Notre Dame’s season was in serious jeopardy. Again.

On Feb. 17, the Fighting Irish had lost their third straight game and fifth of its last seven. And to make things worse, Big East preseason player of the year Luke Harangody had missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury.

For the second year in a row, it appeared as if Notre Dame (20-10, 9-8 Big East) would fail to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

But during a year in the Big East when anything can happen on any given night, the Irish are back on the bubble. In a critical week for the Irish, Notre Dame pulled out two unlikely victories against ranked opponents. On Feb. 24, the Irish defeated No. 12 Pittsburgh (22-7, 11-5) on their home court. Three days later, the Harangody-less squad upset No. 11 Georgetown (19-9, 9-8) at the Verizon Center.

Following Wednesday’s victory over Connecticut (17-13, 7-10), Notre Dame will play its final regular-season game on Saturday on the road against Marquette. And then comes the Big East tournament, where the Irish can further bolster its tournament résumé.

Though Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey would unquestionably love to have his star player on the floor for the final stretch of conference play, he believes that his team is talented enough to win without the 6-foot-8 forward. The wins over the Panthers and Hoyas proved that.

‘We move pretty well together,’ Brey said on his radio show on March 1. ‘One thing that helps this group is that they lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio. So with their feel for the game, their passing ability and their basketball IQ, they can really figure out what a good shot is. I don’t think we can be completely shocked by this group adapting because they have the skill package to adapt.’

Amid the constant negativity surrounding the loss of Harangody, Brey’s team has embraced the underdog role and has used it to its advantage.

‘I think it’s always a bit of motivation when people label you an underdog and people count you out of it,’ junior forward Tim Abromaitis said. ‘But I think we’re just coming together right now. We know the importance of these games, and we’ll be ready to go for the rest of the season.’

With Harangody in street clothes, Brey has had to alter his team’s offensive style. Brey acknowledges that his team has been more patient on the offensive end of the floor – a credit to point guard Tory Jackson – and has utilized the shot clock to its advantage. In doing so, Notre Dame has limited the other team’s offensive possessions, making the loss of its premier rebounder and shot blocker less damaging.

Though this strategy sounds idealistic in theory, the fact remains that the Fighting Irish need to make up for Harangody’s 24.1 points per game.

And, thus far, Brey’s players have responded.

‘Different guys are stepping up,’ Abromaitis said. ‘Carleton Scott played the best game of his career this weekend, Tyrone Nash has been playing great and Ben Hansbrough has played great. I just think everybody is really prepared to step it up right now.’

Notre Dame is officially back on the bubble. But it needs to continue to enhance its résumé in order to impress the NCAA selection committee. The Irish have four wins against RPI top-50 opponents, but its relatively light nonconference schedule, ranked No. 216 in the nation, will not help its plea for postseason play.

But with Harangody more than likely having played his last game for the Fighting Irish, Notre Dame needs to continue its hot stretch and push itself up the Big East ranks.

Jackson realizes this.

Like Harangody, he is a senior playing in his last season. Unlike Harangody, he will be on the court for the Irish down the stretch. And with that, Jackson acknowledges the obvious: The time to make a statement is now.

‘We’re a good team,’ Jackson said. ‘It’s a team thing. With or without Luke, I think we’re still good. He’s a tough guy and an impact player, but we have a great group of hungry guys that want to play and want to go out there and do the little things, and that’s what they’ve been doing. So I think we’ve been proving a lot lately, but we still have a lot of work to do.’

Player to watch

Mike Rosario

The sophomore guard was the leading scorer for Rutgers (15-14, 5-11) in both of its games last week. On Feb. 23 at Seton Hall (16-11, 7-9), Rosario had 17 points in a 76-70 loss. Four days later, Rosario dropped 24 points in addition to six rebounds and two steals as the Scarlet Knights defeated DePaul (8-21, 1-16), 71-62. The Jersey City, N.J., native has had a knack for scoring in the clutch, as 33 of his 41 points on the week came in the second half. Rosario is averaging 16.4 points per game on the season.

Game to watch

No. 10 West Virginia at No. 9 Villanova

Saturday, 12 p.m., CBS

West Virginia (23-6, 12-5) will have an opportunity to tie Villanova (24-5, 13-4) for the No. 2 spot in the Big East conference standings as it heads to Philadelphia on the final Saturday of the regular-season schedule. Though both of these teams have locked up byes to the quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament, they’re both vying for a potential No. 2 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. After losing three of five, Villanova stopped the bleeding as it defeated Cincinnati (16-13, 7-10) on the road Tuesday night. West Virginia has won four of its last five, capped off by an impressive win against No. 19 Georgetown on Monday evening. The Wildcats defeated the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va, 82-75, when the two last met on Feb. 8.

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Published on March 3, 2010 at 12:00 pm