Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1220706
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2020 15 UNDER THE DOME 6 Notre Dame men's basketball games — all in the Atlantic Coast Conference — decided by one point this year. That is a single-season program record, eclipsing the five in 1922-23 under head coach Walter Ha- las, brother of longtime Chicago Bears head coach and owner George Halas, who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Head coach Mike Brey's Fighting Irish were 3-3 in those contests, prior to the start of the ACC Tournament. Chronologi- cally the one-point tilts included a 73-72 loss to Boston College Dec. 7, an 88-87 win at Syracuse Jan. 4, an 85-84 defeat at Florida State Jan. 25, a 50-49 overtime set- back at Virginia Feb. 11, and then victories versus North Carolina (77-76) Feb. 17 and at Boston College (62-61) Feb. 26. The latter two wins were made possible by a three-pointer from sophomore for- ward Nate Laszewski with 2.2 second left versus the Tar Heels, and a floater from five feet away by senior guard T.J. Gibbs against the Eagles with 0.1 seconds left on the clock. 6.37 Time in the 55-meter dash Feb. 29 by incoming Notre Dame running back recruit Chris Tyree to capture the Virginia 6A state title for the second consecutive year. Tyree won the event in 2019 with a 6.30 mark that was the best in the nation among high school athletes. As a point of reference, former Notre Dame All-American Raghib "Rocket" Ismail reportedly clocked at 6.28 in the 55 meters as a high school senior, and had a personal best 6.07 in the event at Notre Dame. He finished second in the 1991 NCAA Indoor Track Championships. 25 Double-doubles in points and rebounds during Notre Dame's 31-game regular season by senior forward John Mooney, which led the nation. After finishing 2018-19 with 20 double-doubles, Mooney joined Wake Forest's Tim Duncan and Duke's Sheldon Williams as the lone ACC players to post consecu- tive seasons with 20 or more double-doubles in the past 25 years, per Alan Wasielewski, Notre Dame associate athletics communica- tion director. Since 1996-97, Mooney joins Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Jor- dan Murphy (Minnesota), Emeka Okafor (Connecticut), Josh Hawkinson (Washington State) and Williams as the only major conference players with multiple seasons of 20 or more double-doubles. 84.6 Percent of football games won by Notre Dame (33-6) the past three seasons, ranking sixth among the 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The top 10 is comprised of Clemson (93.2, 41-3), Alabama and Ohio State (both 90.5 and 38-4), Central Florida (89.7, 35-4), Okla- homa (85.7, 36-6), Notre Dame, Georgia (83.7, 36-7), LSU (82.9, 34-7), Appalachian State (82.5, 33-7) and Boise State (80.5, 33-8). 1995 The most recent year where neither the Notre Dame hockey, women's basketball nor men's basketball programs received a bid to compete in the NCAA Tournament. Men's basketball still had a shot this year if it could at least reach the champi- onship game of the ACC Tournament held March 10-14. ✦ BY THE NUMBERS 2:27:31 Marathon time run by 2016 Notre Dame graduate MOLLY SEIDEL in Atlanta March 1 at the Olympic marathon trials to finish in second and qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. It was her debut race in the event, and she finished eight seconds behind Aliphine Tuliamuk. During her All-America career at Notre Dame, Seidel won NCAA championships in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000 meters. Her career became sidetracked later by injury, depression and eating disorders, but she received treatment, recovered and flourished. "When you get to college, it's almost like this echo chamber where you see other women excelling in the sport with very low body weight," she told Runner's World. "I think the collegiate structure of running is great, but in a lot of ways is super harmful and not necessarily the most positive environment for girls, especially as they're coming into their bodies as women." PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS