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.