Kentucky and Notre Dame: Who Has The Edge?
By Paul Jordan
Kentucky and Notre Dame square off tonight in Freedom Hall in the SEC/Big East invitational. The biggest story line of this event? Probably that Kentucky has painted Freedom Hall’s floor blue because the rivalry of Kentucky and Notre Dame isn’t so hot because Kentucky has won 41 and has only lost 18. The last time these two met, Notre Dame knocked Kentucky out of the NIT, this season is a little different story.
Both teams are ranked in the top 25, Kentucky weighing in at number 17 and Notre Dame at 24. Notre Dame breaks in the top 25 after a rather impressive 8-0 record with wins over Georgia and Wisconsin but Kentucky is probably the best team they have played yet, that being said they both have several similarities.
The backcourt matchup of Ben Hansbrough and Brandon Knight should be something else to watch. Hansbrough is a four year senior and really runs this Fighting Irish squad. He averages 16 points a game and has excellent size for a guard at 6’3”. In the last three games Hansbrough has scored seven, 10 and 24 points but he literally does it all. He can rebound, score and facilitate the basketball.
It will be a very good match up for Knight who has been struggling as of late at the point guard position. With this being said the backcourt edge goes to Notre Dame who is more experienced than Kentucky.
The frontcourt match up will include a matchup between Tyrone Nash, a name who should be familiar to Kentucky fans because of Nash famously picking a prep school over UK in the Tubby Smith era. Nash is grabbing seven rebounds a game and chipping in with 12 points a game.
Tonight though, he may have to check Terrence Jones on defense, and while Nash is tall at 6’8” he isn’t long and lengthy like the defenders that gave Kentucky trouble in the UConn and North Carolina games. The edge will go Kentucky in the front court if Josh Harrellson can produce because for once he will have the height advantage in the post and he MUST rebound the ball well for Kentucky to succeed tonight, because Notre Dame is ranked 6th overall in the nation in rebounding. So while Kentucky may give up a few offense rebounds tonight, advantage Kentucky with Jones and Harrellson.
Kentucky and Notre Dame are very similar in the rotation of players on the bench.
In the last three games the bench for Notre Dame has only scored 19 points. Doron Lamb himself scored 21 off the bench against North Carolina in one game. The players on the Notre Dame bench do not produce very well and are usually kept in check. The starters log a lot of minutes. Eric Atkins is their best player off the bench at 6’1” and he is averaging about 7 points but was held in check by Indiana State despite 23 minutes of action. Joey Brooks is their next player off the bench at 6’5” and scores two points a game.
Lamb and Eloy Vargas logs most of the minutes for Kentucky and Lamb is scoring 13 points off the bench and has the ability to go off at any time with his three-point stroke. I’ll go ahead and state the obvious, Kentucky gets the edge on their bench because they get more bang for their buck.
Overall, Notre Dame has height, but not the height that has given Kentucky problems. They don’t have long and athletic players but that being said there is a 5.5 line on the game tonight, which means the bookers in Vegas thinks this will be a basketball game. On the other hand, they are the same people that said the Kentucky/Portland game would be a 6 point game or less. Go figure, but look for Kentucky to out talent Notre Dame, but look for it to be close.
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