Four years ago they took a huge leap of faith by putting pen to paper. Pittsburgh’s program consistently resided closer to the cellar than the penthouse of the Big East. And Notre Dame was a bottom-dwelling neighbor.
So when Pittsburgh’s Brandin Knight and Notre Dame’s Matt Carroll signed to attend their respective universities, they did so believing that they could help turn their programs into winners.
Turns out they were right.
Sunday, two of the best players in the Big East will lead two of the best teams in the Big East when the fourth-ranked Panthers (16-2, 6-1 Big East) and No. 10 Notre Dame (18-4, 6-2) clash at the Joyce Center.
And while the ascension to the top of the Big East pecking order may seem sudden, both teams’ formulas for success have been a not-so-secret mixture of coaching, talent, vision and hard work.
Notre Dame has made the NCAA tournament in each of coach Mike Brey’s two seasons in South Bend. And Pittsburgh put up a school-record 29 victories, claimed the Big East West Division championship and made it to the final 16 last season, Ben Howland’s third at the helm.
“Most times when you get a job, the program is down and it’s a rebuilding deal,” Howland said. “I’ve always thought you have to get it done in Year 3.”
With all five starters returning for Pitt, the expectations soared even higher this year.
The foundation of the Panthers’ success has been a suffocating defense and a remarkable selflessness. Pittsburgh has the best scoring defense, at 58 points per game, and the best field-goal percentage defense, at 37.5 percent, in the Big East.
“If you want to win on a consistent basis, you have to be a good defensive team,” Howland said. “It’s a given in any team sport.”
The Panthers demonstrated that in their first meeting with Notre Dame this season, drubbing the Irish 72-55 Jan. 6 in large part by holding them to 31.7 percent shooting, their worst of the season.
By contrast Pittsburgh has been remarkably efficient, connecting on a conference-best 51 percent of its shots. The Panthers also have a Big East-leading 18.39 assists per game.
Five Panthers average double digits in scoring and all five are within two points of each other. The tone is set by Knight, whose importance to his team far exceeds his numbers of 10 points and 6.5 assists per game.
“He makes all the difference,” Pitt junior forward Chevon Troutman said. “He helps everybody through tough times.”
“He’s the smartest player I’ve ever coached in 22 years in coaching,” Howland added. “He’s a very good defender, he’s a great distributor of the ball, he’s a fearless competitor–and that’s contagious.”
Brey is equally complimentary about Carroll, who paces the Irish with 21 points per game.
“I told my son Kyle when I got here 2 1/2 years ago to watch Matt Carroll if you want to be a basketball player,” Brey said.
Like Knight, Carroll has served as the cornerstone of his team’s revival. He chose to be part of Notre Dame’s reconstruction even though he had his pick of colleges–including powerhouses such as Duke and Syracuse–coming out of high school.
“But [former] coach [John] McLeod told me you can come here and you can be a part of something that’s up and coming,” Carroll said. “You can be a part of turning this program around to how it used to be in the glory days.
“That’s what intrigued me here.”
