Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. Kentucky Wildcats Preview and Pick

The Fighting Irish are in great shape this year under Head Coach Mike Brey, as they have rolled off eight straight ‘W’s to start off the campaign, including a few impressive wins. The victories against the Wisconsin Badgers and Cal Golden Bears were tremendous, and they showed that this newly introduced “burn” offense that came out last year might just be the ticket to victories, especially in games like this one. The ‘D’ is allowing just 62.0 points per game on the campaign, which ranks a respectable No. 65 in the land, while teams are only shooting 38.0 percent from the floor. On the other side of the court, the combination of returning scorers G Ben Hansbrough and F Tim Abromaitis has been fantastic. Hansbrough has averaged 15.8 points per game, and he is shooting a blistering 54.8 percent from beyond the arc, while Abromaitis, more of an inside jump shooter, has 15.6 points and 6.9 boards per game. He is one of three players on the team that is averaging at least 6.9 boards per night, and if the big men can get the job done in the post and clean up, the Golden Domers are going to be in fantastic shape.

Notre Dame will have its hands full with a bright, young Kentucky squad, though. The Cats are coming off of that brutal two point loss at the North Carolina Tar Heels over the weekend, but they still have plenty to be happy about this season. This would be the biggest win of the campaign to date before coming home to close out 2010 with what should be a relatively easy string of games. Head Coach John Calipari doesn’t have nearly as strong of a team this year as he did in his Elite Eight run a season ago, but his top six are all fantastic. F Terrence Jones is built in the DeMarcus Cousins mold. Jones can stroke it from all over the court, and he’s a tremendous grinder on the inside. He is averaging 19.0 points and 9.6 boards per game, and he also leads the team with 15 blocks. G Brandon Knight is shooting just 44.3 percent from the field, but he is pouring in 17.0 points per game. Keep a close eye on both G Doron Lamb and G Darius Miller, though. These two are both hitting over 50% of their shots and are shooting at least 53 percent from beyond the arc as well. The two are both good for at least ten points per game.

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This young Kentucky team just hasn’t figured out how to win games like this one yet, and we aren’t so convinced that Freedom Hall is going to be the place to do that. Notre Dame is the real deal, and though it might struggle at times in Big East play, the Irish are going to get the job done here in Louisville and at least stick in front of the 5.5 point spread.