Pitt vs. Notre Dame: Open Gamethread

Pitt's basketball team comes into their road game with Notre Dame off of the Boston College win. As I wrote in the recap, it wasn't thoroughly convincing, but really just what the doctor ordered. If there was any game Pitt could ill afford to lose, it would have been against the Eagles. That test is over and the next one begins.

It's hard to feel overly confident in this one. Notre Dame is one of those teams that gives Pitt fits and the Panthers are far from a lock today.

The good news for Pitt is that the Irish have been without leading scorer Jerian Grant for most of the season due to academics. The Irish went from having some good potential this year to being a borderline train wreck. Since his dismissal, Notre Dame is 7-10 - with him, they were 8-4. Part of that's the ACC season, but part is Grant, obviously.

FWIW, they did have a two-point win over Duke without him, but they've been mostly bad since then. The problem? Pitt hasn't exactly been dominant lately, either.

Be sure to join Cardiac Hill's Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @PittPantherBlog for our regular updates on Pitt athletics. Follow the author and manager/editor of Cardiac Hill @AnsonWhaley