Quick Predaction: Notre Dame and Pittsburgh

Notre Dame...

• I can't emphasize enough how brilliantly Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku played on defense against Luke Harangody. Ignore the reigning conference player of the year's 25 points. It's his 9 for 28 shooting that begins to tell the story. Harangody has a fantastic touch. Of the 9 shots he did make, probably 5 or 6 of them were tough, away from the basket shots. The credit probably should start with Boeheim, who drilled into Jackson and Onuaku the need to stay down and between Harangody and the hoop.
• On the other end of the floor, I was amazed at what a lackluster defender Harangody is. Matched up mostly with Jackson, he gave up 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting. He committed only one foul and got only one block. He might win player of the year again based on his offensive skills, but Harangody is not going to make a good pro.

Pittsburgh...

• I was disappointed that Louisville knocked off Pittsburgh the other night, first because I wanted to play Pitt while they were undefeated and second because Pitt now has the bounce-back factor going for them, just as Syracuse had going against the Irish.
• Pitt is allowing only 63.6 ppg in the Big East. Syracuse is scoring 82.2 ppg in conference (including 59 in the ugly South Florida win). Something's gotta give. I think Pitt's Howland-Dixon defense slows down the Orange. In a lower scoring game, threes become even more valuable. If Flynn, Devo, and Rautins are hitting, Syracuse will pull this one off. I'm skeptical, though. That defense, with that crowd... doable, but unlikely. Pittsburgh, 70-68.