Wednesday night in CBB we will see the West Virginia Mountaineers travel to South Bend, Indiana to take on the 18th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm tipoff and will be televised live on ESPN2. Currently Notre Dame is favored by 2.5 points with the total being set at 124.5 for the game.
Free Analysis: Matching their longest win streak in Big East Conference play ever, the 20th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish try to extend their run of good fortune tonight as they host the West Virginia Mountaineers at the Joyce Center in South Bend. Not only have the Fighting Irish won eight straight games in conference play, the team has accomplished the feat by defeating half of their opponents on the road and three of the eight squads were nationally ranked, so it is not as though Notre Dame is picking on the weaker programs in the league. otre Dame (19-8, 11-3) is seeking nine straight wins for the first time since a 10-game run Nov. 27, 2007-Jan. 5, 2008. Brey has punctuated the victories by chest bumping walk-on guard Patrick Crowley in the locker room afterward. Over the weekend the Fighting Irish came back from 20 points down in Saturday's 74-70 overtime win at Villanova. After Brey and Crowley exchanged the chest bump, the coach said, "I thought I was going to get a night off of chest bumping at halftime." Since losing star forward Tim Abromaitis to a season-ending injury in November, the red-hot Fighting Irish have found surprising success by slowing the pace of the game, much llike they did a couple of years ago when Harangody went down. The Irish are 2nd worst in the league in possessions per game, and they are allowing a league-best 58.7 points against conference opponents. Junior PF Jack Cooley (12.2 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.5 bpg) leads the Big East in field-goal percentage (61.8) and has posted four consecutive double-doubles, a run that began with a 21-point, 12-rebound effort at West Virginia. Cooley, who was named the Big East Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week, is the first Notre Dame player to have four straight double-doubles since Luke Harangody turned the trick in late March 2009. Grant (13.0 ppg) checks in with a total of 74 assists over 14 league bouts, making his mere 34.2 percent shooting from the floor and bit more tolerable. As for the Mountaineers, they've been out of action since last Thursday when they took care of Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center, 66-48. The victory snapped a two-game slide for a WVU program which has won just twice in the last seven outings and is now stuck in the middle of the pack in the conference standings at 7-7. Huggins believes an NCAA tournament berth is not yet secure. "I'm not sure that if we are 9-9 (in the Big East) if we are not OK," Huggins said. "I would feel a whole lot better with 10. I would feel a whole lot better with 12, actually." Senior F Kevin Jones has carried the load inside for the Mountaineers, leading the Big East in scoring (20.4) and rebounding (11.3). He and junior PF Deniz Kilicli (11.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg) pace a frontcourt that has West Virginia ranked second in the Big East in rebounding margin (plus-6.0). Senior G Truck Bryant is tied for seventh in the league with 16.7 ppg, but he is shooting just 31.3 percent on 192 3-point attempts (most in the Big East) and 36.2 percent overall and he was held scoreless in the home loss to Notre Dame earlier this month. Notre Dame holds a 26-12 lead in the all-time series despite losing four of the last five meetings before this season, while going 16-2 against the Mountaineers at home, winning 11 consecutive meetings in South Bend dating back to 1987.
Free Pick: In looking at recent statements form both coaches you get the Impression that Huggins doesn't feel the Irish can be sped up, but Brey's comments would indicate that the Irish may be running in this game some. They have quick guards that can push the ball and they feel they can get down the floor on this bigger West Virginia squad. Well I feel that the Neer's will look to run right along with the Irish as they are not that good in a half court offense. The Irish may have been slowing the pace down for many of their games, but in their last 4 home games they have averaged 74.5 ppg and those games overall have averaged 136 ppg. West Virginia's last 5 Big East road games (Regulation) have averaged 134 ppg and they averaged 68.6 ppg in those games. The Irish may not have that same defensive intensity as they did during the 2nd half of the Nova game and that could lead to easier scoring by WVU, while ND will get their points at home. Both teams should hit the mid to up 60's in this one.
Free Picks: West Virginia at Notre Dame - Best Bet from Marco
http://PregameVideos.com - Both teams coming off of big wins and Home loss revenge game for West Virginia plus other factors CBB bettors need to know about West Virginia at Notre Dame (Wednesday, February 22, 2012) from Pregame.com - Including predictions from Bryan Leonard and analysis from host Marco D'Angelo.