Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork. Cheap Basketball Shoes Wholesale .com) - Coming off a statement win this week, the eighth-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish are on the road on Saturday, as they take on the Pittsburgh Panthers in an ACC showdown at the Petersen Events Center. Mike Breys Irish picked up their 20th win of the season in impressive fashion, as they battled back from a double-digit deficit against fourth- ranked Duke on Wednesday to earn a 77-73 victory over the Blue Devils. The win was the fifth straight for the Irish and pushed the team to 20-2 on the season, with an 8-1 league ledger, good for second place behind No. 2 Virginia. Jamie Dixons Panthers are at the opposite end of the spectrum right now, trying to halt a three-game losing streak. Most recently, Pittsburgh fell in overtime at Virginia Tech on Tuesday, 70-67. With the loss, Pitt is now just 13-8 overall, with an ugly 3-5 record in the ACC thus far. This marks the 60th all-time meeting between these two programs. The Irish hold a 31-28 series advantage. However, the Panther earned an 85-81 overtime victory last year to bring an end to a five-game win streak for Notre Dame in the series. There arent many teams in the nation that could win a shootout with Duke, but Notre Dame proved to be one of them. Standout guard Jerian Grant played a huge role in the win with some timely shots down the stretch to propel the Irish to victory. Grant finished the game with a 23 points, 12 assists and six rebounds. Zach Auguste added 14 points to the cause, Pat Connaughton recorded a double-double of his own with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Demetrius Jackson contributed 10 points for Notre Dame, which shot a sterling .518 from the floor against the Blue Devils. There are very few teams more efficient than the Irish this season. Notre Dame is shooting .521 from the floor (second nationally), while averaging 81.6 ppg (ninth nationally). Scoring depth is apparent with four of the five starters averaging double figures. Grant is headed toward All-America honors and is a serious National Player of the Year candidate, averaging 17.4 ppg, while doling out 6.5 apg. Connaughton plays much bigger than he is (6-5), as he adds 13.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg. Auguste (13.7 ppg) and Jackson (13.3 ppg) provide even more offensive options. Mediocre numbers produce mediocre results and that is where Pittsburgh lives right now. The Panthers are in the bottom half of the league in terms of scoring at 67.3 ppg, while allowing 64.0 ppg. There arent any prolific scoring options on the roster, as Michael Young paces the team with 13.2 ppg, despite shooting over 50 percent from the field (.507). Young also tops the team in rebounding with just under eight caroms per contest (7.8). Jamel Artis (11.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg) has elevated his game and is second on the team in both scoring and rebounding. James Robinson (10.1 ppg) rounds out the teams top scorers. The Panthers allowed the Hokies to tie things up late and force overtime and then a Adam Smith 3-pointer with just three seconds left in the overtime session finally did in the visitors and kept Pittsburgh on a downward spiral. Artis had a strong outing in defeat, as he just missed a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Cameron Wright and Robinson checked in with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Young struggled offensively, finishing with just six points, but he did grab a team-high 10 rebounds. Clearance Basketball Shoes Online . According to USA Today the Finns have tapped forwards Jarkko Immonen and Sakari Salminen to replace injured forwards Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula at the Sochi Games. Wholesale Basketball Shoes China . Off-Season Game Plan examines a team facing some challenging times as GM Bryan Murray tries to put together a roster for next season. Perhaps the first challenge facing Murray is that its expected he will be moving out Jason Spezza, a premier point producer who is about to enter the final year of his contract. http://www.basketballshoescheap.net/ . They kicked off the still-going trend of host cities winning the Grey Cup and sent Hall of Fame head coach Wally Buono to the front office a champion. LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw tied a career high with his 21st victory, Yasiel Puig homered to highlight a four-run sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers won the NL West title with a 9-1 victory over the second-place San Francisco Giants on Wednesday night. Fittingly, the Dodgers claimed their second straight division title behind Kershaw (21-3), the probable NL Cy Young Award winner and MVP candidate who has been the catalyst behind their success this season. He didnt pitch lights out -- getting called for a balk and wild pitch -- and he committed a throwing error in the seventh but he did a little bit of everything, including hitting and fielding to ensure the Dodgers celebrated in front of their longtime rivals. Kershaw allowed one run and eight hits in eight innings, struck out 11 and walked none in his last start of the regular season, having won his final seven starts. He became the first player to lead the major leagues in ERA (1.77) in four consecutive seasons. Kershaw tied his career high in wins from 2011. The Dodgers are 23-4 in his 27 starts this season. "MVP" chants directed at Kershaw from the sellout crowd of 53,387 broke out throughout the game, but grew loudest after he retired the side in the eighth, striking out two. Juan Uribe went 2 for 4 and drove in three runs, and Carl Crawford was 2 for 2 with three runs scored and two RBI for Los Angeles. The Dodgers snapped a 1-1 tie in the sixth, with Puig hitting a leadoff homer off Tim Hudson (9-13) to get things started. Crawfords two-run double off Javier Lopez made it 4-1 and Uribe followed with a RBI single off Jean Machi for a 5-1 lead. Puig showed off his arm in the top of the seventh. Pinch-hitter Matt Duffy singled to centre, where Puig grabbed the ball, spun around and fired to third, nailing Gregor Blanco as he slid in. The Dodgers tacked on four more runs in the eighth, when Giants pitchers walked four batters and hit another. The loss again kept the Giants from clinching a playofff berth. Cheap Basketball Shoes For Sale. Hudson gave up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked one. Kershaw tied the game 1-1 with his first career triple in the fifth, scoring Crawford, who got hit in the left foot by a pitch and then stole second. Kershaw chugged into third base standing up. The Giants led 1-0 when Hunter Pence grounded into a fielders choice along the third base line in the third. Joaquin Arias scored from third, narrowly beating the throw from Uribe. Kershaw had a bit of a messy third, when he allowed four baserunners, his most of any inning. With runners on first and second he was called for a balk, allowing the runners to move up. Kershaw showed quick reflexes facing his next batter. Hudson hit a comebacker and Kershaw, down on his right knee with his back toward the plate, reached around, backhanded the ball and threw to first for the out. Kershaw gave up a pair of two-out singles in the sixth and the runners moved up on his wild pitch. He induced a groundout to the mound from Chris Dominguez to end the inning. TRAINERS ROOM Giants: C Buster Posey started at first base. He experienced tightness in his back after catching all 13 innings on Monday and eight on Tuesday. ... OF Michael Morse (strained oblique) is questionable for the San Diego series starting Thursday. Dodgers: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder inflammation) is expected to throw from a mound in the next day or so, but there are no plans for him to pitch before the playoffs begin. UP NEXT Giants: Yusmeiro Petit (5-5, 3.63 ERA) starts the series opener at home against San Diego. The right-hander joined the rotation on Aug. 28 in place of Tim Lincecum. He is 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA in four appearances against the Padres. Dodgers: Roberto Hernandez (8-11, 4.08) starts the series opener against Colorado. The right-hander last faced the Rockies on Sept. 15 on the road, allowing two runs and six hits in 3 2/3 innings, but didnt factor in the decision in an 11-3 victory. ' ' '