance Fields. A first team all-league preseason pick, Krauser leads the Panthers in scoring at a career-high 17.3 points per game and plays a team-high 31.2 minutes. When someone needs to make a big play or take a big shot, Krauser’s still the one.

“He’s better in every area,” said coach Jamie Dixon, whose rotation includes 10 guys who all play at least 12 minutes. “Carl’s comfortable in his position and understanding of our system. That’s a big step. It’s one thing to know it, but it’s another thing to pass it on to others.”
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The Panthers have a swagger because Krauser does.

“The tone of the team is his personality,” said Irish coach Mike Brey. “As a senior, guys value that. He may never be on that stage again, to have complete control of the locker room.”

Picked to finish seventh in a preseason vote of conference coaches, the Panthers begin Big East play a feisty bunch. Pittsburgh has beaten two Southeastern Conference teams — Auburn and South Carolina — by 34 and seven points. Four days ago, Pittsburgh beat Wisconsin by nine. Still, some have been slow to promote the Panthers, who have won 119 games during Krauser’s five years.

“People didn’t think we’d be this good,” Krauser said. “Maybe they’re haters or just regular, but that makes no sense.

“We’ll prove them wrong.”

At the risk of seeming revisionist, so far the difference in the swagger this year is the confidence that they can and will beat a team. Last year, there were too many games, especially the start of the game where the team seemed to think that merely showing up to the game would be enough. So far, this team has been more cohesive and determined.

At the Pete, Pitt has only lost to Syracuse, Georgetown, UConn and WVU. Hopefully that won’t be changing tonight.