Notre Dame had a tough loss on Saturday in Cincinnati. After controlling most of the first half, the Irish could never pull away from a tough Bearcats defense. Eventually, UC’s dominance of the backboards caught up to UND, and the Irish fell, 60-58. Despite Luke Harangody growing into the Big East’s version of Tyler Hansbrough over the last two seasons, he’s seen the talent erode around him, and the team success that Notre Dame experienced during Harangody’s first two seasons is proving elusive in his final two.

As a freshman, Luke Harangody and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish won 24 games, reached the Big East Tournament semifinals and the NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed. As a sophomore, Harangody saw his team win 25 more games, earn a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament and win a game there.

Last season, Notre Dame was a consensus top-25 team entering the season, this despite losing Rob Kurz and replacing him with no one (I suppose it was sophomore Tyrone Nash, in theory). Notre Dame disappointed, though, finishing 8-10 in conference and 18-14 overall (before the NIT, where the Irish won three times). A seven-game losing streak in January and February ruined the season. Read More »