College Hoops Picks ATS, Mar. 10: Rutgers Scarlet Knights at Notre Dame Irish

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-16, 11-20) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-10, 17-13)
Big East Conference Tournament
Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 7:00 PM EST

Preview

The third game of the 2009 Big East Tournament features No. 15 Rutgers at No. 10 Notre Dame.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off their second conference win of the season, a 45-42 victory over South Florida. Their other Big East win came against No. 16 DePaul.

The Fighting Irish had a terrible seven game slide in January and February, but have since gone 5-3. They have shown glimpses of their potential at various times this season, such as their 33-point win over Louisville.

Notre Dame draws its strength from their front court, namely last year's Big East Player of the Year, Luke Harangody. He has improved his stats across the board this season, and has grabbed 21 double-doubles so far. Harangody is currently averaging a double-double as well.

The Scarlet Knights' talent lies within freshman Mike Rosario. He has continued to develop this season. If Rutgers can pick up some supporting talent, they have a very good chance of being successful in years to come.

Unfortunately, though, we are discussing this season.

These two played each other once this season, and Notre Dame walked away with the five-point win.

The Scarlet Knights will not go down without a fight.

They have not all season, but the question facing them now is will their efforts be enough to move to the second round?

By The Numbers

	Record	Conf	ATS	RPI	SOS	PF	PA
Rutgers	11-20	2-16	13-12	187	73	63.6	66.8
Notre Dame	17-13	8-10	8-15	73	37	77.6	71.8

	FG%	D. FG%	3P%	D. 3P%	FT%	RPG	SPG	APG	TPG
Rutgers	41.8	42.1	30.0	30.9	72.2	39.2	6.1	11.1	15.6
Notre Dame	44.2	43.3	40.1	33.4	69.3	42.8	5.3	17.5	9.8

Stat Leaders

	Rutgers	Notre Dame
PPG	M. Rosario - 16.3	L. Harangody - 23.7
PPG	A. Farmer - 9.2	K. McAlarney - 15.5
PPG	G. Echenique - 8.5	R. Ayers - 11.5
RPG	G. Echenique - 8.4	L. Harangody - 12.1
APG	A. Farmer - 2.7	T. Jackson - 5.2
SPG	M. Rosario - 1.1	T. Jackson - 1.2
BPG	G. Echenique - 2.5	L. Harangody - 1.0

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Prediction

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