Irish to test their luck at the Pete

The Pitt men’s basketball team will host Notre Dame tomorrow in the Petersen Events Center for… The Pitt men’s basketball team will host Notre Dame tomorrow in the Petersen Events Center for a crucial Big East matchup that neither team can afford to lose.

A lot will be on the line, including both teams’ postseason futures. Even more could be up for grabs when these two meet up again at Notre Dame on Mar. 5 to close out the regular season.

Pitt (16-4 overall, 6-3 Big East) needs a victory to keep alive any hopes of winning a fourth straight Big East regular season championship, while a victory for the Irish would take them one step closer to an NCAA tournament bid.

Last season, Notre Dame (14-6, 6-4) finished 19-13 overall and 9-7 in Big East play, but it was not enough to earn a bid for the NCAAs, as the Irish found themselves playing in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) at the end of the year.

“We’re not a team that is going to make excuses. I think that last year we may have fallen into the trap of assuming that we were going to the NCAAs every year,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said before the season in the media guide. “We don’t want to feel that disappointment again.”

In order for Pitt to hold off Notre Dame’s offense, it will need to focus more attention on getting to shooters and not allowing the 3-point shot to hurt them as much as it has in past games.

Last weekend, West Virginia launched 40 shots from beyond the arc, sinking 13 of them to help defeat Pitt in basketball’s version of the Backyard Brawl.

Very few teams shoot as many 3s as the Mountaineers, but the Notre Dame Fighting Irish rank up there with them in the Big East, and they shoot at a better percentage, too.

“It’s all about getting out to them and making them feel uncomfortable,” Pitt guard Carl Krauser said. “We’ve got to make sure they know that they will have to put up a shot over top of a defender of ours.”

Notre Dame is coming off a game in which it handed previously unbeaten Boston College its first loss of the season while shooting 55 percent from the 3-point line, including a 7-of-12 performance from swingman Colin Falls.

Falls, a sophomore from Park Ridge, Ill., tied a career high with 23 points in the game, as he has become a legitimate scoring threat for the Irish, along with his veteran counterparts in the backcourt, junior Chris Quinn and senior Chris Thomas.

Krauser will find himself matched up with Thomas at the point guard position. Both have been victims of inconsistent play this season, but Thomas manages to bring out his best when up against the Panthers.

In his last three games against Pitt, Thomas has scored 23, 29 and 24 points, but only one of those performances amounted to a team win for the Irish — Feb. 9, 2003 in Notre Dame, the last time Pitt fell to the Irish.

“I don’t really care much about anyone else,” Pitt forward Chevon Troutman said. “I’d take my point guard over anyone in the country.”

While guard play will be a factor throughout the game, Notre Dame’s biggest test will be to find an answer for the dominant duo of Chris Taft and Troutman underneath for Pitt.

The two combined to score 31 points against St. John’s, more than half of the team’s total of 55, while controlling the boards for 15 rebounds between them.

The Irish will use a mix of three players below the rim in Torin Francis, Dennis Latimore and Jordan Cornette to help defend the Pitt frontcourt.

Francis is the main scorer of the three, leading Notre Dame in scoring for three straight games before posting only six points against Boston College.

“Francis is a strong player underneath,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said. “He gets isolated in the post, and he’s very experienced out there. His average is higher in conference play, and [he] continues to fight hard against other big men.”

Latimore will also pose a threat to the Panthers, while Cornette provides the extra big man that can step out on the perimeter as well, which might distract Pitt’s frontcourt in rebounding.

“Regardless of whether there’s four or three guys on the perimeter on defense for us, we will need to attack the glass,” Dixon said.

Offensive rebounding and second-chance points could be key if either team begins to rely too much on the jump shot. Troutman and Taft’s play against Notre Dame could go a long way as Pitt begins its toughest stretch of opponents.

“We still believe in the coach Howland theory of taking one game at time,” Krauser said. “We need to take care of business with Notre Dame first before [we] start to look more at the big picture.”

Tip-off is slated for noon on Saturday and will be televised nationally on ESPN.