Mike Brey

SOUTH BEND -- Nervous energy necessitated that Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick remained on the move during men's basketball home games. Swarbrick would spend a slice of time seated in the lower arena before moving to pace in the tunnel that leads to the Irish locker room. He could be spotted in the second half high above the floor in the plush Club Naimoli, where he would watch from a safe and solitary distance. Regardless of the vantage point, Swarbrick likes what he's seen this season, even if a seemingly growing number of Irish fans don't share that sentiment.

SOUTH BEND -- With Wednesday’s game against Connecticut there for the taking, someone needed to step forward and put his strangle-hold on it. Notre Dame guard Tory Jackson, whose goal going in was to play his best in his final regular-season home game, did just that. A 58-50 victory saw Jackson score 20 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. He wouldn’t admit that it was the best he’s ever played in Purcell Pavilion, but it was close. “God blessed me with this one,” Jackson said.

It may not mean much come Selection Sunday or even guarantee a winning Big East record, but a four-day foray through late February helped Notre Dame men’s basketball matter again. A 14-point victory over No. 11 Georgetown on Saturday kept the Notre Dame name among the headlines the rest of the college basketball day. The final score was among the first to appear on ESPN’s crawl, and talk of whether the Irish were in or out of the NCAA Tournament was constant. Sunday also saw words about Notre Dame’s week occasionally take center stage.

SOUTH BEND - Feeling better after missing two games to let a bone bruise in his right knee heal, Notre Dame power forward Luke Harangody planned to participate in all 90 minutes of Monday’s basketball practice. He barely made it through 15 before lingering pain forced him out of a simple halfcourt drill. After consultation with team medical personnel and coach Mike Brey, Harangody has been ruled out for Wednesday’s home game against No. 12 Pittsburgh. “He kind of stepped out for a few minutes and wanted to come back in,” said Brey, whose team never got to a planned scrimmage with Harangody.

Limited still in what he can do because of a lingering bone bruise in his right knee, Notre Dame All-American Luke Harangody believes he will be back for Wednesday’s home game against Pittsburgh. “In my mind, there’s no question - I’m going to play,” Harangody said Saturday morning. “It’s feeling a lot better, getting better every day. “We’re kind of being a little sensitive of when I can go back live.” Had it been up to Harangody, he would have returned for last week’s game at Louisville, a contest the Irish (17-10 overall, 6-8 Big East)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A specific steadiness for two-thirds of the season — being good with the basketball — often gave Notre Dame a chance at success despite any shortcomings or in-game sins. But since a season-low two turnovers late last month against DePaul, Notre Dame has lost four of its last six and two straight Big East games in part because it has not placed a similar premium on possessions. In last week’s loss at Seton Hall, Notre Dame committed 14 turnovers.

Games that tip early often have troubled the Notre Dame men’s basketball team, something coach Mike Brey made sure would not occur on Sunday. Well-caffeinated for a 12:05 p.m. tip against South Florida, Brey soon found an outlet for his energy. With the visitors struggling to do anything right and his Irish having rocketed to a 25-10 lead, he burst from the sideline as the Bulls took another timeout. Looking like an outfielder trying to make a 400-foot throw to home plate on the fly, Brey wound up, wildly swung his right arm through the air and tested the threads of his suit coat.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - They showered and dressed and departed quickly from the small cinder-block locker room Saturday night deep in the bowels of another road arena, yet members of the Notre Dame men’s basketball team did not ignore the obvious. Teams that fancy themselves NCAA Tournament-worthy at season’s end win games against opponents that come into contests winless in league play. The Irish, however, left wounded and wondering after Rutgers was the team that finished on the right end of the scoreboard.

Short of turning the lights down low and tuning in some mood music for a group hypnotherapy session, Notre Dame is left with only one option concerning its free-throw woes on the road - start making them. For the second consecutive Big East road game - a 90-72 loss Wednesday at No. 3 Villanova - Notre Dame fell apart at the foul line. The Irish (15-6 overall; 4-4 Big East) missed seven free throws in the first half and trailed by one at intermission before shooting 63.3 percent (19-of-30)