We were hoping that some of the football team’s good fortune would rub off on the Irish basketball squad on Wednesday night, but it didn’t happen.  Instead, the team continued their second half woes and dropped their 6^th straight to an average Cincinnati squad.  The team battled well in the first half, tying it up at half, but let the Bearcats take the lead for good in the second half, getting outscored 56-46.  Most of the troubles can be attributed to poor defense (Cincinnati shot 45% from the floor and 44% from the 3-point line) and poor play from our starting guards (a combined 6-22 for the night including 0-6 from beyond the arc).  Luke Harangody played well again with 28 points and 14 rebounds, but when he’s the only offensive threat, you can’t win these types of ball games.  Other teams have figured out how to stop our offense and it is not by stopping Luke.  It’s by stopping his teammates from catching on fire.

So where do we go from here?  Who knows.  This team is struggling and if they want to change the course of the season, they better find an answer soon.  They have upcoming games against UCLA (on the road) and Louisville (at home), two of the top teams in the country.  I think they could pull the upset in Los Angeles since UCLA is not known as a great offensive team and likewise against Louisville, who Notre Dame nearly bounced a few weeks ago before sending the season spiraling down the toilet.  Let’s let the season play out before we get too wild and crazy, although I can’t see why you would be optimistic about any type of turn-around considering their play of late and the way Brey’s teams have given up in the past (see 2004-2005).

Can Coach Brey salvage the season against the Bruins?