During the third overtime in Notre Dame’s game against Louisville on Feb. 9, the ESPN telecast cut to a young girl sprawled across two folding chairs, snoozing in Purcell Pavilion in South Bend, Ind.

The Fighting Irish and Cardinals traded blows for two more overtime periods, culminating in a 104-101 Notre Dame victory. The five-overtime contest is the longest regular season game in Big East history.

Three of Notre Dame’s last six games in Big East play ended in overtime. The epic one against Louisville, sandwiched between two overtime wins against DePaul, has left the Fighting Irish fatigued.

“I’m very concerned about it. We’ve really paced ourselves,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said in the Big East coaches’ teleconference Thursday. “We’re not going to practice long, we can’t do anything live today. We’re bringing our chiropractor and a little bit of a massage therapist on the road with us.”

Notre Dame’s demanding stretch started on Feb. 2, when the Irish went to DePaul and defeated the Blue Demons 79-71 in overtime. After a Feb. 4 loss at Syracuse, No. 25 Notre Dame (21-6, 9-5 Big East) played the five-overtime game against Louisville on Feb. 9, followed by an overtime home win against DePaul four days later.

“I guess since I fouled out early I had enough energy to keep up with everything,” Notre Dame senior forward Jack Cooley told reporters after the win over Louisville. “It was incredible. It was so nerve-wracking.”

Though Brey is proud of his team’s resilience, particularly against Louisville, the Irish have struggled to maintain their conditioning, Brey said.

Brey saw players uncharacteristically fatigued in Wednesday’s overtime win over DePaul. At a media timeout, guard Eric Atkins slumped over, breathing heavily. Brey thought he was injured.

“I turned to him and said, ‘Do you need a blow?’” Brey said. “And we were coming into a media timeout, which he usually can get his wind back. And he said ‘Coach, yeah, I need one.’”

Brey hadn’t seen that much fatigue in his team this season. He compared the stretch to playing five games in the span of four games. The additional play has taken a toll on his players, Brey said.

Sloppy, inconsistent play in its last two games may be a symptom of Notre Dame’s demanding schedule.

Providence defeated the Irish 71-54 on Saturday. Notre Dame shot 39.3 percent from the field, and looked slow defensively in transition.

“This is a game they were very ready for, and we came out a little flatter than we should have,” Notre Dame sophomore forward Pat Connaughton told reporters after the loss Saturday.

On Monday, Notre Dame traveled to No. 20 Pitt, and again looked sluggish to start. The Irish missed its first 12 shotsin falling behind the Panthers 19-3.

Notre Dame recovered, though, shooting 60.7 percent the rest of the way in upsetting Pitt on the road 51-42.

Monday’s game was Notre Dame’s last hurdle before finally getting some rest, Brey said. The Irish don’t play again until Cincinnati visits South Bend on Sunday.

This week, Brey’s players might be the ones falling asleep in Purcell Pavilion.

“If we can get through Monday night, we don’t play then until Sunday,” Brey said. “And then we can really get some rest back. But stealing time, especially for our guards to get rest, is the No. 1 concern.”

Published on February 20, 2013 at 1:25 am

Contact Jacob: jspramuk@syr.edu