Notre Dame at a glance

With Mason's first round game only 3 days away let's not waste anymore time and get right to it, who are these Fighting Irish they will be facing in Denver? It's nice to know that some people are predicting us to upset these Irish. No doubt they are more battle tested coming out of the Big East but much like the Patriots they don't play their best basketball away from their home court. They are led by burly sophomore center Luke Harangody who is 6'8" and 250 lbs, where is Jai Lewis when you need him? Luke was Big East player of the year, the youngest to do so since Caron Butler back in 2002. Make no mistake that Coach Larranaga's defensive game plan is going to centered around big Luke as Notre Dame's will be similar in trying to slow down Will Thomas. It should be a classic big man battle between Thomas and Harangody. Offensive rebounding and defense will be the keys to Mason's success, Birdsong you gotta box out! Notre Dame has a tremendous size advantage over Mason overall but Folarin Campbell does pose as a possible mis-match for the Irish starting back court. The difference in the game could be John Vaughan and Folarin Campbell getting to the free throw line like they have been lately. One problem for the Patriots will be defending the three point shot as these Irish are 4th in the nation in that area. Scary statistic when you think of how poorly Mason has defended the three point shot at certain points in the season. Lately the Patriots have been improved in this area, especially during their last game in the CAA championship playing against a team that lives off the three pointers.

More analysis to the come as I will be conversing with the Rakes of Mallow Notre Dame blogger in a Q&A session. Please post any questions you have for the Notre Dame blogger regarding their team and what to expect for Thursday.