Harangody pushes Irish past Hoyas

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/05/2009 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luke Harangody finished with 31 points and 11 rebounds, as 13th-ranked Notre Dame beat No. 9 Georgetown, 73-67, in a Big East clash at the Joyce Center.

Kyle McAlarney added 17 points for Notre Dame (11-3, 2-1 Big East), which ran its winning streak at home to 44 games -- the longest such streak in the nation. Tory Jackson chipped in 10 points and seven assists for the Fighting Irish, who rebounded from a loss Saturday at St. John's to record their fifth win in six games.

Greg Monroe had 21 points and 10 boards to pace Georgetown (10-3, 1-2), which has lost two in a row, having also dropped a 70-54 decision at home Saturday to now-No.1 Pittsburgh.

Chris Wright scored 13, and DaJuan Summers added 11, but the Hoyas had trouble finding an offensive rhythm, ending 4-for-18 on three-point attempts and 13- of-22 at the free throw line.

Harangody provided the rhythm for Notre Dame, as he was dominating in the paint and powered the Irish at the end of the first half. Most of the opening stanza was close, and Jason Clark made a layup to bring Georgetown within 26-25 with just over four minutes left.

But Notre Dame ended the half on a 13-3 run -- during which Harangody scored all of Notre Dame's points. The reigning Big East player of the year, Harangody had two jumpers following Clark's layup to start the surge, and after two misses from the Hoyas, he got a layup to fall while being fouled with 2:54 on the clock.

The free throw put the Irish up by eight, and he added a jumper a short while later to put ND's lead in double digits.

Austin Freeman then added one free throw for Georgetown, but Harangody countered with two from the line. He added two more from the stripe after a Wright layup, giving Notre Dame a 39-28 lead going into intermission.

Georgetown opened the second half with a seven-point burst -- a trey from Jessie Sapp and two Monroe layups got the Hoyas within 39-35. But they didn't completely close the gap, as Harangody countered with a jumper.

Notre Dame continued to lead by several possessions until McAlarney drained back-to-back triples late in the second half. The second, coming with 6:41 left, pushed the Irish lead to 61-48.

The Hoyas made one lash push in the final minutes, and managed to get within 67-62 when the lefty Monroe made a nice move in the paint, turning quickly and floating in a basket.

But Georgetown fouled Jackson with 53.6 seconds remaining, and he made both to give the Irish a seven-point lead -- too much of a deficit for the visitors to overcome.

Game Notes

Notre Dame hosts Seton Hall on Saturday...Georgetown hosts Providence on Saturday...The Irish were 8-for-21 from three-point range, and 15-of-16 on foul shots...The nation's longest home winning streak before Notre Dame claimed the title was BYU, whose 53-game streak was ended Saturday against Wake Forest...Georgetown still leads the all-time series between the schools, 14-11, but had a four-game winning streak snapped.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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