After completing one of thebest regular seasons in schoolhistory, No. 4 Notre Dameheads to the Big EastChampionship as the No. 2seed in the conference andlooks to take the first step inhaving one of the program’sbest postseasons ever.In what is arguably the

strongest conference tourna-ment in NCAA history — whichboasts a field that includes asmany as 11 teams that couldmake the NCAA Tournament— the Irish (25-5, 14-4 BigEast) earned a double bye andwil l open up act ion in thequarterfinals, which is crucialin a conference that boastsnine teams ranked in theESPN/USA Today top-25, sevenof whom also appear in theAssociated Press’ top-25.While Notre Dame was not

left for dead at the beginningof the season, few had highexpectations for the Irish afterthe departure of starters LukeHarangody and Tory Jackson,and the Big East coachespicked Notre Dame to finishseventh in the 16-team league.Four short months later, how-ever, the Irish find themselvesranked in the top-five of eitherpoll for the first time since the2002-03 season, which wasthe last t ime Notre Damereached the Sweet 16 of theNCAA Tournament. This timearound, the Irish are one ofthe favorites to win the BigEast Championship andremain in contention for acoveted No. 1 seed in theNCAA Tournament.Irish coach Mike Brey, who

won his third Big East Coachof the Year award in the lastfive seasons Tuesday, recog-nized his team’s potentialearly in the season with itswin in the November’s OldSpice Classic and is more thanthrilled with how the seasonhas progressed in the vauntedBig East.“I always go in thinking ‘sur-

vival’ in this league and get-ting one of the bids, and thenonce we get to nine [Big Eastwins], then I start thinkingabout gravy or dessert orwhatever,” Brey said in hisMarch 2 teleconference.“Certainly the way we won,the different ways we won, theguys that helped us win inOrlando got me energizedcoming out of there that, youknow, we could be pretty darngood. We were better earlierthan I thought we would be —I thought we’d be good — butcertainly once you get movingtoward eight or nine [confer-ence wins] , then you startwanting to be greedy.“Obviously the pattern of the

league when we got out of[ facing Marquette andPittsburgh back-to-back] andthen we had that nine-daygap, you know the skies kindof opened up where you couldframe it as chasing down theleader of the league,” he said.Although Brey picked up

another prestigious honor, hewas not the only member ofthe Irish to win one of the BigEast ’s top-four awards.Fourth-year forward TimAbromaitis was named BigEast Scholar Athlete of theYear, and senior guard BenHansbrough became NotreDame’s f irst Big EastConference Player of the Yearwinner since Harangody wonthe award in 2008.Hansbrough’s win marked thesecond time that Brey wonCoach of the Year honors inthe same season that the Irishboasted the conference’s topplayer. Brey said he believesthat his star guard will enjoythe individual accolades butwould rather see his team suc-ceed.“I think individual honors

for Ben … and you know youprobably say, ‘oh BS,’ but youguys have been around thispsyche now for a while andyou’ve been around i t thisyear — it’s pure in wanting histeam to win,” Brey said. “It’sextremely pure, i t startedback in June, so I f irmly

bel ieve … his team doingthings is something he wantsto remember and put his markon as he goes on to play in theNBA and comes back toreunions, et cetera.”The Irish are certainly off to

an auspicious start in NewYork, but they would undoubt-edly like to return to SouthBend with a conference cham-pionship to go along with theirindividual accolades. Whilethe Irish have played in theBig East semifinals before,including a 53-51 loss to WestVirginia last year, they’ve settheir focus on reaching theprogram’s first championshipgame. “The one thing we talked

about even back in the fall andI talked about it over the sum-mer was our program, we’vegotten an identi ty and arespect and a rhythm in thisleague now, and we’ve playedon Friday night here in NewYork in the semis, but our pro-gram’s never played onSaturday night,” Brey said tobigeast.org after receiving hisCoach of the Year award. “AndI verbalized that — I haven’ttalked about the NCAA brack-et, I haven’t talked about any-thing but, ‘I wonder what itwould be l ike to play onSaturday night at the Garden,’and I think this group hasembraced that and we’re[going to] try like heck to getto that.”Notre Dame finds itself on a

favorable side of the bracketto accomplish that goal as theIrish boast a 6-2 recordagainst the teams they couldpotential ly play beforeSaturday night’s f inal. Theother double bye on their sideis No. 3 seed Louisville, whothe Irish beat 89-79 in over-time Feb. 9. In Notre Dame’sfirst game, however, the Irishwill face No. 7 Cincinnati orNo. 15 South Florida.The Ir ish wil l t ip of f at

Madison Square Gardentonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 2 Thursday, March 10, 2011

Unexpected risecould be preludeThree years ago, Ben

Hansbrough was toiling awayunhappily at Mississippi State.Less than five months ago,

Big East coaches not only leftthe Irishseniorguard offthePreseasonAll-Big EastFirst Team,they did noteven granthim honor-able men-tion status.Tuesday,

those samecoachesnamed Hansbrough the BigEast Player of the Year, afterunanimously naming him tothe All-Big East First Team onSunday.Three years ago Notre Dame

finished 10th in the Big East,and ended the season with aloss to Penn State in the NITsemifinals.Less than five months ago,

the Irish finished seventh inthe Big East preseason coach-es’ poll, five spots behindVillanova.Now, the Irish enter postsea-

son play after finishing secondin the Big East and No. 4 in thenation’s final polls.Unexpected rises seem to be

the theme to Notre Dame’sseason: to the extent thatVillanova would have neededto win two games in order toface the Irish in the Big Eastquarterfinals tonight. Alas, theWildcats couldn’t even beatSouth Florida Tuesday, furtherskewing the preseason prog-nostications.Only two questions remain:

How high can the Irish rise?And will Hansbrough andNotre Dame end up flying tooclose to the sun?The Irish last tasted a top-

five ranking in January 2003after opening the season with12 wins in their first 13 games.This season, an identical startonly carried Notre Dame to theNo. 15 slot in the polls.A late-season, three-game

swoon dropped the 2003 Irishinto a No. 5 seed for the NCAAtournament. Mike Brey’s cur-rent squad only lost consecu-tive games once, and thus,could face a No. 16 seed in theNCAA’s opening round.The most unexpected aspect

of this rise is that Notre Damedeserves a No. 1 seed.But can these Irish handle

such accolades, or will nolonger being the underdog andinstead being the focus of con-versation backfire and Ben,Brey and the boys?No matter how much fans —

and columnists — speculate,no one can know for sure howNotre Dame will handle theheat, but certain indicatorsshould fill Irish fans with confi-dence as St. Patrick’s Dayapproaches.

For the first time in recentmemory, Notre Dame did notsuffer an embarrassing lossthis season. Granted, all five ofits losses came by marginswhich could qualify as eye-sores — at an average of 16points per loss — but each ofthose losses also came on theroad, against NCAA tourna-ment-bound teams. Thus, it isrealistic to presume the Irishwill avoid an embarrassingupset against an opponentakin to Old Dominion orWinthrop, as they have in thepast.Another change from years

past is that Notre Dame hasproven it can win games whenits 3-point shooting does notshow up on a given night. Inback-to-back games at the OldSpice Classic in November, theIrish shot a combined 5-of-34from deep, yet still prevailedover Cal 57-44 and Wisconsin58-51. At some point in thecoming tournaments, fourth-year forward Tim Abromaitis’shot will not be falling. This isa Notre Dame squad that cansurvive such a drought.The Irish also know how to

slow down their fast-pacedoffense. Though Notre Dameput up 93 points to topplethen-No. 19 Villanova on Feb.28, it also held itself to 56points in a 56-51 victory overthen-No. 2 Pittsburgh on Jan.24.The security blanket known

as Brey’s ‘burn’ offense allowsNotre Dame to enjoy whatevertempo its opponent brings tothe court. Whether facing ahigh-flying Kansas or a plod-ding Purdue, the Irish willhave options.But the most encouraging

difference between this versionof Notre Dame and the onespreviously seen did not revealitself until the final regulationgame — a 70-67 victory overthen-No. 16 Connecticut. WhenHansbrough fouled out withmore than eight minutes left, itseemed that sans their cata-lyst, the Irish would fold.Instead, Notre Dame rosewithout its leader.Already this season, the Irish

defeated two top-20 teamswhile senior forward CarletonScott rode the bench nursing asore hamstring, and NotreDame rallied to the upset atPittsburgh without Abromaitisattempting a single field goal.The Irish can truly win no

matter who does not show upon any given day. Combinethat with consistent perform-ances no matter the opponent,an independence from the 3and a varied offense, and per-haps this is finally the year fora deep Notre Dame run.

The views expressed in thiscolumn are those of the authorand not necessarily those ofThe Observer.

Contact Douglas Farmer atdfarmer1@nd.edu

Irish enter Big East as No. 2 seed

SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer

Irish freshman guard Eric Atkins drives past Marquette sophomore guard Junior Cadougan inNotre Dame’s 80-75 victory over the Golden Eagles Jan. 22.

Douglas Farmer

Sports Editor

By MIKE GOTIMERSports Writer

Contact Mike Gotimer mgotimer@nd.edu

Follow The ObserverSports on Twitter@NDObsSports

Almost two decades ago,Tyrone Nash crossed a busyEighth Avenue in downtownNew York, clenching hisfather’s hand. Dodging thetraff ic, Nash couldn’t havebeen happier. His eyes twin-kled in front of the magnificentpalace in front of him, for hewas there to see his favoriteplayer take on his favoriteteam in America’s sportscitadel.“My first [Knicks] game was

seeing Michael Jordan kill usat the Garden,” said Nash,Irish senior forward andQueens native.“I was fouryears old andmy dad tookme. I ’ l l neverforget it.”That is where

the dreambegan for Nash.He grew up inthe shadow ofthe Garden witha fantasy thatall New Yorkersshare: to playthere. But Nashgot the chanceearly, as a young athlete withhis local basketball team as ahalftime filler. “One time I got to play at

halftime when I was in a youthleague and that was the onlytime I thought I would play atthe Garden,” he said. “But loand behold I got the chance tobe a part of the Big East andplay there every year.”The dream became reality

multiple t imes throughoutNash’s Big East career. Yearsafter watching his heroes hus-tle down the court, Nash willplay once again on the verysame floor they did, somethinghe could only dream of whilewatching highlight films as akid.

“Those past players motivateme,” Nash said. “I have abunch of old Michael Jordanvideos. I used to watch tapes ofDr. J, Grant Hill and all thoseguys over and over again.Then I would go and try to dowhat they did on my FisherPrice hoop with a rubber ball.That’s where my basketballcareer started.”Nash has come a long way

from the hoop on the back ofhis door, as the experiencedsenior is a key part of No. 4Notre Dame’s run this season.With the Irish’s 70-67 win atConnecticut Saturday — wherehe had 13 points and f iverebounds — Nash became theall-time winningest player in

Notre Damebasketball his-tory with 94wins, passingthe mark ToryJackson andL u k eHarangody setlast season. “It is a story

that I can tellmy grandchil-dren when I getolder: Thatgranddad ispart of the win-ningest class in

Notre Dame history,” Nashsaid. “I’m etched in historynow, and it’s a great thing. Ifyou would have told me thatcoming into my freshman yearI would have never believedyou. It is a testament to thegreat teams that I have beenon. We just keep winning.”The teams keep on winning,

but Nash is a bigger part of thewinning than he gives himselfcredit for. The senior is aver-aging 9.7 points and 6.1rebounds per game, whileleading the team in offensiverebounds with 76. He hasscored in double-figures in fiveof the past six games, high-lighted by his fourth double-double of the year with an 11-

point, 11-rebound effortagainst then-No.19 Villanovaon Senior Night. Following Nash’s lead, the

Irish are 21-1 when they out-rebound their opponent and15-1 when Nash scores in dou-ble figures. He has helped tobuild a plus-5.1 reboundingmargin over opposing teamson the season. Nash has donethis while also guarding colos-sal centers that outsize his 6-foot-8 frame.“It is a different task every

day,” the forward said.“Sometimes I have to guardthe biggest guy on the court,but then again he has to guardme on the offensive end too. Ijust try to use my speed andquickness and make his lifehell when he has the ball. It’sgood that I can be versatileand guard the big men butthen go out there and guardthe guards. It’s definitely anasset to my game.”After he rips away a rebound

from his bigger opponent, thesenior often brings the balldown the court himself to setup the offense, something thathe picked up as a hybrid starin high school. “I was like a guard-forward,”

Nash said. “It was more of acomfortability thing. My oldcoach used to always trust mewith the ball and I made gooddecisions. It just stuck. And[Irish] coach [Mike] Brey real-ized that it could help the teamout a little bit. It brings out[the other team’s] big man andrelieves some of the heat offthe guards who face a lot pres-sure when they bring the ballup the court.”At times, Nash even plays

like a true point guard. Hisvision and passing abilitiesover his career have resultedin 82 assists in the past fourseasons, including a seven-assist night at Providence Feb.23. The forward, who has ledthe Irish in assists in eightgames this season, credits the

coaching staff for his develop-ment, and, moreover, for theessential confidence in hisgame necessary for a multi-tool player like himself.“[Coach Brey] has helped me

by just giving me a chance,”Nash said. “He instilled confi-dence in me and my game,which is something that Ilacked in my freshman yearand going into my sophomoreyear. He would just tell me,‘You can do it . Go for it . ’Because of that, the confidencein my game went up and pro-vided me with the opportuni-ties that I have today.”Those opportunities were not

always there for the senior,who was also offered scholar-ships from Kentucky, St.John’s, Purdue and many oth-ers. Nash sat behind veteranforwards his freshman year,averaging less than four min-utes per game. But he wasnever one to quit, starting off-season work immediately afterhis freshman season. “Nothing in life is given to

you and you have to learneverything,” Nash said. “Ilearned that early on in myfreshman year. I made a realeffort to go home and workhard on my game to show thecoaches how I have improvedso I could earn some minuteson the court and play in thisleague. After that I was able tostart my first game that year. Itjust made it feel that muchbetter that I worked so hardfor it and I earned it.”Since then the forward has

been the most consistent forcefor the Irish. Along withfourth-year forward TimAbromaitis and fellow seniorBen Hansbrough, Nash hasstarted in every contest this

year. On top of that, the seniorhas played in a team-high 80consecutive games, datingback to February of his sopho-more year. That type of consis-tency has developed the Irishinto a top-five team; Nash,however, is not ready to cele-brate this ranking, knowingthat there are still three moreteams ahead of his. “Don’t get me wrong, i t ’s

great, but I don’t want to besatisfied with that,” the veter-an said. “I don’t want to gettoo comfortable with a rank-ing. It doesn’t mean anythingwhen we get to the tourna-ment. We still have a lot ofwork to do and goals to be ful-filled.”Starting tonight, Nash can

expand his records at thefamed Garden, a place thatholds a special meaning ofhome-court advantage to thesenior.“Playing at home in front of

my home crowd is just anincredible feeling,” Nash said.“Hopefully we could come outof there with a win this timeand a Big East championshipin my hands. It would definite-ly be a great story.”Reflecting on his career

before practice in the PurcellPavilion Monday afternoon, thesenior’s wide grin — provokedby thoughts of New York —soon morphed into a meeksmile. His eyes twinkled due tothe magnificent palace in frontof him.“I’m going to miss this whole

thing … All of it,” the seniorsaid, ready to return to hishome on 7th and West 31st onelast time.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERThursday, March 10, 2011 page 3

Back to the Big Apple

Contact Andrew Gastelum atagastel1@nd.edu

Irish senior forward Tyrone Nash fulfills childhood dreams of playing in Madison Square Garden

By ANDREW GASTELUMSports Writer

SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer

Irish senior forward Tyrone Nash looks to score in Notre Dame’s 97-72 victory over Maine Nov. 22.

SUZANNA PRATT/The Observer

Senior forward Tyrone Nash scores in Notre Dame’s 66-58 win over Cincinnati Jan. 19. Nash andthe Irish will play their first game of the Big East tournament tonight at Madison Square Garden.

“It is a story that I cantell my grandchildrenwhen I get older: Thatgranddad is part of

the winningest class inNotre Dame history.”

Tyrone NashIrish forward

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 4 Thursday, March 10, 2011

Notre Dame’s starting lineupNotre DameRecord: 26-5 (14-4 BIG EAST)

AP: 4 Coaches: 4

Nov. 12

Nov. 14

Nov. 17

Nov. 22

Nov. 25

Nov. 26

Nov. 28

Nov. 30

Dec. 8

Dec. 11

Dec. 19

Dec. 22

Dec. 29

Jan. 1

Jan. 4

Jan. 8

Jan. 10

Jan. 16

Jan. 19

Jan. 22

Jan. 24

Feb. 3

Feb. 6

Feb. 9

Feb. 12

Feb. 19

Feb. 23

Feb. 26

Feb. 28

March 5

Georgia Southern

Liberty

Chicago State

Maine

Georgia (Orlando, Fla.)

California (Orlando, Fla.)

Wisconsin (Orlando, Fla.)

Indiana State

Kentucky (Louisville, Ky.)

Gonazaga

Stony Brook

UMBC

Georgetown

@ Syracuse

Connecticut

St. John’s

@ Marquette

@ St. John’s

Cincinnati

Marquette

@ Pittsburgh

@ DePaul

Rutgers

Louisville

@ South Florida

@ West Virginia

@ Providence

Seton Hall

Villanova

@ Connecticut

2010-11 Schedule

BEN HANSBROUGH18.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 4.2 apg

The Big East Player of the Year has proven to be a complete player for the Irishthis season, including showing abundant amounts of emotion on the court.Furthermore, his defensive performances against the likes of Connecticut’s KembaWalker and Pittsburgh’s Ashton Gibbs cemented his status as completely neces-sary. Hansbrough enters the Big East tournament 12 for his last 16 on 3-pointattempts, and will be a difficult matchup for any and all who face him.

SCOTT MARTIN 9.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 1.8 apg

Martin has struggled recently on the offensive end, scoring just 15 points in his lastthree games combined. But when he is making his shots, Martin is a dangerousweapon for the Irish, and his size at the guard position creates a mismatch for almosteveryone who guards him. He likely will not lead Notre Dame in any categories, but theIrish need him to contribute points and rebounds if they are going to make a run in thetournament.

TYRONE NASH9.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.7 apg

Nash has received consistent playing time for four years now, so he is nostranger to the physical style of play in the Big East. He often gives up size towhomever he is guarding, but has done an excellent job defending the cen-ters around the Big East. Nash will score and rebound for the Irish, but mayhelp their offense most with his vision, creating three-point attempts with hisinside-out passing ability.

TIM ABROMAITIS 15.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 apg

Abromaitis’ offensive repertoire hinges on his 3-point shooting and abilityto slip behind the defensive for backdoor finishes. Luckily for the Irish,Abromaitis has made 18 3s over his last four games, including a PurcellPavilion record nine against Villanova Feb. 28. The Wildcats learned thatleaving Abromaitis open can be a grave mistake, and Notre Dame’s opponentsin the Big East tournament would be wise to learn from ‘Nova’s mistake.

CARLETON SCOTT 11.4 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 2.2 apg

Scott is Notre Dame’s most versatile scorer. He can shoot from distance, making37 percent of his attempts beyond the arc. He can also muscle his way down lowand score on put-backs, and he has a knack for finding open space for a mid-rangejumper. Defensively, Scott’s most prized asset is his help defense, using his athleti-cism to guard the lane and protect the rim. Scott seems to consistently hit big shotsfor the Irish, and in New York, he may be called upon to do just that.

BENCH PERFORMANCE/INTANGIBLESMost of Notre Dame’s opponents are deeper than the Irish, but freshman

guard Eric Atkins is leading the Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio, providinga stabalizing force for the offense, and sophomore forward Jack Cooley hascome on strong in the second half of the season.Winning his third Big East Coach of the Year award in five years, Irish

coach Mike Brey has done an excellent job leading the Irish this season.Notre Dame can run and shoot or can slow things down and run the ‘burn,’and Brey has switched between the two masterfully this year.

W 98-61

W 72-51

W 102-62

W 97-72

W 89-83 (2OT)

W 57-44

W 58-51

W 81-72

L 72-58

W 83-79

W 88-62

W 93-53

W 69-55

L 70-58

W 73-70

W 76-61

L 79-57

L 72-54

W 66-58

W 80-75

W 56-51

W 83-58

W 76-69

W 89-79 (OT)

W 78-55

L 72-58

W 94-93

W 60-48

W 93-72

W 70-67

Irish coach Mike Brey may have now won three ofthe last five Big East Coach of the Year awards, but,hands down, this has been his best coaching job in his11 years at Notre Dame.Granted, it doesn’t hurt to start five seniors. That

combination usually yields pleasingresults in the springtime, and thisyear the Irish will prove that theorytrue.Only two teams in the Big East can

claim winning records against NotreDame — Syracuse and West Virginia.Fortunately, the earliest the Irishcould face either of them would bethe Big East semfinals. By that point,Notre Dame will have locked up a No.1 seed in the NCAA tournament, andthe Irish bandwagon will be fillingquicker than ever.The way Notre Dame has been

shooting of late though, neither theOrange nor the Mountaineers could

slow down the onslaught. Ah, the springtime.

Big East: Notre Dame tops Pittsburgh for the Big Easttournament title

NCAA: With a No. 1 seed, the Irish make it to the FinalFour, where a sole bounce can determine a game

The Irish have given us legitimate reasons to think big —perhaps even into April — and have been rewarded forthose performances this week with the No. 4 spot in thepolls and individual recognition for Ben Hansbrough andcoach Mike Brey. But what I love about this team is that it

has earned everything to come its waythis year. I thought the Irish were vastlyunderrated coming into the year, butinstead of complain about it, they wonthe Old Spice Classic, and then kept onwinning. I remember how excited Breysaid his players were when they firstearned a top-25 ranking because theyknew they had earned it. I love the wayBrey has allowed his players, and evenhimself, to publicly enjoy some of theunexpected magic of this season, likewhen he joked that he should retire ifhe won his third Big East Coach of theYear award in five years. Coach, it’s arelief you didn’t stay true to your word.But heck, if you get us to Houston, you

can do whatever you want. You’ve earned it.

Big East: Notre Dame falls to Syracuse in the Big Easttournament final

NCAA: Notre Dame makes it further than ever underBrey, but falls again in the Elite Eight

Though I’ve claimed to be a believer in the Irishevery step of the way this season, when big gamespresented themselves, I’ll admit my faith wavered.I knew Notre Dame was good, but I never thought

that it would beat then-second-ranked Pittsburghon the road. I knew the Irish wereone of the best teams in the coun-try, but beating Connecticut on theroad on the Huskies’ senior day —especially when Irish senior guardand cata lys t Ben Hansbroughfouled out with more than eightminutes left — just seemed unlike-ly.But now, the lack of faith is over.

I’m on board, all in, 100 percent.Notre Dame just has a certa inspark this year, and they will beatCincinnati, Louisville and finallyPittsburgh in the Big East tourna-ment on the back of the Big EastPlayer of the Year as the Big East

Coach of the Year guides them. It’s their time.

Big East: Notre Dame over Pittsburgh in the Big Easttournament final

NCAA: Notre Dame earns No. 1 seed, makes it past theSweet Sixteen

DouglasFarmer

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Gamber

Senior SportsWriter

Eric Prister

AssociateSports Editor

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERThursday, March 10, 2011 page 5

PITTSBURGH

No. 1 seed; 15-3 Big East, 27-4 overall

Lost to Notre Dame 56-51 on Jan. 24

When the Irish and Panthers met in lateJanuary, Notre Dame managed to silencea rowdy Oakland Zoo with its nearly-patented “burn” offense.Pittsburgh boasts a one-two punch in

Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker thatshould still scare Irish fans.

SYRACUSE

CINCINNATI

No. 4 seed, 12-6 Big East, 25-6 overall

Defeated Notre Dame 70-58 on Jan. 1

Long-time Syracuse coach Jim Boeheimhas essent ia l ly per fected the zonedefense, and utilized such against theIrish with no mercy on New Year’s Day.Notre Dame’s only answer to the Orange

is to simply shoot the l ights out unti lSyracuse gives up its zone gimmick.

No. 7 seed, 11-7 Big East, 24-7 overall

Lost to Notre Dame 66-58 on Jan. 19

Only South Florida stands betweenCincinnati and a quarterfinals date withNotre Dame.The Bearcats are an NCAA tournament

lock, but have quite a bit to play for inNew York city as their seed will largelyhinge on their performance this weekend.

CONNECTICUT

No. 9 seed, 9-9 Big East, 22-9 overall

Lost at Notre Dame 73-70 on Jan. 4Lost to Notre Dame 70-67 on March 5

In two evenly-matched contests, NotreDame came up the victor twice.Connecticut junior guard Kemba Walker

would relish a third chance to one-up BenHansbrough, but will not get the chance ifhe doesn’t make it to Saturday.

No. 3 seed, 12-6 Big East, 23-8 overall

Lost at Notre Dame 89-79 (OT) on Feb. 9

Louisville came the closest of anybodyto beating Notre Dame at Purcell Pavilionthis season, but when the extra periodcommenced, the Irish ran away with thevictory.Kyle Kuric’s sharp-shooting can keep

the Cardinals in nearly any contest.

LOUISVILLE

No. 5 seed, 12-6 Big East, 20-10 overall

Lost at Notre Dame 76-61 on Jan. 8Defeated Notre Dame 72-54 on Jan. 16

Nobody wants to face the Red Storm athome, o therwise known as MadisonSquare Garden. St . John’s ran NotreDame out of the gym when they met inNew York City, while the Irish did likewisewhen in South Bend.

ST. JO

HN’S

No. 8 seed, 10-8 Big East, 21-9 overall

Lost at Notre Dame 69-55 on Dec. 29

In a rol ler coaster of a season, theHoyas have risen to the top-10 in thecountry, and nearly fallen out of the polls.Georgetown could not figure out how to

score against Notre Dame, as the Irishheld the Hoyas more than 10 points belowtheir season average.

GEORGETOWN

No. 15 seed, 3-15 Big East, 10-22 overall

Lost to Notre Dame 78-55 on Feb. 12

After upsetting Villanova Tuesday —shortly before this Insider went to print— South Florida provided the Garden itsfirst unexpected drama of the weekend.I f the Bul ls can get by C inc innat i

Wednedsay, they’d get a shot at upendingthe Irish, however unlikely it may be.

SOUTH FLO

RIDA

Predicting the Irish postseason:Big East and NCAA

Notre Dame’s most likely opponents at Madison Square Garden

Notre Dame begins playThursday in New York with a real-istic shot at advancing to, andwinning, the program’s first-everBig East tournament title. But theIrish, who are ranked No. 4nationally, have their eyes onanother tournament in which theywill likely receive a top-two seed.Notre Dame will qualify Sunday

for its eighth NCAA tournamentduring coach Mike Brey’s 11-yeartenure, and a strong showing atMadison Square Garden this weekshould guarantee the Irish a No.2-seed, if not a No. 1, in theNCAAs. While that high seedingwill provide an added amount ofpressure to perform in the BigDance, the Irish are a veterangroup that has been to the NCAAtournament before.Unfortunately for Notre Dame,

that experience hasn’t been alto-gether successful in recent years.After the Irish won six of their

final seven games to escape thebubble and earn a No. 6-seed inlast year’s tournament, NotreDame suffered a first-round upsetto No. 11 Old Dominion, 51-50, inNew Orleans.“It’s just amazing how fast it can

end,” Brey said after the loss.“Once you get into these one-game shots, anything can hap-pen.”In addition to having that expe-

rience from which to learn, theremight be two silver linings for thisyear’s Irish team.First, senior guard Ben

Hansbrough led Notre Dame with

17 points in last year’s upset loss,which shows that the Big Eastplayer of the year is tournament-tested and NCAA-ready.Second, their high seeding will

mean the Irish will likely befavored in their first three tourna-ment games — or, in MarchMadness terms, until the Elite 8,where the Irish have never beenunder Brey. While seedings and point

spreads can almost always bethrown out the window during theNCAA tournament, it is worth not-ing that under Brey, Notre Damehas only once beaten a team witha higher seeding than the Irish.

2001: No. 6 seedBrey, in his first season at Notre

Dame, ended an 11-year tourna-ment absence by qualifying for theNCAAs after winning the BigEast’s West division title in theregular season — in large partthanks to the efforts of forwardTroy Murphy, who won his secondstraight Big East player of theyear award in 2001.Murphy, a first-team All-

American, scored 19 points inNotre Dame’s first-round game tohelp lead the Irish past No. 11-seed Xavier, 83-71.No. 3-seeded Mississippi ended

Notre Dame’s run in the secondround, however, when Rebelsguard Jason Harrison’s 3-pointerbeat the shot clock and gave OleMiss the lead, 57-55, with 46 sec-onds to play. The Irish fell, 59-56,to end Brey’s first season.

2002: No. 8-seedNotre Dame won back-to-back

NCAA tournament openers for the

first time in 23 years, beating No.9 seed Charlotte, 82-63, toadvance to a game with No. 1seed Duke, the defending nationalchampion.The Irish led their second-round

game 71-64 with six minutes toplay, but the top-seeded BlueDevils would recover with a 20-6run that gave them an 84-77 vic-tory.Then-Duke star Jason Williams

made the go-ahead free throwswith 1:04 to play and made anoth-er pair 30 seconds later to bury anIrish team that received 20 pointseach from David Graves and MattCarroll in the near-upset.Notre Dame trailed 45-39 at the

half and 48-39 with about 16 min-utes to play, but the Irish surgedahead with a 14-0 run that nearlypropelled Brey to a victory overlegendary Duke coach MikeKrzyzewski, under whom Breycoached in the early 1990s.

2003: No. 5-seedNotre Dame snuck by No. 12-

seed Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 70-69,in the first round. In that game,the Irish needed every one ofguard Chris Thomas’ 27 points totop the Panthers, who were led bycurrent-Tennessee coach BrucePearl and were making their first-ever NCAA appearance.Playing in Indianapolis, the Irish

enjoyed a quasi-home courtadvantage and drilled 13 3 to beatNo. 4-seed Illinois, 68-60, andadvance to their first Sweet 16since 1987.Notre Dame would advance no

further, however, as top-seededArizona — led by the trio of LukeWalton, Jason Gardner andChanning Frye — rolled by theIrish 88-71. Notre Dame turnedthe ball over 19 times in a game ittrailed 53-40 at the half.

2007: No. 6 seedNotre Dame knew to look out for

No. 11-seed Winthrop, a trendyupset pick, but the Irish still fell inthe first round 74-64 to an Eagleprogram that secured its firstNCAA tournament victory.The Big South champions held

off a Notre Dame team that ralliedback from a 54-34 deficit to take a63-62 lead with 2:21 left, as theEagles finished the game on an11-2 run of their own to send theIrish packing.

2008: No. 5 seedA year after suffering a first-

round upset, Notre Dame held

serve in its first game by beatingNo. 12-seed George Mason, a pop-ular Cinderella team after its mag-ical run to the Final Four in 2006.But the Irish run ended two

days later, when Washington Statetrounced Notre Dame, 61-41, inDenver.The Irish shot only 24.5 percent

(13 of 53) from the field, and 17.6percent from 3 (3 of 17), in a gamethat saw senior forward LukeHarangody pull in 22 reboundsbut score only 10 points on 3-of-17shooting.

The Observer u IRISH INSIDERpage 6 Thursday, March 10, 2011

Notre Dame faces a long history of NCAA misstepsDespite eight trips in his 10 years at ND, Irish coach Mike Brey has yet to tally three wins in one March

By MATT GAMBERSenior Sports Writer

Contact Matt Gamber atmgamber@nd.edu

Observer File Photo

Then-senior guard Tory Jackson walks off the court last Marchafter Old Dominion upset the Irish in the NCAA’s first round.

Among other accolades,including Big East Player of theYear, Irish senior guard BenHansbrough was named to theBig East all-conference firstteam. Joining Hansbroughwere five others, Connecticutjunior guard Kemba Walker,Providence senior guardMarshon Broosk, Georgetownsenior guard Austin Freeman,Pittsburgh junior guard AshtonGibbs and St. John’s seniorguard Dwight Hardy. Hansbrough finished third in

the Big East in scoring, averag-ing 18.5 pergame, and 11thin assists withfour per con-test. His 45-percent 3-pointshooting per-centage is alsothird in thec o n f e r e n c e .H a n s b r o u g haveraged over20 points pergame in BigEast play,including fourstraight contests over 20. Hewas the only player unani-mously named to the all-BigEast first team.“He’s been amazing,” Irish

coach Mike Brey said ofHansbrough on Jim Rome isBurning. “He is a live-on-the-edge, compete-every-day,want-to-win-everything [play-er]. And he pulls his team-mates along with him, comehell or high water. He’s justdone a great job setting for thetone for us. He has a great

basketball IQ.”Kemba Walker finished sec-

ond in the Big East in scoringwith 23.1 points per game. Heled the Huskies in scoring in25 of their 31 games this sea-son, scoring 24 points or more13 times. He played a confer-ence-high 37.4 minutes pergame and finished 10th in theBig East in assists with 4.3 percontest.“He’s leading a lot of young

people to some awfully goodplaces,” Huskies coach JimCalhoun said afterConnecticut’s Feb. 16 win overGeorgetown. “I’ve never seen aguy be able to do those kindsof things. He obviously wins

games, but he’salso a prettygood guy towatch play.He’s fun towatch play.”M a r s h o n

Brooks led theBig East inscoring with a24.8 points pergame average.He scored 20points of morein all but threeBig East games,

including a 52-point explosionin Providence’s one-point lossto Notre Dame Feb. 23. Brooksalso finished seventh in theconference in rebounds,pulling down just over sevenper game. He led the Friars inpoints in 26 of their 31 con-tests, and recorded seven dou-ble-doubles.“Marshon Brooks is able to

make the right plays — not justscoring, but make the rightpasses,” Friars coach KenoDavis said after the loss to

Notre Dame. “I feel like he ispretty unselfish, I don’t know.But it’s a special player. He canscore in so many ways.”Austin Freeman scored 17.8

points per game for the Hoyas,good enough for fifth in the BigEast. Freeman was named thePreseason Big East Player ofthe Year, and scored at least20 points in 11 contests thisseason. He ranked third in theBig East in free throw percent-age, shooting 86.7 percentfrom the charity stripe.

“Austin Freeman in most sit-uations is unflappable,” Hoyascoach JohnThompson IIIsaid afterG e o r g e t o w nd e f e a t e dVillanova Jan.29. “So the lastthree minutesof the gamewere onlyindicative ofwhat he’s donethe last fouryears. They’rerunning, trap-ping and mak-ing it hard to dowhat you wantto do, so you put the ball in hishands because good thingshappen.”Gibbs finished sixth in the

Big East in scoring for the reg-ular season champions, aver-aging 16.1 points per game. Heled the conference in 3-pointpercentage, making 46.6 per-

cent of his shots from beyondthe arc, and in free throw per-

centage at 89.5percent. Gibbssunk at leastthree 3-point-ers in 19 con-tests this yearfor thePanthers.Hardy was

named the BigEast MostI m p r o v e dPlayer andearned BigEast Player ofthe Week threetimes, the mostin the confer-

ence. His 17.9 points per gamewas good enough for fourth inthe conference, and he finishedfifth in free throw percentage,making 84.4 percent from theline.

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERThursday, March 10, 2011 page 7

Hansbrough, Walker among Big East honoreesPittsburgh’s Gibbs, Providence’s Brooks named by coaches to all-conference first team

By ERIC PRISTERAssociate Sports Editor

Contact Eric Prister ateprister@nd.edu

AP

Connecticut junior guard Kemba Walker celebrates during the Huskies’ 78-70 win over GeorgetownFeb. 16. Walker and five others were recently named to the Big East all-conference first team.

“[Hansbrough’s] beenamazing. He is a live-on-the-edge, compete-every-day, want-to-win-everything

[player].”

Mike BreyIrish coach

“Austin Freeman inmost situations isunflappable. So thelast three minutes ofthe game were only

indicative of what he’sdone the last four

years.”

John Thompson IIIHoyas coach

The Observer � IRISH INSIDERpage 8 Thursday, March 10, 2011

The Irish finished the regular season winning 11 of their last 12 contests

and earned the No. 2 seed in the Big East tournament. Three victories over

top conference opponents would earn them their first ever

Big East tournament title.

Follow Douglas Farmer, Eric Prister and Matt Gamber as they travel to

New York to cover Notre Dame’s road to the championship.

EILEEN VEIHMEYER/The Observer

SUZANNA PRATT/The Observer

DAN JACOBS/The Observer DAN JACOBS/The Observer

SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer

SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer