Tuesday NIT: Notre Dame vs. Penn State
Notre Dame, a team ranked in the top 10 early this college basketball season but generally considered one of the country’s disappointments, faces one of the 2008-09 season’s surprises in Penn State in Tuesday night’s second NIT semifinal in New York.
The Irish have opened as 4-point WagerWeb.com favorites, with an over/under of 138.
Both teams enter off wins over good SEC schools, with the Irish earning their trip to New York with a 77-67 win vs. Kentucky in South Bend while Penn State won at Florida, 71-62.
At least Notre Dame will be familiar with playing in the Garden, having played their eight times in four years and three times this season (going 1-2). Penn State makes its first visit. But the Irish didn’t have to win a road game to get there, as Penn State did.
The Lions went 22-11 during the regular season and 10-8 in the Big Ten conference, but a weak nonconference schedule left them outside the NCAA bubble. Their star is guard Talor Battle, the Big Ten’s leading scorer at 16.8 points. He tends to hit game-winning or game-tying shots when given the chance; in the NIT he drained an overtime-forcing 3-pointer against George Mason and then had eight of his game-high 24 points in the extra session. He also needs five assists to break Dan Earl’s school season record of 181.
“He’s really a competitive person,” PSU coach Ed DeChellis said. “He hates to lose. . . . I think he radiates that to other guys.”
Battle, Penn State’s fifth first-team all-Big Ten member and its first since 2001, has the Lions (25-11) one win away from a program record.
The Irish (21-14) were expected to challenge for the Big East title, and possibly even a national championship, this season. However, Notre Dame went 32 days without a win during the middle of the Big East season and was beaten by West Virginia in the second round of the conference tournament to end any NCAA Tournament hopes.
Notre Dame played one of its better games in a while vs. Kentucky. The Irish made 12 3-pointers, their second highest total of the season, and were paced by All-American Luke Harangody’s 30 points. He probably will be the difference in this game.
Penn State leads the all-time series but Notre Dame won the last matchup — 73-52 in the 2000 NIT semis. The Nittany Lions are 1-3 all-time in NIT semifinal games.
WagerWeb.com Trends
* Fighting Irish are 7-0 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games.
* Fighting Irish are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.
* Fighting Irish are 13-6 ATS in their last 19 games as a favorite of 0.5-6.5.
* Fighting Irish are 5-11 ATS in their last 16 games vs. a team with a winning % above .600.
* Fighting Irish are 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games vs. a team with a winning S.U. record.
* Fighting Irish are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games following a S.U. win.
* Fighting Irish are 7-19 ATS in their last 26 games following a ATS win.
* Nittany Lions are 8-3 ATS in their last 11 non-conference games.
* Nittany Lions are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS win.
* Nittany Lions are 5-17-1 ATS in their last 23 games as an underdog of 0.5-6.5.
* Nittany Lions are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games as an underdog.
* Nittany Lions are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Big East.
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