It's one of those strange things about the NCAA Tournament...there's no time to enjoy a big win. Just hours removed from their victory over Winthrop, Wazzu was on the practice floor preparing for Notre Dame (not to mention answering question after question about the Irish).

It really should be a great match up of different styles. The Fighting Irish score 80 points a game; Washington State allows less than 57 points a contest. Both squads will try to stick to their game plan...it's who will get there first that will dictate the pace (it seems easier to me to slow down a game than speed it up). The common theme from the Cougs...make the Irish earn every shot.

Notre Dame is led by Luke Harangody who averages almost 21 points and nabs more than ten rebounds a game (his best effort was a 40 point showing against Louisville on February 28th). The first thing I noticed about him is that he's the spitting image of UW's Jon Brockman (Harangody is 6'8" 250 lbs...Brockman is 6'7 255 lbs). I asked several of the players about this today. Nikola Koprivica said laughing, "Harangody a.k.a. Brockman, but I think Harangody is better than Brockman." That's a scary thought. Tony Bennett also chipped in: "[Harangody] steps outside and plays a little more off the dribble. But as far as their physique and how continuous they are, relentless, there are some similarities."

Another threat is guard Kyle McAlarney. The dude shoots triples like they are going out of style (I couldn't think of a better cliché). He's landed 106 of 237 shots beyond the arc (that's nearly 45%). Taylor Rochestie will be on him tomorrow. I asked him about the match up and he said he's up to the challenge (he said there's no one else he'd rather guard tomorrow). Rochestie helped hold Winthrop leading scorer Michael Jenkins to two points yesterday.

This is as good as it gets. WSU was here (Round of 32) last year...it's time for them to step up to the next level.

The Cougars are a 2 1/2 point favorite tomorrow. The game is set to start at 3:40pm and can be seen only on KREM 2. We'll have live coverage from Denver and I'll have all the latest right here on my blog.

1 Comments

Joe Kane said:

This game is about which team can impose their will on the other team. Classic offense vs. defense matchup. Bob Knight said it best... "a tough defense with stellar guard play is a recipe for success in the tourney". I hope he's right! Can't wait for tipoff.

March 22, 2008 8:32 AM

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