Pitt Realizes Conventional Wisdom on Defense Works vs. Notre Dame

Pitt experimented with going against the conventional wisdom in the first half and was lucky not to be down more than only six points. They tried doubling on Luke Harangody, which left a Notre Dame shooter continually open on the perimeter. Pitt paid for that, dearly as the Irish shot 11-for-22 on threes in the first half.

In the second-half, Pitt adjusted to the same defense everyone else has successfully been using with the Irish. Suddenly Notre Dame had no open looks on the perimeter and the Irish went down for their fifth straight loss, 93-80.

Notre Dame has not been hard to figure out in their losing streak. You play Luke Harangody one-on-one, letting him get his points and boards. Then you do everything you can to stay on top of Kyle McAlarney and take your chance with anyone else from Notre Dame beating you.

In the first half, Pitt did stay all over Kyle McAlarney to limit his open chances. The problem was that Pitt decided to double team Luke Harangody. To the extent that they limited him to only 8 points and 6 rebounds in the first half, it worked. The problem was that Pitt left an open shooter for Notre Dame. Luke Zeller took advantage of that. Zeller drained his first four 3s in the first 4:30 of the game and put in 6-for-8 on threes in the half.

As Tom Brennan said at halftime on ESPN, though, it was "fool's gold" for the Irish. In the second half, Pitt abandoned the double-team of Harangody, and while Harangody had 19 second half points Notre Dame no longer had open shots. The rest of the Notre Dame team only scored 16 points in the second half, and only was able to attempt five three-pointers.

Pitt completely blitzed Notre Dame in the second half. Taking advantage of the Irish's porous defense, Pitt shot 50% from the field and dominated on the boards. DeJuan Blair, unencumbered by foul trouble, was a destructive force. He had 23 points and 22 rebounds.

Notre Dame is now 3-6 in the Big East and looking very much like a team that will need a miracle run in the Big East Tournament just to make the NCAA Tournament. Quite a fall for a preseason top-ten team.