I watch their games on UND.com
all the time.
They look pretty like a pretty good team. Kyle MeAlarney is raw son.
Austin The Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 2:55 pm | #

I didn't get to see the game. Did ND actually look decent? Or is Villanova about to become an unranked team? Based on ND's past two road losses in the Big East, it looks like they have some work ahead of them to make the tourney.
Berger | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 3:04 pm | #

they won by 10
thats pretty good
Austin The Mexican Leprechaun | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 3:14 pm | #

berger:

the answer is: both., though 'nova's little skid doesn't diminish their quality of play this afternoon.

also, harangody looks for all the world like a young jerry van dyke. every time i see him, i instinctively begin humming the "coach" theme.
tyler | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 4:59 pm | #

I was at the game. Notre Dame played a solid game--turnovers were minimized, ball movement was excellent, McAlarney shot well outside, Harangoody inside and the defense was sound. Not very many cheap baskets by Nova.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 6:22 pm | #

We didn't have sole ownership of the accomplishment for very long... Rutgers won at Pitt later in the day.
Mr. Wednesday | Email | Homepage | 01.26.08 - 11:51 pm | #

We went up 10 right before the half and were up double digits pretty much the entire second half.

One caveat that won't show up on selection sunday is that although the game was played in Philly, it was played at the Wachovia Center in front of 19,000 and tickets were open to the public. Philly has a huge Catholic, Irish, Notre Dame alumni and Notre Dame subway alumni populations. Plus, Villanova isn't the most liked team in Philly since Rollie Massimino tried to break up the Big 5. My point is they weren't exactly playing in front of a hostile crowd. But, it was a nice win over a ranked team officially on the road and we'll take it. GO IRISH!
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 01.27.08 - 10:58 am | #

Annoymous:
With all due respect, the tickets were not open to the public until late in the process. In the past the crowd at the Wachovia Center was about 60% Nova, 40% ND. In an effort to give Nova more of a home court advantage, Nova made a huge effort to offer tickets to alumni before they were made availalbe to others. Our ND Club eventually got some but at a significant premium. The percentage of ND fans at teh game was far less than in the past.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 01.27.08 - 5:36 pm | #

ND matched up well against Nova. The Cats have no one to handle Harangody, as opposed to G'town which made him look silly. ND can play with most teams unless they have a giant or 2 semi-giant players inside. UConn has a 7'2" center but he is still learning the game. UConn is getting better quickly and they would give ND fits in Storrs, or later in the season. McAlarney is the real deal, former leading scorer from NYC's Catholic league.
DuffMan | Email | Homepage | 01.27.08 - 10:04 pm | #

Sorry Lush. This was the first year I haven't gone in a while. On TV, it sounded like there was a good ND crowd as usual - very unlike the Marquette and Georgetown games. Usually, the Philly Club sells the tix at a premium to raise money for their scholarship. Either way, we can all agree it was a nice win and a positive step. GO IRISH!

-Anonymous aka Greg
Greg | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 10:07 am | #

I was at the Georgetown game...if you throw out the student sections, I would guess that about 40% of the remaining fans were wearing Irish gear. We were there, we just didn't have anything to cheer for. Probably the same at Marquette.
ND Alum | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 12:19 pm | #

There was no crowd noise for Villanove that came across on TV...none
captain jack | Email | Homepage | 01.28.08 - 2:14 pm | #