Many teams fill their early-season schedules with weak local opponents to make travel easy during finals time. Not Notre Dame.

After finishing second in the Guardians Classic, the Fighting Irish started this week by hammering No. 13 Marquette, 92-71. On Sunday, the Irish battle No. 9 Maryland at the BB&T Classic in Washington, D.C.

“We play one heck of a schedule, don’t we?” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said.

Most impressive thus far has been Notre Dame’s swarming defense. Before losing to Creighton in the Guardians Classic championship game, the Irish allowed 50 points or less in each of its four games. Brey said defense is typically ahead of a team’s offense early in the season.

“We play better on the defensive end,” Brey said. “(The players) like guarding and feel that it’s a strength.”

Notre Dame’s road to the Guardians championship game was easier than expected. Many top teams were forced to withdraw because of new NCAA rules that limit participation in preseason tournaments.

Instead of playing teams like Kansas, the Irish beat up on the likes of Belmont, Indiana-Purdue and Furman. Still, Brey insisted the tournament was worthwhile.

“We looked at it as a positive thing no matter who we played,” Brey said.

It was a positive experience, at least until the Irish fell to Creighton, 80-75, on Nov. 26. The stinging Irish defense disappeared, as Notre Dame failed to control Bluebird forward Kyle Korver. The senior scored 24 points, most coming on his seven three-pointers. Brey said Korver shoots the ball deeper than anyone he has ever seen.

“We didn’t have great team awareness of Korver,” Brey said. “Our inexperience hurt us, and we didn’t help on ball screens.”

The Irish seemed to learn from the loss, though, as they responded by dominating Marquette. Sophomore point guard Chris Thomas led with 32 points and 10 assists. Coming in, Brey worried about his team’s rebounding against the physical Golden Eagles. The Irish eased his worries, outrebounding Marquette, 44-30.

“We are just trying to learn from the loss at the Guardians,” Brey said. “We are young, and just have to practice and keep learning.”

***

Back from Alaska

After Villanova upset No. 9 Michigan State, 81-73, in the Great Alaska Shootout semifinals Friday, it looked like the Wildcats would cruise in Saturday’s championship game against Charleston.

Not so fast. The Cougars surprised Villanova, 71-69, to remain undefeated.

A.J. Harris came up with the winning basket for Charleston with 11 seconds remaining. Derrick Snowden and Gary Buchanan each missed three-pointers for the Wildcats as time expired.

Along with the upset victory over Michigan State, Buchanan’s quick return from injury made the trip to Alaska successful. Buchanan, a senior guard, was expected to miss two to three weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Instead, Buchanan missed 12 days and scored 29 points against the Spartans, his second game back.

“The first night, I was worried (about the knee),” Buchanan told the Associated Press. “(Friday) I just let all that go out the window.”

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The Boston blues

Just when Boston College figured its season couldn’t take another step back, it did. After a 1-2 start, which included the Eagles’ first loss to Holy Cross in 12 years, more bad news arrived.

Senior forward Uka Agbai will miss at least six weeks after suffering a neck injury against the Crusaders. The injury occurred when Agbai fell on a Holy Cross player.

Agbai scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds, despite playing injured throughout the second half.

“With an injury that serious, it’s important to be extra careful. His health is our first concern,” BC coach Al Skinner said in a release. “Hopefully, once he gets healthy, he can come back and play for us.”

Skinner has reason for concern, as he will now be without one of two senior starters. Agbai averaged 14 points and six rebounds in the Eagles’ first three games.

Much of the burden will now fall on guard Troy Bell, who averaged 21.6 points last season.

Boston College was picked by many to contend for the Big East title and an NCAA Tournament bid. After being embarrassed at home by St. Joseph’s in the season opener and falling to Holy Cross, the Eagles are far from the start they wanted.

The road doesn’t get any easier, either. Next up is tonight’s home game against St. Bonaventure, followed by road games at Massachusetts and Iowa State.

***

Pitt’s on the prowl

Julius Page isn’t satisfied with 3-0.

Page and No.5 Pittsburgh notched a third straight lopsided victory Saturday, a 89-49 thrashing of Arkansas-Pine Bluff. But the Lions — picked to finish last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference — led for much of the first half.

“As long as we continue to let teams stay around, this will catch up to us in the Big East,” Page told the AP.

Page also said the Panthers weren’t focused, played selfishly and need more intensity.

“Last year, we didn’t have one game where we didn’t respect our opponents,” Pittsburgh coach Ben Howland told the AP. “I told them at the half that those guys didn’t fear us, and we’ve got to do the things we need to do to win, whether we’re playing Pine Bluff or Georgetown.”

Pitt’s schedule gets tougher in mid-December, when the Panthers host Ohio State and visit Georgia.

“We’re not the Lakers, we’re the Pitt Panthers,” he said. “And nobody’s going to lay down for us.”

***

This and that

St. John’s forward Grady Reynolds has been charged with third-degree assault and second-degree harassment after he allegedly pushed a female student against a wall in a dorm bathroom and threw her to the floor. He was arrested Nov. 17 and is due in court Friday. Reynolds will remain with the Red Storm while the school investigates the allegations. He scored four points in 15 minutes in Saturday’s win over Fairfield. …Two West Virginia players have left the Mountaineers. Guard Jay Hewitt left the team for undisclosed reasons, and forward Tobias Seldon quit for personal reasons. The Mountaineers earned an impressive victory last night, knocking off No. 8 Florida, 68-66.

Published on December 3, 2002 at 12:00 pm