West Virginia-Notre Dame: Previewing the Mountaineers-Irish Rematch

When the West Virginia Mountaineers traveled to South Bend, Indiana in early January, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish sent the Mountaineers home with their second loss of the season, 70-68.

The Mountaineers played arguably their worst half all year and were down by 20 at the half before rallying and missing a game-winning shot at the buzzer.

A trip to the Big East Tournament finals will be on the line in this game, with tip-off set for 9 p.m. ET.

Defensively, West Virginia will have to slow down Notre Dame’s forwards, All-American Luke Harangody and Tim Abromaitis. The pair combined for 41 of Notre Dame’s 70 points last meeting.

Harangody is coming off a knee injury, and while he has not played much, he has still been effective. He is averaging just over 12 points in the three games since he has been back, while playing just under 20 minutes per game.

Look for freshmen Dan Jennings and Deniz Kilicli to get more playing time than they normally do. They match up better against Harangody than senior Wellington Smith, and Jennings did a decent job guarding Harangody in the limited action he saw.

Offensively, Da’Sean Butler and Devin Ebanks need to continue their strong play. Butler had 13 points in the first meeting but shot just 20 percent from the field. He shot a season-high 12 three-point shots, making just three of them. This was very uncharacteristic of him.

He likely will not shoot that many threes this game, and if he does, that is not good for the Mountaineers. He needs to continue to drive to the basket and settle for mid-range jump shots.

Ebanks played arguably his worst game of the season in the first matchup, going 0-of-4 from the field and not scoring a point. He also played a season-low 19 minutes. He has been stepping up as of late, averaging 14.5 points a game over his last 10 games. He needs to continue his strong play for the Mountaineers to advance to the finals.

Where the Mountaineers lost the game was at the free throw line. West Virginia sent Notre Dame to the free throw line 24 times, with the Fighting Irish making 17 of them. West Virginia went to the line just four times and made only two of their shots. West Virginia cannot face that large of a discrepancy in foul shots and expect to win.

West Virginia has gotten better at getting to the line, averaging 25 free throws a game and making 70 percent of their free throws.

Notre Dame comes in red-hot, winning their last six games. During that time, they have switched to a slower style of play, electing to use up a lot of the shot clock on offense. West Virginia plays strong on the defensive end, especially when they are allowed to get set up defensively. With Notre Dame playing a slow tempo, this plays into the Mountaineers' hands defensively.

Notre Dame will likely stay with what is working, but if they struggle, they could end up going back to a faster pace.

West Virginia has to limit Harangody and Abromaitis and have Butler and Ebanks continue their strong play. If they can, the Mountaineers should come away with the victory.