This video is NSFW.  Most of the numbers in this post come from Ken Pomeroy's indispensable site.

It was a cruel, Rod Serling-style twist that Luke Harangody had to watch his senior night from the bench, but he was a good solider and got to see quite a show put on by his fellow Class of 2010er, Tory Jackson.  The best news of the last 24 hours is that Big Luke has been practicing and the possibility of a return before the season's end seems more viable.  I know some Irish fans are willing to let Gody rest up at least until the current rotation loses, but if Brey works his All-American back into things slowly, what a force he could be in small doses.  No one wants to see the current style of play go away, but if Harangody can integrate himself into this system fluidly, the whole team is better off.

 The game on Wednesday night was not a pretty one, but it was a win the Irish and their fans will gladly take.  A truly brutal first half that only saw seventeen points scored gave way to an explosive second twenty minutes, where the Huskies didn't have the offensive punch to keep up.  It's not surprising the Irish offense started making shots - that ‘s sort of what they do - but how did they suffocate the UConn offense so thoroughly for most of the game?

1)      Good work on the defensive boards.  On Sunday, the Huskies humiliated Louisville on the glass, out-boarding them 49-21.  Over the course of the season, they were ranked 28^th in the nation, grabbing 37.8% of available offensive boards.   The Irish basically hung even with the Huskies, being out gained by only three (34-31) and letting UConn collect only eight offensive boards.

2)      Not fouling.  The Husky guards, Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker, have a propensity for getting to the line, but Notre Dame played great defense without committing a lot of dumb fouls.   UConn only had fifteen free throws the entire night, with just ten from their backcourt.  In comparison, against West Virginia a couple of Big Mondays ago, Dyson and Walker shot twenty-six free throws between them.

3)      Not turning the ball over.  There were a few times in the first half when Ben Hansbrough or Tim Abromaitis wanted to prove their manhood against the UConn frontline, driving directly into two or three of the seven foot trees they had planted in the paint.  This didn't end well, resulting in some blocks and transition opportunities the other way.  In the second half, the fuel for the Huskies' transition game dried up, leaving them stuck in halfcourt sets.  This was a problem because...

4)      UConn is bad at offense.  Sure, there are plenty of teams in the nation worse than the Huskies - over 260, actually - but when a team that can't shoot the ball well from outside loses the advantages of getting to the charity stripe and having second chance points, it's hard for them to score.  Notre Dame held Jim Calhoun's squad to fifteen percent below their usual free throw-rate and ten percent below their usual production on the offensive glass, taking away even more options for UConn scoring. 

Great gameplan, great effort and great execution by all parties involved.  Mike Brey and his staff are at the top of their games right now, and the players are doing all the little things - box outs, active hands, avoiding dumb fouls, grabbing loose balls - that equal winning basketball.

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The Irish's final regular season challenge is a great one, as they travel to Marquette for Lazar Hayward's senior day.  The Golden Eagles are a stark contrast to the Huskies, as they are much smaller but much, much, much better shooters.   They're also tremendous at defending the three point line, meaning that the entire Irish team is going to have to work to cover the defensive perimeter.  Thankfully, both Ty Nash and Carleton Scott are more than capable of matching up with quicker bigs, so that shouldn't be a major issue.  The problem arises on offense, where the Marquette speed will make it a challenge to find good outside shots.   How can the Irish counter this?

By taking it to the rack.  For as good as Marquette is at defending the three (58^th in the nation), they are just as bad at defending two-point shots (248^th in the nation).  The paint should be very available, as they're ranked a putrid 317^th in blocked shots.  There's a variety of ways for Notre Dame to take advantage of this, be it on drives from Tory or Ben, or Ty getting more opportunities to show off his post game.  For being so terribly undersized at most positions, the Golden Eagles do a respectable job on the boards, coming in right in the middle of the national rankings.

The game tomorrow in Milwaukee is not a must-win, however it would almost certainly lead to a must-win in the Big East tournament.  The Golden Eagles have been quite good this season, but they're not invincible, neither in general (providing DePaul with its sole conference win) nor at home (they've lost to NC State, Pitt and Villanova there).  They did play one of their best games of the season Tuesday against Louisville, so we can only hope for a drop-off in play.  Coverage for the game is wonky on a busy Saturday of hoops - it's not even on in the DC area, where nearly every Irish game is on MASN - so be prepared to turn to ESPN360 if you want to watch it live.

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As far as the Irish's current position for tournament play, there's a lot to be decided.  In regards to the Big East tournament, a win versus Marquette clinches the seven seed and the all-important bye.  A loss Saturday and the Irish need a loss by Seton Hall against Providence-  who had their hearts ripped out in Pittsburgh last night - to ensure the bye.  It's actually still possible for the Irish to lose and get the seven seed, but it requires Georgetown losing at home to Cincinnati and a Pirates loss.  I'm sure you've followed all of this and it's making perfect sense, but this is the simple breakdown:

Notre Dame winning good, Seton Hall winning bad.

As far as the NCAA tournament goes, Notre Dame has put itself in a position of relative comfort, but only until tip time Saturday.  A lot of the projections I've seen have them beyond the last four in (ESPN is one of the more negative outliers), but who knows how far a loss to Marquette will drop them.  With the Irish's power numbers - especially out of conference -being so poor, the margin for error is thin.  Beat Marquette, rest easy.  Lose to them and it's going to be a tense couple of days in the Garden.

Ah, March.  It's good to have you here.