Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Preview – Know your Enemy: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
By Paul Jordan
GAME 8
DECEMBER 8, 2010
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (8-0)
Freedom Hall, Louisville, KY
TV – ESPN
SERIES HISTORY
Kentucky leads 41-18
LAST MEETING
2009: Notre Dame 77 Kentucky 67
For the second straight game, Kentucky has a matchup that is steeped in tradition. True, UK and Notre Dame have only met once in the last six years, but for quite some time, this WAS one of the main matchups that Kentucky fans looked forward to. From 1960 to 1981, Kentucky and the Fighting Irish did an annual post Christmas battle at Louisville’s Freedom Hall and it was for the most part one sided. During that span, Kentucky went 18-4 against the Irish, but perhaps it was the 1982 matchup that was the most memorable.
Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps was facing the #2 Wildcats and he used the strategy to play “stall ball” to neutralize the powerful Wildcats and to keep the score low. And it worked to keep the Irish in the game. Kentucky led at the half 18-12 and the score at the end of regulation was 23-23. The slow pace allowed Kentucky to play it’s starters the entire game and UK blitzed the Irish in the extra period to win 34-28. For the game, Kentucky shot 13-17.
Now I am not promising a “classic” like that game, but odds are good we will see a pretty good game. The Fighting Irish are 8-0 on the season and even though none of the current players were alive the last time Kentucky and the Irish faced off in Louisville (1988), this game is a special one and brings back memories for Wildcat fans.
THE STARTERS
#23 – G – BEN HANSBROUGH – SR 6’3 206
15.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 4.0 apg
#14 – G – SCOTT MARTIN – SR 6’8 219
9.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.7 apg
#21 – F – TIM ABROMAITIS – SR 6’8 235
15.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.3 apg
#1 – F – TYRONE NASH – SR 6’8 232
12.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 3.3 apg
#34 – F – CARLETON SCOTT – SR 6’7 217
11 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 2 apg
BACKCOURT
Ben Hansborough (yes Tyler’s brother) is the smallest starter for the Fighting Irish and as a result has been the defacto PG even though he is primarily a SG. He is leadng the team in scoring, at 15.8 a game, and has been deadly from beyond the 3-point line, nailing 54.8% of his treys. For the season, he has 23 treys, but 15 of them came in the first three games against Georgia Southern, Liberty, and Chicago State. Ben has 4 assists a game, but also has 2.5 turnovers. Scott Martin alternates at the two and the win position. In some ways, this team is a lot like West Virgina as they have a lot of big bodies and not a lot of guard play. Martin has not played the last two seasons as he transferred from Purdue and then was injured, but he is slowly knocking the rust off. He has hit double digits in points three times this year and is better at rebounding off the defensive board rather than offensively. He is not that quick, so that gives some hope for Kentucky’s transition game. Freshman Eric Atkins was supposed to be the answer at PG this season for Notre Dame, but has started just one game. He does get lots of minutes though, allowing Hansborough to go to the two and everyone moves one spot over. He averages 7.4 points a game and has a 2.36 A/TO ratio. He also knocks down his treys at 44%. 6’5 sophomore Joey Brooks also sees action in most games and he is averaging 2.6 ppg and 1.9 apg.
FRONTCOURT
Tim Abromaitis has been a constant for the Fighting Irish the last couple of season, and he is tough to defend both near the basket and away from it. His shooting percentages are down a good bit this year and he has been a streaky scorer. He scored 72 points in one three game span this season and he has scored just 30 points in the last three games. His rebounding numbers are up this year and he is pretty adept at passing the ball as he had a 7 assist, 0 turnover night versus Chicago State. Tyrone Nash was recruited by Tubby Smith and was close to becoming a Wildcat, but the firing rumors that surrounded Tubby kept Nash away. Nash has upped all his vial stats this year and is good at passing the ball as well. He has a 7 assist game and two 5 assist games and boasts an A/TO ratio of 2.00. He also has two double doubles on the year. Carleton Scott is another double double threat in the front court and he loves to shoot. Scott has pretty good range and he will keep tossing them up even if it is a bad night. Scott had a 5-17 shooting night (including 0-9 from 3-point range) against California but he still finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds. He is not much of an offensive glass type of guy, but he does come into this game on a mean defensive streak and has had 10 blocks over his last three games. 6’9 Jack Cooley has been coming off the bench for 4.8 points and 3.5 rebounds a game, but has seen his time limited to just 16 minutes the last three games and has just 1 point and 4 rebounds during that span. Total.
OUTLOOK
Make no mistake, Notre Dame is a very good team and will offer a tough challenge for Kentucky. But to be honest, Saturday’s game was about the worse case scenario that you could draw up for this team and yet they still only lost by two points. You can tell that this Kentucky team adopted a “never give up” attitude after the Connecticut game and I have to say I like their chances tomorr
ow night. It will help that this game will be in front of a friendly crowd, although there should be plenty of Irish fans there as well.
Notre Dame is a very good defensive team as they have held their opponents under 52 points three times this season, but teams with good guard play have given them troubles. Kentucky will have the same opportunity to force turnovers like they did versus UNC, but they must be equipped to not beat themselves.
A lot of the fouls that Kentucky had against North Carolina were panic fouls and reactionary fouls … like grabbing a player after they had already been beat on the play. Such mistakes can be worked on and Kentucky has too high a basketball IQ to put themselves in the same position. It will be interesting to see the character of this team just four days after a close loss, but I am betting Kentucky passes this test by a 85-77 score.
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