ESPN: “This is a great win for us, but we can’t relax,” Padgett said. “We want to finish it like the way we’re playing now. We want to win two more games and win a Big East championship.”

Pitino said he thought the Cardinals could run with the Big East’s highest-scoring offense, and they did it during a dizzying first 10 minutes.

“Now we’ve got two games to go to win a championship.”

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=280590097

****************************************************************

Out-shooting Notre Dame to win… whoda thunk it.

That was a great game against a very good, solid ND team.

Not flashy, ND rebounded, scrapped and shot well in the second half.

The Cards just played extremely well the first half, and gutsy enough in the second.

We continue to shoot very well–didn’t take many wild or contested shots–and shot > 50% both halves.

Our assists/turnovers > 1 for the game, and we rebounded them evenly and held them to 33% shooting through he first half.

David Padgett was brilliant, and demonstrated he was Harangody’s daddy in the post. Earl Clark returned from his recent walkabout, with a strong effort. Good Edgar suited up.

Up with the flu all night, T Will posted an amazingly strong line of stats–but he certainly didn’t have his hops.

The only mis-firing cylinder remains a regressing DC:

First Half Points

13 minutes with David Padgett on the floor: 40

7 minutes without David Padgett on the floor: 2

As you can imagine, the Card faithful were near delirium at the mid-point of the first half as the Cards race-horsed to a 32-16 lead–and as the lead bounced to 19 a with 6 minutes to go. Sedat was doing handstands on the 2nd floor stadium railing at its peak.

But we lost the second half by 10, got out rebounded by 7 , and let them shoot over 50% from 2 and > 60% from 3 in the half.

Obviously, still need work

but

That was a top 10 effort against a legit top 15 opponent– and that’s 2 out of the last 4 big ones in our pocket–and 8 in a row.

And….we’re tied for the Big East lead, with a chance to determine our own fate by winning out.

Now, for Senior Night for David, Tello, and T-Far– and Nova.

Man, what a ride…

“Adolph Rupp has won 800 and some games. Five hundred of them against Southeastern Conference teams. That’s like me going down to Texas with six kids from Canada and starting a hockey league.” – Johnny Dee, former Notre Dame basketball coach.

I always liked ND growing up, mainly because of that famous quote. Also, because they pulled off some gigantic upsets, particularly a few over UCLA (did I say how much I hated UCLA?)

My memory may be failing me, but I believe U of L– and Denny– owned Notre Dame when we used to play them.  For over 40 years, we played them, the last time in 1995 under Denny in . Our all-time record against the Irish to that point: 12-7. 

We’ve split the last two meetings, the last one in January 2007 in South Bend being a 78-62 loss.

So, what does all this mean for tomorrow night’s Armageddon in the Hall?

Diddly.

But…I, and I think most Card fans, are salivating like seldom before at the prospect of dismantling ND in our house. In fact, when was the last time you remember two teams (ND and Nova) of this quality coming to town back-to-back to end the season with so much on the line?

Is this what Heaven is like?

For more in-depth analysis of the game, I direct you  to two of the best Card blogs — and the best sports writing in this area including the CJ hacks– the Card Chronicle: http://www.cardchronicle.com/

and,  the Card Game   http://uoflcardgame.com/

Four to finish.

All four in the top 25 in the RPI and in most polls for long stretches of
the season.

This is the most challenging–and exhilarating–regular season ending stretch run I can ever remember in Card history. Nothing in the Missouri Valley, Metro, or CUSA ever topped this.

And think about it…this brutal four game gauntlet, then the grind of the
conference tournament, capped by a final grasp for that big, shiny, NCAA ring.

It will either make us, or break us.

***************************************************

It all starts at the Zoo at high noon on Sunday against Pitt. Even with
Pitt reeling a bit lately, the Zoo is a nasty pen to play in.

For those of you interested in what Panther fans are thinking about can tune
in to these blogs:
http://pittblather.com/
http://pittsburgh.rivals.com/forum.asp?sid=996&fid=538.

Apparently Vegas money loves the Cards. In the blog Card Chronicle, this post by drhustle caught my eye: http://www.cardchronicle.com/ : “Las Vegas Sports Consultants has released this week’s version of its Top 30,a poll based on LVSC’s power ratings and certainly one that varies greatlywith the national rankings you see.

We’re #7 in this week’s LVSC poll. We may not get respect from people who make money talking about (#18) or coaching (#23) college basketball…But we are getting respect from the guys make money by actually knowing about college b-ball.

Check it out.” http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/story.cfm/story/678264.

The Hell in the Hall titled email I sent out after the win over Georgetown inspired reader and long -time (and much, much older) friend, the Big E, to muse back that perhaps this called for a T shirt. So, voila…for our family, friends,and for any other Card fan that wants one: the Hell in the Hall T-shirt (see below).

My nephew Zack, and E’s son, Kevin–both students at U of L–and their friends helped us design the shirt…thank God. (The first designs by E and me really stunk by comparison.) I think the T looks pretty cool now.

We made 36 of them. Twelve of them are already being proudly worn by Card fans from 18 to 58. If you want one, let me know, via email. You can have them for what it cost E and me: $10/each (plus $2.75 for postage and envelope = $12.75, if you want me to mail it to you. Email me at frankpos@gmail.com.) Now that we actually know how to get the T’s made, we can make more if needed.

We wanted to get these T’s ready for this stretch run–and the particularly the last two home games against Notre Dame and Villanova. Remember: the T was inspired by one of the most awe-inspiring sights I’ve ever seen–or heard–as a basketball fan. The ear-splitting fandemonium of the Georgetown White-Out game at the Hall on 2/9/08:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZWNFZKi9xU .

Oh , and also maybe by this locomotive T -Will throw-down that had G-Town’s Donte Green scurrying for cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-dPw2y7_DQ&NR=1 .

Hey, the Card win streak inspired this Card fan, to, well…Crank that Louisville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jJ9RoOdg3E&eurl=http://www.cardchronicle.com.

The Big E and I have our T’s on. We’re ready to raise some Hell in the Hall during those last two home games.

R U ?

Ya wanna know how loud it got the other night at Freedom Hall against G-Town? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZWNFZKi9xU

Also, a great article in SI.com on David Padgett http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=3239055&sportCat=ncb

Finally, ESPN: Vote for David Padgett for Best Big Man on Campus http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/index