Notre Dame at DePaul


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Coming off one of the biggest wins in program history, the ninth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish look to avoid suffering what would be on of their worst losses ever. The Irish travel to face the DePaul Blue Demons who have lost 21 straight Big East games. Notre Dame has had some time off since beating then-No. 2 Pittsburgh 56-51 on January 24. It was only the second loss for the Panthers in their last 53 home games. Odds makers feel the Irish will respond just fine Thursday in a game that will be nationally televised on ESPN at 9:00 EST. The line for this contest show us odds of Notre Dame -12 over DePaul with a total set of 142.5 points.

Notre Dame (17-4, 6-3) has won each of their last five meetings with the Blue Demons. This is certainly a potential letdown spot for them after their win over Pitt, one that point guard Ben Hansbrough called “the best win he’s ever had”. Hansbrough leads the team in scoring (16.5) and assists (4.0) and poured in 19 points to help the Irish pull off the upset over the Panthers. Notre Dame ran an offense that they call “burn”, which is where they slow down the tempo and eat up nearly the entire shot clock on every possession. It worked wonders last season as the Irish beat the Panthers twice, and it worked again in their first meeting this year. Pitt was held to 27 points below their season average.

Though many felt this would be a down year for the Irish with the loss of several key players, they have overcome expectations and currently sit in second-place in the Big East. Notre Dame still trails Pitt by two games, but they should inch closer with a victory Thursday. They have reeled off three straight victories heading into this contest. The Irish already beat DePaul 87-77 at home in their first meeting in South Bend, led by 30 points from Tim Abromaitis. He is the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.2 points per game, though he has been held to a combined eight points over their last two contests. The Irish have received a big boost from the return of Carleton Scott. He missed four games with a hamstring injury, but Scott has returned for the past two games and hit 5-of-6 from three-point range while scoring 16 points against the Panthers.

DePaul (6-14, 0-8) has some streaks of futility in tact that you may have to look twice at to actually believe. The Blue Demons are 1-43 in Big East games since 2008-09. As stated before, they have lost 22 straight in conference play. Also, DePaul has dropped each of their last 24 games against ranked teams and are getting outscored by 15.4 points per contest. Head coach Oliver Pernell is one of the more underrated coaches in the country, and it’s only a matter of time before he turns this program around. He snagged one of the best recruits in the nation in freshman Cleveland Melvin. He has not disappointed, averaging 20.5 points per game in Big East play which ranks third in the conference. He scored 17 points in a losing effort to South Florida last Thursday by a final of 71-60.

Projected Score: Notre Dame 77 – DePaul 65

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