6:50 pm: About 10 minutes from tip off. Settle in here for tonight’s game, which we’re hoping goes a bit better than last Friday.

7:09 pm: ESPN’s “Greatest Highlight” is stupid and annoying, much like “Who’s Now?” was. Early in the game we have Sam Young burying a three (he takes too many deep shots) as well as DeJuan Blair challenging and scoring on Harangody then blocking a layup at the opposite end.

Watch out for Torre Jackson. He grabs boards and just blocked Blair — and stands only 5′ 11″.

ND wants to run and play up-tempo and Pitt is going to play a long, drawn out halfcourt game to stop that high pace. They average 80.3 points per game — Pitt usually doesn’t win games that reach high scores like that.

7:15 pm: Levance Fields is on the court but he saw limited time in practice this week so his minutes will be few. He still a little slow and not et comfortable to go with the Bronx style crossover we know him for. It’s the move that gets him by defenders all the time and opened up that shot for him against Duke. Hopefully he gets it back sooner rather than later but it won’t come without practice and getting back in basketball shape.

Ramon hasn’t shot too well yet, and the entire team has thrown up plenty of bricks.

7:18 pm: Can someone please please please make a basket?!? Sure it’s nice to grab 3 offensive rebounds on one possession but it’s better to put the damn ball in the hoop.

7:23 pm: DeJuan Blair hits a jumper and keeps the team’s FG% from dipping below 20%.

Ramon is ice cold and rightfully on the bench. In past games, even when he struggled, he had to stay in because there was no one to replace him. Nice to have fresh bodies (though Fields isn’t really too fresh).

The defense is shaky at best. No one is hustling and really being physical like Pitt basketball teams are known for.

7:31 pm: Absolutely beautiful fundamental play by Gil Brown — he misses the three (and might have been fouled) but as soon as he lets go of the ball he sprints toward the hoop for the rebound and the put-back basket. Only the shooter knows where a ball is probably going to bounce after a miss and he read and reacted very well to his missed shot.

Note to Paul Rhoads: read and react is good in basketball, not so much in football.

7:34 pm: Blair isn’t in the game, so a reminder: don’t throw your remote through your TV while watching Harangody demolish Gary McGhee.

7:39 pm: Fields is seeing a lot more PT than I thought he would after missing time in practice. Gil Brown with another nice job finding a hole and hitting the jump/float shot.

Pitt gets a break as Blair gets stuffed and a bad foul call is made. They’re letting the teams play more than most refs will allow — I’d rather watch a physical game rather than one where fouls are called every possession.

7:53 pm: Where Pitt grabs plenty of o-rebounds, ND grabs a nice amount too but actually capitalizes on them with by making baskets and free throws. It’s really a novel concept.

At the half, Keith Benjamin leads our scorers with 10. Fields looks like he’s slowly getting more comfortable while Ramon has thrown up bricks. Sam Young finds a way to frustrate me once again, this time by not making an extra pass and instead throwing up a poor shot. Selfishness? I don’t think I’d go there yet, but it’s certainly not helping the team as a whole. I’m impressed by Gilbert Brown so far tonight; slowly, that experiecne he’s gained is paying off.

Luke Harangody is (expectedly) winning the battle against DeJuan Blair, although some of his 12 points came while abusing Gary McGhee. At this point, Blair has zero (!) personal fouls against him, so don’t complain that he can’t be aggressive because he’s playing with fouls. He better be attacking the hell out of Harangody in the second half. No more dumb excuses.

All told, I’m happy to lead by 5 at the half.

Pitt 35 Notre Dame 30 — Halftime

8:02 pm: So Blair gets the ball, takes it to Harangody, makes the basketball and gets fouled. For more of my crystal ball reading, see above paragraph.

8:05 pm: Three minutes into the second half and Blair has manages to double his point total and get Harangody to the bench. Well done, DeJuan.

8:10 pm: Aw freakin’ crap. The ghost of Chris Quinn, known Pitt killer by draining threes against us all the time, has come back to haunt us. This time under the guise of Rob Kurz and Kyle McAlarney. A nice lead disappeared relatively quickly. Somewhere, Chas is probably tossing back some exotic beer. Me? Red and blue Jolly Ranchers are my pain killer of choice.

8:21 pm: The shooting has definitely picked up here in the second half. We’re still getting plenty of offensive rebounds but this time Tyrell Biggs hit both foul shots. Benjamin, with the “Ronald Ramon Sweet Three Point Stroke From 2 Years Ago” is hitting his open shots, while Ramon, ironically, is not.

8:24 pm: That is the exact type of foul that kills Blair. After ND grabs a rebound and they’re moving the ball up the court to set up an offense, Blair inexplicably reaches in and gets called. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

8:30 pm: Tory Jackson, you annoy me. You’re shorter than I am and yet you have a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ah…

8:32 pm: ND has finally figured out our weakness — defending back screens and back-door passes. Tory Jackson strikes again, lead only at three.

8:39 pm: Kyle McAlarney’s best impression of Chris Quinn, hitting a three from the logo + another McAlarney three + Harangody steal and huge dunk + Sam Young turnover = 100% of the momentum towards Notre Dame. The last 45 seconds might be the turning point for the worse.

8:45 pm: Sam Young COMPLETELY botched a wide open dunk. COMPLETELY blew it. That’s embarrassing, and I know for a fact this is not the first time he has missed wide open dunks.

And if we’re down 5 points on the road in a critical moment, Ronald Ramon is not the guy I want bringing the ball down the court.

8:48 pm: Hey Sam, bricking a three point shot from the corner is not going to help make up for getting rejected by the rim. We’re down 11 now…

8:54 pm: With just over a minute to go, Pitt is already starting to foul and extend the game. Too bad ND actually makes their free throws.

8:58 pm: So Pitt comes out so strong after the half only to collapse late in the game. Reviews and recaps sure to come.

Notre Dame 82 Pitt 70 — Final 

I’m not going to be able to liveblog the game. I know, I haven’t done a liveblog in a while. I’m very frustrated by this. The good news, Dennis will be able to handle the reins.

Technically this could be a double header. HS basketball follows the game on ESPN. It will have St. Anthony’s which has Pitt commit, guard Travon Woodall.

Black and Green blog seems fairly confident about this game. I’ve seen ND more than usual this year. Harangody is a solid beast with surprisingly good touch. He’s steady and reliable for around 20 points and 10 rebounds give or take almost every game. He’s also a very good free throw shooter. Oddly, he’s not the key to a win for ND.

It comes down more to the perimeter players — especially Kyle McAlarney. In games they have lost, the perimeter shooters have struggled or been shut down. Essentially, Harangody will get his regardless so it’s up to stopping the guards.

Big East Blog actually picks Pitt for the upset and stopping the Irish home winning streak.

Pitt’s biggest advantage is probably at the forwars position where the need a big game from Sam Young. The athletic but sometimes enigmatic Young will be matched up against ROb Kurz, a very solid player that can take advantage of any mental lapses Young might suffer. If Young is on his game and motivated from start to finish, he has the ability to carry the Panthers to a win against nearly anyone in this league, especially if Blair is out of foul trouble and the guards give some support from the perimeter.

That 34-game home winning streak has been impressive, but I have tended to dismiss them — especially last year — because of their major struggles away from South Bend. I do have to concede they are better than I thought once they showed they could win some road games.

Notre Dame, though, is trying to use the fact that they have lost 5 straight games to Pitt. Even if the two teams haven’t met in over 2 years. That last game was one Pitt won in double-OT 100-97. And I love how the South Bend Tribune characterized it.

Tonight, in front of a national television audience, Pittsburgh makes its first appearance at the Joyce Center since March 5, 2005. It will be the first time the teams have been on the same court in 777 days, since Chris Quinn scored 37 points to single-handedly carry the Irish in a 100-97 double-overtime loss on Jan. 4, 2006.

[Emphasis added.]

Rebounding will be a factor.

The Irish lead the league in rebounding offense (43.4). No team in the 16-team conference is better than the Panthers in rebounding defense (32.2). Notre Dame ranks first in the league in rebounding margin (plus-8.5). Pittsburgh is second at (plus-6.6).

Pitt will have to be better on the glass than they were against Marquette.

It’s likely ND will be down one bench player that gives them nearly 13 minutes and 4 points. Jonathan Peoples will likely be out with the flu. Hmmm. It seems to be going around the Irish team.

As for Pitt. Well, Blair’s banged up a bit but confident.

So, when X-rays taken Monday revealed the extent of a sprained MCL in his left knee, the freshman held no reservations about his status for Thursday’s game at No. 21 Notre Dame.

“It was nothing major,” Blair said. “It was just a little sprain. If it ain’t torn, I ain’t worried about it.”

The team actually had 12 bodies for practice this week.

“We had a good practice today and we were able to do some things [because] we had more bodies than we’ve had probably in two months,” head coach Jamie Dixon said after practice. “Cassin [Diggs] was able to practice today, which I was surprised by, and we had our three walk-ons here today. That gave us twelve guys, and we were able to do some stuff that we weren’t able to do in two months; so that was encouraging.”

In addition to playing with a dozen players, the Panthers’ Tuesday practice was also one of the longest of the season; by all accounts, it was also an intense workout, presumably aimed at bouncing back from Friday night’s 18-point defeat.

“Guys really wanted to get after it today after the loss to Marquette,” senior guard Ronald Ramon said. “We wanted to respond and we wanted to come out with intensity and get after it the way we we’re used to and get on track.”

Hopefully.