Notre Dame slowed it down against No. 12 Pittsburgh and turned the
game into a runaway.
Playing a more deliberate style because Luke Harangody was
out a third straight game with a bone bruise on his right knee, the
Fighting Irish were 10 of 18 from 3-point range to end the
Panthers' five-game winning streak with a 68-53 victory Wednesday
night.
The Panthers (21-7, 10-5 Big East), who hadn't given up more
than nine 3-pointers in a game this season, were just 4 of 18 from
behind the arc.
"It seemed like we had wide open 3s and they had guarded 3s.
Theirs went down and ours didn't," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon
said. "Our defense wasn't good enough. That was clear."
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said patience was the key for the
Irish (18-10, 7-8).
"We got great shots at the end of long possessions," Brey
said.
Tim Abromaitis scored 17 points, Ben Hansbrough had 15 points
and nine rebounds and Tory Jackson had 14 points and seven assists
for the Irish. Abromaitis and Jackson were both 3 of 5 from 3-point
range.
"I think just being patient on offense was a key for us,"
Abromaitis said. "There were a lot of possessions that went down to
single digits on the shot clock and we waited until we had the best
look we could possibly get."
The Panthers, who had won six of their previous seven against
the Irish, were led by Jermaine Dixon with 13 points and Ashton
Gibbs had 11.
The Irish took command with a 19-3 run that started with a
fallaway jumper at the halftime buzzer by Jackson that gave Notre
Dame a 35-27 lead. Carleton Scott then made back-to-back 3-pointers
early in the second half, followed by another 3-pointer by Jackson.
Hansbrough followed with a three-point play, scoring on a reverse
layup and a free throw after he was fouled by Dixon. Another
3-pointer by Abromaitis gave the Irish a 52-30 lead.
Notre Dame extended the lead to 58-34 when Abromaitis made a
pair of free throws with 9:05 left. The Panthers didn't get closer
than 19 until the final minute.
"We got beat in pretty much every aspect," Jamie Dixon said.
"This is one game, one loss, but right now it feels like a number
of losses."
The Panthers, who matched a season high with 21 offensive
rebounds in their upset of Villanova on Sunday, were outrebounded
34-25 by the Irish even though they were without Harangody, their
leading rebounder at 10 a game.
"I don't know if anybody has ever lost like this, with four
turnovers in a game. It's tough to lose by 15 and have only four
turnovers," Dixon said.
Before the game, Notre Dame honored Harangody, the nation's
No. 2 scorer at 24.1 points a game, by making him the first player
inducted into the school's "Ring of Honor," hanging his No. 44 from
the rafters. The school plans to add past players into the ring in
future years.
Harangody said he was surprised when he was told about the
tribute.
"I'm just honored to be up there as the first one," he said.
The injury could keep him from becoming the Big East's
all-time leading scorer. He is now third and needs 82 points to
pass Syracuse's Lawrence Moten for No. 1 with three games left. He
said he's not concerned about that.
"As of right now, I'm just trying to get healthy and get
back," he said.
He said it was too early to say if he could play Saturday at
No. 11 Georgetown, but Brey didn't sound too hopeful.
Dixon said the Panthers need to put the loss behind them.
"It was one loss," he said. "That's how we look at it."
