Second Half Slaughter

Notre Dame badly needed a victory Tuesday against Cincinnati. Thanks to an impressive 64-point second half, the Irish pulled into a first-place tie in the Big East at 3-1 with a 91-74 win.

Luke Harangody scored 24 second half points, after being held to 0-for-5 in the first half, and Kyle McAlarney drilled 5 3-pointers as the Irish turned a seven point halftime deficit into a 17-point victory to extend their home winning streak to 31 straight, including 11 in conference play.

Now Notre Dame focuses its attention on trying to steal one of the next two road games against Georgetown and Villanova, respectively.

That Was Ugly

I didn't think Notre Dame was going to win Saturday for three reasons: 1.) It's very difficult to win on the road in the Big East. 2.) Marquette needed the victory much more than Notre Dame. And 3.) The Irish had yet to play a true road game, let alone play in a hostile environment like the Bradley Center.

With all that said, I also didn't think Notre Dame would get completely mauled for 40 minutes en route to the worst loss ever in the Notre Dame-Marquette rivalry.

How did the Irish lose so badly? You can take your pick from a number of reasons.

Notre Dame continues to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, registering a season-high 24 Saturday. If the Irish are going to be successful in the Big East they must learn how to protect the ball and optimize offensive possessions. Even in wins over West Virginia and Connecticut, Notre Dame had 20 and 14 turnovers, respectively.

The Irish have improved defensively and rebounding this season, but their Achilles' heel has been turnovers. That was true Saturday when Notre Dame played much too sloppy to win. Kyle McAlarney and Luke Harangody combined for 12 turnovers, which was one fewer than Marquette's team total of 13.

Notre Dame also received absolutely zero offensive contributions from anyone not named Harangody. McAlarney, Tory Jackson and Rob Kurz each made just 3-of-8 shots and the Irish connected on just 4-of-19 3-pointers. While Harangody had a monster performance (29 points, 14 rebounds), only Kurz scored in double figures and no one made more than three field goals.

To make matters worse Marquette could not miss, especially from behind the arc. The Golden Eagles finished 12-of-24 from 3-pointers and placed five players in double digit scoring. Marquette also had deadly transition success, moving the ball around well and finding the open shot. When Notre Dame forced Marquette into a set offense, the Golden Eagles struggled. But too often, the Irish failed to find any resemblance of a transition defense and they paid for it dearly.

Finally, Notre Dame shot just 16-of-25 from the free throw line despite entering the game as one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league. Jackson was the biggest perpetrator by clunking all four of his attempts. This could be partially attributed to the players dealing with their first road game of the season.

The only good that came from Saturday is that this loss counts as just that -- one loss. Notre Dame wasn't expected to win and they will have plenty of opportunities to tally crucial road wins, particularly when the team faces Villanova and Georgetown later this month.

Notre Dame now turns to Tuesday's match-up against a surprisingly good defensive Cincinnati team that has already beaten Syracuse and Villanova this season. If the Irish can win that game, they'll be at least 3-3 after the first six conference games and in prime position to make a tournament run thanks to a more manageable schedule in February. Ideally, the Irish will steal either road game against Villanova or Georgetown and sit 4-2.

I'm confident Mike Brey will have his team forgetting this weekend and looking ahead to the Bearcats. The formula for making the NCAA Tournament stays the same: protect your home court in conference and nab a couple road games. Meet those two goals and the Irish should be in nice shape come Selection Sunday.

Big East Two Step

Notre Dame got two critical Big East wins within 48 hours and did so in two very different ways.

Luke Harangody recorded a career-best 29 points and 16 rebounds Thursday against West Virginia in a 69-56 win and Kyle McAlarney scorched Connecticut with 32 points, including 6-of-7 3-pointers, to pace the Irish past the Huskies 73-67.

When West Virginia tried to take away Notre Dame's perimeter shots, the Irish fed the ball to Harangody on the block, and the big sophomore delivered a bruising performance.

When Connecticut decided to stick 7-foot-3 center Hasheem Thabeet on Harangody, McAlarney stepped up and had, as ESPN commentator Len Elmore described it, "the best single performance I've seen this season."

Notre Dame is not a one-dimensional offensive team that relies too much on the 3-ball. The Irish can beat opponents with their outside shooting, kick-and dish penetration or by feeding the ball to the post.

In past seasons head coach Mike Brey has been criticized for relying too much on the 3-point field goal for offense. Not anymore. Notre Dame took just 12 3s on Thursday and 17 on Saturday. In contrast, last season Notre Dame averaged 22.9 3-point attempts a game. The Irish had little chance of winning if they had a cold shooting night. Now they have talented low-post forwards in Rob Kurz and Harangody who can balance a weaker perimeter shooting performance.

Brey also has the Irish crashing the offensive and defensive boards and being more physical in the paint. For example, Notre Dame out-rebounded Connecticut 48-44 and West Virginia an astonishing 46-33 on Thursday. After averaging 38 boards per game in 2006-07, Notre Dame now grabs 43 rebounds per night, which is 10 more than its opponents. The difference is more second chance points on the offensive end and limiting opponents' scoring opportunities on the defensive end.

Finally, Brey and assistant coach Gene Cross have made defense the No. 1 priority in every game this season. I have never witnessed an Irish defense quite this suffocating and relentless. Against West Virginia, the Irish did an excellent job of switching on the high screens and denying the Mountaineers Joe Alexander from receiving the ball with an open lane to the basket. The result was Alexander scoring just nine points on seven shots and essentially being a non-factor.

During the Connecticut game, Notre Dame harassed the Connecticut big men well into the second half and forced the Huskies to win with outside shooting. Connecticut finished just 2-of-17 from the 3-point line.

The entire team plays better defense this year. Tory Jackson with his quickness and speed can handle any opposing guard. Ryan Ayers gives the team a 6-foot-7 forward with a long wingspan who is fast enough to cover any perimeter player and ideal for the 2-3 zone. Zach Hillesland does a little bit of everything, and can cover quick guard or big forwards. And Kurz and Harangody have become a formidable force in the paint. In all, Notre Dame has allowed just 61 points per game and only San Francisco scored more than 75 points this season.

I was worried that Notre Dame would split these first two home games (or worse) and face the daunting task of needing to take two of three road contests against Marquette, Villanova and Georgetown to stay in contention for an NCAA bid. It was tough to gauge this team's ability after seeing them lose two close games to inferior opponents and beating unranked Kansas State during the non-conference schedule.

But in the first two conference tilts the Irish continued doing what they've been doing for much of the season. They adjusted offensively to their opponents defensively strategy and didn't force the issue. As mentioned, the Irish pounded the ball inside Thursday and let it fly from beyond the arc Saturday.

They continued out-rebounding opponents by combining to beat West Virginia and Connecticut on the glass by a 94-77 margin.

And the Irish maintained and even improved their defensive intensity en route to holding both opponents well under season scoring averages.

The team has a week to enjoy these victories before traveling for their first true road game against a dangerous Marquette team in a hostile setting. But two quality wins in two days showed the Irish could be very dangerous as the season progresses.

Important Week for the Irish

Notre Dame will have a much better idea of its ability and tournament chances after this weekend.

The Irish open up Big East play with two stringent tests, the first against West Virginia (10-2) Thursday night and the second Saturday against Connecticut (9-2).

Notre Dame completed its non-conference schedule at 10-2, with two close defeats to Baylor and Georgia Tech and a quality win over Kansas State. But if the Irish want to make the tournament they must impress against a difficult conference slate.

West Virginia has alum Bob Huggins at the helm and all indications point to the Mountaineers playing typical Huggins-style basketball -- suffocating defense and strong rebounding. West Virginia yields an average of 59 points and out-rebounds opponents by about five boards per game. Still, the Mountaineers haven't notched a quality win yet, losing 74-72 to Tennessee and 88-82 to Oklahoma in overtime.

The Mountaineers will likely clamp down with double teams on forward Luke Harangody and force the Irish to beat them from the perimeter. For the season Notre Dame has made 41.7% of its 3-point attempts, but fewer than 37% in both its losses. Kyle McAlarney needs to bounce back after an ugly shooting performance on New Year's Eve against North Florida when the guard made just 2-of-11 shots, including 1-of-9 3-pointers. The Irish will need Ryan Ayers and Rob Kurz to make some perimeter shots as well. If those three can connect on 40% of their 3-point attempts, Notre Dame will have an excellent chance for a victory.

One of the biggest improvements from last season is Notre Dame's ability to rebound on both the offensive and defensive ends. The Irish average 42 rebounds per game, 11 better than their opponents. But West Virginia will be much more physical and tough on the glass than previous Irish foes. Six-foot-eight junior Joe Alexander leads the Mountaineers with 6.8 rebounds per contest.

Defensively, Notre Dame will be challenged by a Mountaineer team that averages 85 points per game and has four players averaging double figures, paced by junior Alex Ruoff who nets 16 points per game. The Irish have played very good defense for most of the season, holding opponents to just 61 points per game. Even in both losses the defense played well, allowing just 68 to Baylor and 70 to Georgia Tech, respectively.

The next two games will be telling: if the Irish win both they are certainly in the driver's seat to make the tournament. While a 1-1 record isn't ideal, the team will have plenty of remaining games to make up for one early conference defeat.

But if Notre Dame drops these first two games they will be in very serious trouble of missing the tournament. With roads games looming against Marquette, Georgetown and Villanova in early January, Notre Dame cannot afford to stumble during this three-day, two-game stretch.

I never like to put too much emphasis on a small subset of games when the college basketball regular season stretches from November to early March. But in this case, Notre Dame has a lot at stake between opening tip Thursday and the final buzzer Saturday night.