Since Notre Dame lost to the Pitt men’s basketball team on Jan. 12 at the Petersen Events… Since Notre Dame lost to the Pitt men’s basketball team on Jan. 12 at the Petersen Events Center, the Fighting Irish have been caught in a downward spiral.

In the six games that followed the 74-71 loss to the Panthers, the Irish dropped four of the six, including losses to Kentucky, Boston College, Rutgers and Syracuse.

On Saturday, Pitt (21-1 overall, 7-1 Big East) and Notre Dame (14-7, 3-5) meet again, but this time at the Joyce Center in South Bend, Ind. – a place where Pitt has not won since Jan. 6, 1998.

“It’s a pretty tough place to play,” guard Jaron Brown said of the home of the Irish – a place where he has never won in his four years at Pitt.

As for what makes Notre Dame such a tough place to play, Brown said it was the sea of green fans.

“And that little leprechaun,” guard Carl Krauser said with a big smile. “[He] throws you off with the little, green suit.”

When these two teams met earlier this season, Pitt trailed for most of the game, until Krauser hit a three-pointer to take the lead with 7:25 remaining. Pitt never let that lead go, but the lead was in jeopardy up until the final buzzer.

Every time the Panthers obtained what would normally be a comfortable lead, the Irish would climb back into the game. Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas and Chris Quinn were the main reasons the Irish didn’t go away. Both guards made several tough shots, especially in the second half.

Thomas dropped 29 points on the Panthers, while hitting seven-of-13 three-point attempts. Quinn finished with 16 points, with 12 of his points coming off of long-range three-pointers.

“They shoot from 24, 25 feet,” head coach Jamie Dixon said. “That’s their strength.”

He went on to say that it is just something the team will have to adjust to in order to defend. He said they wouldn’t change anything in order to stop Thomas.

“It was a good player making good shots,” Dixon said of Thomas’s performance against Pitt on Jan. 12

“We played them tough last time,” Brown said. “They just made good shots.”

Pitt had no problem scoring against Notre Dame last time. The Panthers finished the game with all five starters in double-digit scoring, led by Brown, who finished with 19 points.

The only question mark for this game is the status of Carl Krauser’s finger. He dislocated the ring finger on his left hand when deflecting an inbound pass during the St. John’s game Wednesday night.

“There’s a little swelling,” Dixon said.

He had a light, no-contact practice with the team on Thursday, and it was wrapped during their afternoon press conference. Dixon says Krauser will be a game-time decision, but Krauser is not worried about it too much.

“It pretty much doesn’t [affect me], since it’s on the left hand,” Krauser said, pointing out the fact that he has a right-handed shot.

This game is the start of a little road trip for the Panthers. After Notre Dame, they have to travel to Seton Hall on Monday. Pitt lost to Pirates last year, and both Brown and Krauser noted that they want to walk out of Seton Hall with a win.

When asked if this upcoming stretch of games were the most crucial part of the season, Dixon stuck with his “one game at a time” mentality and said, “The next game is always the most crucial part.”

The Panthers undertake this next crucial step at 7 p.m. on Saturday.