St. John's vs Notre Dame preview: Irish look to avenge earlier loss on ND's Senior Night

A trip to the NCAA Tournament may be unlikely, but the Red Storm have two chances to beat a ranked team before the Big East Tournament starts in Madison Square Garden next week - and two more chances to show how dangerous they can be, even without the team's leading scorer. The first chance comes Tuesday evening, on the road against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

St. John's hasn't lost three straight games all season. But coming off of the loss to Providence, St. John's is on a two-game losing streak, 8-8 in the Big East with two games to go.

Of course, D`Angelo Harrison was on the floor to help break those streaks, and played against Notre Dame in January.

On the other side, #24 Notre Dame comes off of a thorough pasting by Marquette where they were down by as much as 16 points in Milwaukee.

The Irish, with an ill Jack Cooley playing limited minutes and ineffective play from a number of their supplemental players, will look to put on a show for their home crowd on their Senior Night. The evening tilt between the Johnnies and Irish may be the last scheduled game, given the rumored conference changes; both coaches know that without a conference connection, future games are not a guarantee.

Add the chance for the Irish to overtake Syracuse for fifth place in the Big East, and an outside shot at the double-bye and fourth place... and you can expect the Leprechauns to come out with fists raised and ready to avenge the earlier loss, a loud, combustible Purcell Pavilion as March snow is scheduled to fall on the Indiana night.

Mood music:
For your rap with actual Fighting Irish imagery + pugilism mood: House of Pain, "On Point" (semi-NSFW, new window)

For your shoegazer (which might only be me, but they're Irish!) mood: My Bloody Valentine, "Only Shallow" (new window)

Last time, versus Notre Dame

With a lot of fight, solid adjustments, and some strong shot-blocking defense at the end, the Red Storm knocked off the then- #20 ranked Fighting Irish 67-63 in Madison Square Garden - the house where the Irish have struggled for years.

Starting with a small lineup, the Johnnies found out that fronting Jack Cooley and doubling on the perimeter led to Cooley-on-no-one matchups that allowed him to practice his dunking. It took Chris Obekpa's disruptive presence and switching defense - sometimes sagging man, sometimes extended pressure - to throw the Irish off-balance and generate seven first-half steals.

Phil Greene IV (13 points on 6/17 shooting) and JaKarr Sampson (17 points on 5/14 shooting) provided offense with help from a couple of late plays by Harrison and Amir Garrett's best scoring performance this year in Big East play (11 points on 5/7 shooting). Their efforts allowed Steve Lavin's team to hold off the Irish late - with the help of blocks by Obekpa and Harrison.

Still, the Irish had an uncharacteristically cold shooting performance, and forwards Cooley and Tom Knight got lots of good looks at the basket. The hot shooting, low-turnover Irish can be a far more dangerous team at home. The Johnnies need to both stifle their shooting once more, or use their ball movement to attack the Irish at the rim.

Scott Martin, who played in the first game, has been out with a left knee injury. Tom Knight (6'9", 246) has earned much more time, creating a sizeable front line. Zach Auguste (6'10", 230) also sees minutes.

Keys to the Game aka the TV lineup

Prediction: At home, the Irish are difficult to master. 69-62 Notre Dame.