Rewatching the Connecticut/Notre Dame game from Saturday night and knowing that the Irish would eventually lead by 21 after some great transition play, I realized that it wasn't overly surprising ND blew the lead.  The Irish offense was by no means efficient, succeeding more on some hot shooting from Kyle McAlarney, some easy buckets off the break and a ton of offensive rebounds (UConn actually outshot the Irish over the course of the game, 39% to 37%) .  When coupled with a flurry of Connecticut turnovers and missed lay-ups (a trend that continued the entire game), as well as the fact they simply cannot shoot from either line, the lead makes sense.  When Connecticut stopped turning it over, got back on defense and the Irish stopped pushing, they got back into the game.

Since Notre Dame came away with the win, I'm actually pleased this wasn't a blowout.  After the soft non-conference schedule, this Irish team needs as many tests as they can get.  In a game where Hasheem Thabeet more or less neutralized the Irish's best big man (Harangody was 5 for 23), one of our two playmaking guards had one eye for the second half (Tory Jackson was really gutsy playing as much as he did with that injury) and the bench still not contributing much of anything, Notre Dame won a league game to improve to 2-0.  This, regardless of the sloppy play in the five minutes before and after halftime, is a very pleasing result.

There are obvious problems that need to be addressed, but first some love for the complete offensive game played by McAlarney.  He channeled the sort of unstoppable scorer you read about when local papers were talking about his high school games, Big Fish-seeming stories where he'd drop a dozen points in a minute or make consecutive threes from halfcourt over double-teaming traps.  He hit a few mid-range jumpers, nearly perfected the floater and connected on all but one of his seven three-point attempts.  He was almost solely responsible for this victory, and if we ever have him, Jackson and Harangody reaching their peaks in the same game, there isn't a team in the country that can will be able to slow down the Irish offense.

Also stepping up was Rob Kurz, who made the biggest two plays of the game when it was tied 61-61.  After being left open for a three by Thabeet (more on this in a second), he knocked that down, then blocked Jeff Adrien on the other end, secured the rebound, and set the screen for McAlarney that freed him up for another three to give the Irish a six-point lead.  I don't think Kurz has the alpha dog mentality that would make him the best player on a very good team, but he does so many little things well that he's absolutely essential to this Irish team winning.  Here you have a forward that's grabbing eight boards a game while shooting 50% from three and over 80% from the line, all while emanating that calming Senior Presence that drives the roto-analysts nuts.  Great asset to this team.

When Notre Dame made the final run to close the game, Harangody was absent for most of it, leaving Thabeet to guard Kurz.  Because Kurz is such a capable ball-handler and perimeter threat, he was able to drag the big guy out away from the paint, taking him totally out of his comfort zone.  You could see Thabeet looking over his shoulder at the paint every so often, just dying to retreat there where he could add to his massive block total and grab a few more boards.  Kurz hanging out on the perimeter was okay for rebounding because Zach Hillesland was in being very active, including getting the go-ahead tip-in after the Huskies had their only lead of the game.  Obviously the more Harangody the better, but when he's in a funk like he was Saturday night, it was nice to be able to counter Thabeet's size with Kurz.

Tory Jackson, before having his eye swelled shut on an inadvertent slap from Thabeet (if you had arms like that, I doubt you could control everywhere they went), was in his glory directing the fast break for the first fifteen minutes of the game.  He was using the glass, finding trailers in transition and being a defensive pest all over the floor.  It disturbs me to see he still had seven turnovers, but he did show some onions (Why isn't there more Bill Raftery in my college hoops watching life right now?) by knocking down those two free throws in the closing minutes.  Since his epic performance against Georgetown, Jackson's been in a bit of a funk, starting with Winthrop and encompassing most of this season.  If the Irish get out and running, and he improves his decision making, things could be turning around for him.

Problems with Saturday night's game?  Nothing from the bench save for Hillesland, who didn't exactly light the evening afire with his five boards and two points.  Jonathan Peoples, in his five minutes of play, managed to turn the ball over and take an awful jumper that resulted in a two-on-one break the other way.  Luke Zeller actually showed a bit of promise on the defensive end, taking a charge and blocking a shot, but his only offensive ability still seems to be chucking up threes.  Ryan Ayers would fall into this mix, but he's playing good defense on the wing of the zone and his presence as a three-point threat, even when he's not taking them, helps stretch the floor on offense.  

We also had a flash of awful Brey end-game strategy where he went into the stall offense with a four-point lead and way too much time on the clock.  If I get time, I'll break down our offense in Big East games in the style of Seven Seconds or Less.  I really think, unless Harangody is on and we're establishing him post position, this offense runs best when its sped up, trying to beat the defense down the floor and get something quick and easy.  Against teams that take their time on offense - a la Georgetown - you're going to be spending a lot of time on defense, but that doesn't really bother me with this team, as they've proven they can actually stop someone from time to time.

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The Irish open one of their first difficult stretches of the season at Marquette Saturday, with road games against Villanova and Georgetown also upcoming, and it will not be an easy test.  Despite their recent struggles against West Virginia and Seton Hall (they were 1-1, barely surviving the Pirates), this Marquette team is balanced on offense and defense, having defeated Wisconsin and almost taken out Duke so far this season.  They blew out Providence to open their Big East schedule, but have since had a few hiccups.  Bob Huggins threw a triangle-and-two at them, hoping to contain their explosive guard play, while Seton Hall slowed it down into a knock-down, drag-out affair.

After facing a Husky team that couldn't convert open threes or free throws, the Irish will have to be better about protecting both areas against the Eagles.  Guard Dominic James, who hurt his wrist against Seton Hall, appears to be fine if you can trust the interwebs, so hopefully Jackson's eye is healed up to do some top-notch defending.  As you can see on their Pomeroy stats, Marquette is pretty good at everything defensively except for their glaring habit of giving up a lot of offensive boards, something that will definitely benefit the Irish.  If we can keep a lock on Dan Fitzgerald shaking loose for threes (James and David Cubillan have made more, but also taken a hell of a lot more as well) and crash the boards - hopefully with a triumphant return from Harangody - the Irish might be able to make it a rather improbable 3-0 in Big East play.

If you're not in the South Bend or Milwaukee areas, first off, congratulations, and secondly, most cable and satellite providers are offering a free preview of ESPN Full Court, meaning you'll be able to see this game at 2:00 EST Saturday.