2010 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Basketball: Notre Dame vs Connecticut

This was not a night to play an ugly game, with the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee paying very close attention to the action inside the Joyce Center. Even more so, this was not a night to lose. Early-March bubble battles don't allow much of a margin for error.

There was just no way to deny or minimize the magnitude of the occasion on Wednesday night. A desperate duel unfolded in South Bend, Ind., as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Connecticut Huskies - both sitting on the fence in pursuit of the NCAA Tournament - tried to gain one crucial measure of added leverage in a clamorous and cluttered Big East race.

Notre Dame lost to Northwestern and Loyola Marymount out of conference, but had a .500 Big East record heading into this consequential collision. UConn, for its part, owned some solid non-conference scalps - Texas in particular - but was just 7-9 in the league. The Fighting Irish had established themselves as a more consistent team, but the Huskies from the Nutmeg State offered a better strength of schedule component plus a superior set of Big East wins, including a takedown of Villanova. Notre Dame and Connecticut represented different flavors of bubble intrigue, but they both shared an uncertain future and the accompanying need to re-shape it in their favor. Only so many bids can go around in the 16-team Big East, so an aura of urgency enveloped this encounter.

Unfortunately for Connecticut, both the aesthetics of this game and its outcome did not stack up in the Huskies' favor... not with that pesky Selection Committee paying very close attention to the proceedings. Coach Jim Calhoun's ballclub - ascendant over the past two weeks - came crashing down to earth with an outing few could have predicted.

The Huskies were hogtied by Coach Mike Brey's revitalized and resurgent Irish, who have found a winning identity without superstar big man Luke Harangody. Notre Dame might not be a fun team to watch with its meal-ticket scorer on the pine, but the sons of South Bend work well together and communicate on defense, where they've become a little flinty and considerably feisty.

On this night, UConn reached 50 points only because the Irish conceded a number of baskets and free throws in the endgame phase, which considerably multiplies the number of possessions each team receives. Until the final minutes of regulation, Notre Dame stymied the visitors from New England, limiting UConn to roughly one point per minute. The Irish allowed 38 points in the first 38 minutes because of great help defense that clogged the middle of the paint and filled a number of driving and passing lanes. Connecticut's three primary guards, starters Kemba Walker and Jerome Dyson plus backup Donnell Beverly, went just 8 of 33 from the field (under 25 percent) in the face of Notre Dame's pressure and well-timed rotations. Since the Huskies' big men weren't able to pick up the slack on a night when their guards struggled to such a considerable extent, UConn suffered its worst performance since a similarly ugly loss to Cincinnati two and a half weeks ago.

You might recall that on Feb. 13 - in Jim Calhoun's return to the bench - UConn dropped a 60-48 decision to Cincinnati in which the Huskies scored just five points in the first 10 minutes of the second half. This awful evening in Indiana possessed a similar vibe, as UConn scored just six points in the first 10 minutes of the second half against Notre Dame. Husky fans thought that offensive train wrecks were behind this team, which had seemingly turned the corner with huge wins against Villanova and West Virginia over the past 17 days. Evidently, that's not the case, and since the Selection Committee surely saw what unfolded on Wednesday night, the Huskies - who were in the NCAA Tournament field according to most projections late last week - now find themselves in dire need of at least two or three wins as the Big East Tournament approaches.

It's never good to play ugly when you're being viewed by a committee of experts. It's far worse to play ugly and not even manage to win. Connecticut endured a double whammy, and now the NIT looms as a likely destination once again.

Notre Dame vs Connecticut Basketball Recap