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GAME NOTES: The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have left themselves some work to do down the stretch as they are in desperate need of some quality wins to perhaps earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. One such opportunity comes tonight, as the Irish welcome the 12th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers to South Bend for a Big East matchup at the Joyce Center.

The Panthers comes into this contest red-hot, having won five straight games, including an impressive 70-65 besting of Villanova this past weekend. With the victory, Pitt is now 10-4 in league play, still within striking distance of both Syracuse (13-2) and Villanova (11-3).

The Irish on the other hand, are a mere 6-8 in league play, thanks to three straight losses to Seton Hall, St. John's and last week's heart-breaker at Louisville (91-89 in double overtime). However, with Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Connecticut and Marquette still on the docket, the Irish can bolster their record down the stretch.

Pittsburgh has been able to take a narrow 27-26 lead in the all-time series with Notre Dame thanks to wins in six of the last seven meetings.

The Panthers are not flashy at the offensive end of the floor, but they are effective, averaging 68.7 ppg on a steady .441 shooting. Where the team really excels is at the defensive end, limiting the opposition to a mere 61.4 ppg and holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.395), while outrebounding them by 5.5 boards per contest. The scoring pool features a quartet of reliable assets, led by Ashton Gibbs. The 6-2 sophomore guard leads the team in scoring at 16.4 ppg, thanks in large part to his team-high 61 three-pointers. Brad Wanamaker has proved to be a solid scorer (12.3 ppg), rebounder (6.1 rpg) and distributor (team-high 119 assists). Gilbert Brown comes off the bench with 11.1 ppg, followed by Jermaine Dixon's 10.3 ppg. Pitt opened up a 10-point lead in the first half and kept the Wildcats at arm's length the rest of the way in a huge win for the Panthers. Gibbs led the way with 21 points. Brown added 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench, while Dixon chipped in with 10.

The Irish almost pulled out a win at Louisville last week despite being without the services of All-American candidate Luke Harangody, who missed his second straight game with a knee bruise. The Irish shot .475 from the floor in the game, but a 35-23 disparity in points from the foul line proved costly. The loss spoiled solid efforts from Tim Abromaitis, Ben Hansbrough and Tory Jackson. Abromaitis hit 11 of his 18 shots to lead the team with 29 points. Hansbrough poured in 21, while Jackson finished with 19 points and seven assists. Harangody is the stabilizing force down low for Notre Dame, leading the conference in scoring (24.1 ppg) and ranking third in rebounding (10.0 rpg). However, he is expected to miss his third straight game, leaving a noticeable void in the paint. Abromaitis (17.3 ppg) is capable of picking up the scoring burden, thanks to his .490 percentage from long range. Hansbrough (12.1 ppg) is both a scorer (12.1 ppg) and distributor (4.7 apg), as is Jackson (9.1 ppg, Big East-best 5.7 apg).

The Irish are usually a solid team at home, but without Harangody, expect Pittsburgh to take full advantage and keep the momentum building down the stretch.