It is, according to the most accurate shooter in the conference, one of the best shooting arenas in the Big East.
“The Petersen Events Center is a great place to shoot,” Notre Dame guard Colin Falls, tops in the Big East with a 44.3 percentage from three-point range, says of Pittsburgh’s facility.
But if the shooting for the Irish has been good, the end result has not been. Notre Dame has played there twice since it opened in the spring of 2002. After both games the Irish walked off the floor defeated.
The Irish hope to make the third time the charm Saturday when they take on the 18th-ranked Panthers (16-4, 6-3).
If the Irish (14-6, 6-4) succeed, they will have won three of their last four games over ranked opponents.
In its last game Notre Dame knocked off previously undefeated Boston College.
It is not, however, resting on its laurels. By the times the players made it to dinner Tuesday night, just hours after the team’s victory over the Eagles, talk already had turned to Pitt. A victory there would go a long way toward assuring Notre Dame an NCAA tournament bid.
“I only have a month left in my [college] career, so I’m sleeping in the gym, I’m sleeping in the locker room,” Irish point guard Chris Thomas says. “So this is where I’m going to focus, on being a leader for this team whether they need me to make shots or they need me to create.”
In his last outing Thomas did both, shooting 60 percent from the floor for 19 points and handing out nine assists without a turnover.
Thomas, who had shot below 30 percent in six of the team’s previous seven games, will try to keep his hot hand going. The Panthers, no matter how far down they have been this season, are seldom out.
Against Connecticut and Syracuse, Pittsburgh has rallied from 17-point deficits in the first half to claim victory.
Pittsburgh’s attack is catalyzed by point guard Carl Krauser, who leads the Panthers with 15.8 points per game and averages more than six assists.
The Irish big men, led by Torin Francis and Dennis Latimore, also will have to find a way to shut down 6-foot-7-inch senior forward Chevon Troutman, who averages 15.1 points for Pittsburgh and leads the team with 8.2 assists per game.
Notre Dame entered its four-game stretch with ranked opponents, which began Jan. 30 against Connecticut, looking to win two, Thomas says. They have beaten UConn and Boston College at home while suffering a tough loss at Syracuse.
Going into Saturday’s game that goal has shifted.
” We want to go 3-1,” Falls says. “We have two [victories] behind us, and we have to look at Pitt. And we have to win that one.”
