The Rainmakers

The way to beat the 2-3 zone defense is to shoot well from the perimeter. Kyle McAlarney and Notre Dame proved that true Sunday afternoon.

McAlarney broke a school record with nine made 3s and the Irish finished 14-of-25 from beyond the arc to hold off a pesky Syracuse squad 94-87 at the Joyce Center. It is Notre Dame's 36th straight home victory and 17th against Big East opponents.

The Irish uncharacteristically struggled on the boards, allowing the Orange 19 second chance points, a 24 to 4 offensive rebounding advantage and a 51 to 33 total rebounding advantage which kept Syracuse in the game. Notre Dame also missed some key free throws down the stretch despite being the best free throw shooting team in the conference.

Jim Boeheim's strategy was clear from the opening tip: stop Luke Harangody and force other Irish players to beat you. While Harangody did finish with 14 points and 14 rebounds, he was not near as effective as usual thanks to constant double teams by Arinze Onuaku and either Paul Harris or Kristof Ongenaet. Instead of relying on Harangody, the rest of the Irish -- led by McAlarney -- made Syracuse pay with deadly 3-point shooting.

Notre Dame's 3-point shooting success was a result of hot shooting and open looks. The Irish created excellent ball movement on many offensive trips which allowed open 3-point shots from all over the court. Syracuse also allowed too much space between defender and shooter on the perimeter. And it helped that McAlarney was chucking in utterly ridiculous shots, whether he was five feet behind the line or off a catch-and-shoot in the corner of the floor.

Zach Hillesland had an efficient game, making all three of his shots and dishing out six assists in just 24 minutes. He also had a crucial block late in the game. Ryan Ayers, Rob Kurz and Tory Jackson all reached double figures in scoring, while Jonathan Peoples added seven points in just 11 first half minutes. One question I'd ask Brey after the game is why he didn't play Peoples more in the second half?

Winning aside, this isn't the type of game Notre Dame wants to play Thursday when they gface a tough, defensive-minded Louisville team. The Irish were pushed and bullied in the paint, and nearly allowed Syracuse to win the game thanks to terrible rebounding. The Irish have succeeded this season in large part because they've played admirable defense and beaten teams on the boards. But today they did neither of those things as well as they're capable. The defense was very good at times, but also had problems with Syracuse's speed and athleticism. The rebounding, as mentioned several times here, was horrendous. You get beat by 20 on the offensive glass and you're losing more times than not. The Irish were fortunate their poor rebounding occurred on a game where McAlarney shot almost 90% from 3. If McAlarney has just a good game, Notre Dame could easily have lost.

Thursday is the biggest game in Notre Dame's Big East history. Win, and the Irish are almost certainly assured of earning co-champion accolades in the conference for the first time ever. Win, and the Irish beat one of the hottest teams in the country. Win, and Notre Dame can realistically think of having a legitimate chance at the Elite 8 or Final Four.

A win against a very good Louisville team on the road in a hostile environment would be incredible. This team has come a long way since blowing late leads in back-to-back games in the Virgin Islands last November. They've drastically improved individually and as a whole. And they seem to be peaking at the right time as the conference and national tournaments loom on the horizon.

But there's still questions surrounding just where this team's ceiling lies. By late Thursday evening we'll have a much better answer to that question.

Ugly Doesn't Describe It

Notre Dame has succeeded in avoiding what the NCAA Tournament Committee deems as a "bad loss" so far this season, especially in conference play. The Irish have beaten the teams they are supposed to beat, while fellow Big East peers like Pittsburgh, Georgetown, and Marquette have fallen to weaker competition.

But the upset bullet nearly pierced Notre Dame Sunday in New Jersey.

In a downright ugly game, the Irish squeaked by lowly Rutgers 71-68 behind a near triple double from Tory Jackson and a crucial 17-foot jumper from Rob Kurz down the stretch. Notre Dame overcame poor second half shooting, a mostly ineffective Luke Harangody and a raucous RACC crowd.

With the victory Notre Dame improved to an all time best 9-3 in conference play, and sit just half a game out of first place.

Notre Dame faces two tough home games against Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the coming week before heading to Kentucky for a very difficult game against Louisville.

To win those contests, Notre Dame needs to improve in the one area where it has seriously struggled this season. The last several games have exposed this team's biggest weakness -- 3-point defense.

In losses against Marquette (12-of-24 3-pointers made), Georgetown (8-of-20) and Connecticut (8-of-20), and Sunday's close win over Rutgers (9-of-25), Notre Dame struggled to contain its opponents' 3-point shooting.

The Irish have certainly improved their overall defense. But Notre Dame is still vulnerable to teams that shoot well from the outside. The Irish are ranked 23rd in the nation in 2-point field goal defense, but just 167th in 3-point field goal defense. This means Notre Dame has been clamping down in the paint, but hasn't challenged opponents' shooters on the perimeter.

The bigger problem could occur in the NCAA Tournament if the Irish draw either a sharpshooting early round opponent or simply face a team that hits a flurry of 3s, like Winthrop did a year ago. If there's one area in which I'd like to see major improvement during the final month of the season, it's perimeter defense.

Aside from letting Rutgers shoot too many open 3s, Sunday's game did give the Irish confidence in winning a game where neither Kyle McAlarney or Harangody play well. The team received an outstanding game from Jackson, who continues to improve on the offensive end. Kurz snapped out of his mini-slump with some clutch shots, including a baseline jumper as the shot clock ran down late in the second half. That bucket might be the most important Kurz has made this season.

The Irish command a full two game lead in the loss column on the fourth Big East bye. The next three games will likely determine the probably seeding Notre Dame receives in the NCAA Tournament. If the Irish take two of three, they are staring at three sub-.500 opponents to end the regular season and should finish 14-4 in the conference. That will be good enough for a first round bye in the conference tourney and the chance to secure a No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The next test is Thursday at the JACC when Pittsburgh limps into town following a thrashing on the road to Marquette on Friday. The Panthers desperately need a conference victory and would like nothing more than snapping Notre Dame's 34-game home winning streak.

Getting Offensive

After a crushing road loss to Marquette 92-66 on January 12, there was concern that Notre Dame might be a two-man offensive team.

Through three conference games the Irish had relied -- quite heavily -- on either Luke Harangody or Kyle McAlarney for scoring. Harangody scored 29 points against West Virginia and Marquette, while Kyle McAlarney tallied a 32 versus Connecticut. No other Irish player contributed more than 14 points.

Since that Marquette defeat Notre Dame has steadily improved in all aspects of basketball. But there has been no bigger improvement than on the offensive end, where the Irish now have a number of guys who can contribute on any given night.

That improvement was on display Saturday afternoon. Nearly a month after the debacle in Wisconsin, Notre Dame placed five players in double figure scoring en route to upending the Golden Eagles 86-83 to extent the home streak to 34.

Head coach Mike Brey has been criticized for not developing players during his time in South Bend. Whether fair or not (probably somewhere in between), he certainly has done an admirable job with developing this year's squad. Harangody has emerged as the favorite to win Big East Player of the Year honors as a sophomore. McAlarney is the Big East conference 3-point shooting leader. Compared to last season Tory Jackson has upped his assists per game average by nearly two, his rebounding by two and scoring by more than one. Zach Hillesland has taken over the starting role and thrived in his 22 minutes per game, averaging six points and five rebounds. Ryan Ayers is shooting nearly 48% on 3-point attempts after making just 37.5% last season.

Finally, Brey has developed two key bench players in Luke Zeller and Peoples. Both players have maximized their limited roles. Zeller averages five points and 2.5 rebounds in just 12.5 minutes per game, while Peoples adds four points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.

Against Marquette the improved scoring distribution was evident from the opening tip. Harangody didn't score until the 6:20 mark in the first half, yet the Irish still lead 31-23. For the game Harangody and McAlarney combined for only 30 points and flu-ridden Rob Kurz added just five. But Jackson dropped 14 points, Zeller came off the bench to score 11, including a couple big 3-pointers and Hillesland paced the Irish early in the first half en route to tallying 10. Add in Ayers nine and Peoples seven and the Irish finished with a solid 86-point performance.

It's been clear that this is Brey's best defensive team from the season's start. They have shown an ability to play tough, aggressive defense without being out of control or getting into foul trouble. This is also Brey's best rebounding team as they are 8th in the nation in rebounding margin.

But several games into conference play the offensive effectiveness seemed directly connected to the success of Harangody and McAlarney. That's no longer the case as the Irish receive more contributions from all eight guys in the rotation and now lead the conference in scoring.

At 8-2 Notre Dame is off to its best start ever in the Big East. Compared to the rest of the Big East the Irish are no. 1 in scoring, no. 1 in rebounding margin and no. 1 in assists. The team has a respectable 2-2 record in true road games and is undefeated at the JACC.

The remaining schedule will be challenging, but manageable. The Irish have four games against sub-par opponents: at Rutgers, at DePaul, St. John's and at South Florida. Those four teams own losing overall records and three are in the bottom three of the conference standings. Road games are never gimmes -- three of these games are away from the JACC -- but Notre Dame should handle all four of those teams.

That leaves the following games: at Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and at Louisville. The road games will be exceptionally difficult. Connecticut has won six straight conference games and will be seeking revenge from its early-season loss to Notre Dame. Louisville just handled Georgetown at home and has everyone finally healthy.

Squeezing a road win versus Connecticut or Louisville would do wonders for the Irish come Selection Sunday when seeds are distributed. But even if the Irish simply defend their home court and split these four games, they will finish 24-6 and 14-4 in the conference.

Syracuse and Pittsburgh are both good teams and easily could beat the Irish, but the home court advantage looms large in both these matchups against younger teams.

It's too early to speculate on what seeding Notre Dame will receive for the NCAA Tournament. Nor is it safe to bank on the Irish finishing the regular season at 6-2 or even 5-3. The Big East is considered one of the country's conferences for a reason and all remaining games will be difficult.

But Notre Dame has certainly put itself in great position to earn a favorable seed and, perhaps, make a run deep into March.