Notre Dame Fighting Irish at South Florida Bulls, USF Sun Dome, Tampa, FL
Saturday, February 12, 2011, 12:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN3
Opening Line: Notre Dame -6.5
Current Line: Notre Dame -5.5
Opening Total: 127.5
Current Total: 126.5
Money Line: Notre Dame -260 / South Florida +220
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (20-4, 9-3 Big East) bring a six-game winning streak on the road for the first of three consecutive games away from home when they visit the South Florida Bulls (8-17, 2-10) on Saturday. The Fighting Irish (-5.5) have had the benefit of playing four of their past six games at home where they are 15-0 compared to a 2-3 record on the road.
However, Notre Dame’s two road wins both came during their current winning streak, one against the best team in the conference (Pittsburgh) and the other against the worst (DePaul). The Irish are 5-1 against the spread in their last six games, failing only to cover in a 76-69 home win over Rutgers. The OVER is 4-1 in Notre Dame’s past five as the team has managed to total 80 points or more three times.
South Florida has no idea what it is like to score 80 or more, failing to reach that plateau in 25 games so far this season. The Bulls scored a season high in a 79-72 home win over Providence back on January 16 and have totaled more than 63 just once in six games since then. They are coming off a tough 59-58 home loss to Marquette on Wednesday, blowing a 16-point lead.
The Golden Eagles trailed South Florida 44-28 with less than 15 minutes remaining but rallied behind Jae Crowder’s team-high 14 points, including 4 of 5 shots from 3-point range. The Bulls were led by Toarlyn Fitzpartick’s 16 points and 13 rebounds and lost despite holding Marquette to 39 percent shooting from the field and watching the Golden Eagles miss 12 of 19 free throws.
The Irish will be a much tougher opponent if they continue to shoot the ball as well as they did against the Cardinals. Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis combined for 48 points on 15 of 30 shooting, making 7 of their 14 shots from beyond the arc. Notre Dame shot nearly 48 percent from the field as a team and made 20 of 28 shots from the free-throw line.
Even though South Florida has dropped five of its last six games overall, the team managed to give the Irish a couple battles last season. The Bulls lost both games by a combined four points and are 2-0-1 ATS in the previous three meetings. Still, Notre Dame has won the last four games between the teams along with six of the past seven with the UNDER going 6-1.
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