Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKEBALL "This unit is separate from last year now," he said. "They've had so many experiences together." Last season represented a tumul- tuous one for Notre Dame, which lost its leading scorer (Grant) to an academic suspension before the ACC season even began. The Irish, how- ever, cleaned the slate once last season ended. The foreign tour in Italy this past August helped them to hit the reset button as well. Asked for the most glaring area of concern following the first three games, Brey said the defensive re- bounding is still a worry. Although ju- nior forward Zach Auguste and fresh- man forward Martin Geben played well in the opening week, the Irish are short on big men and typically opt for a four-guard lineup. Adding to the depth issues was a left ankle injury suffered by sophomore forward Austin Burgett. It sidelined him for the Coppin State win, but Brey expected him to return shortly thereaf- ter considering the number of players vying for minutes in the Irish rotation. Connaughton and Grant both ex- pressed the desire to not only gain leads, but to extend them while never being satisfied with simply being out in front. "For them to say that, that's great and I think that's coming from within," Brey said following the Navy win. "I've never really said that, but one of the things I talked about was unlike the games we played where you just don't shock somebody and all of the sudden it's a 15-0 run before the 10-minute mark, can we methodically build? We did that today." They've done it in three games now. The challenge will be to keep doing it. ✦ 2014-15 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 14 Binghamton^ W, 82-39 Nov. 16 Navy^ W, 92-53 Nov. 19 Coppin State W, 104-67 Nov. 22 vs. Massachusetts* (ESPN3) 12 p.m. Nov. 23 vs. Providence* (ESPN2) 2:30 p.m. Nov. 26 Grambling State (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Nov. 29 Chicago State (ESPN3) 2 p.m. Dec. 3 Michigan State# (ESPN2) 7:15 p.m. Dec. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson (ESPN3) 8 p.m. Dec. 9 Mount St. Mary's (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Dec. 13 Florida State (ESPN2) 8 p.m. Dec. 20 vs. Purdue% (Big Ten Net.) 5:15 p.m. Dec. 22 Northern Illinois (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Dec. 30 Hartford (ESPN3) 7 p.m. Jan. 3 Georgia Tech (ACCN) 2:30 p.m. Jan. 5 at North Carolina (ESPN/2) 7 p.m. Jan. 10 Virginia (ESPN2) 6 p.m. Jan. 14 at Georgia Tech (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 17 Miami (ESPN/2) 2 p.m. Jan. 22 at Virginia Tech (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at N.C. State (ESPNU) 6:30 p.m. Jan. 28 Duke (ESPN2) 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Pittsburgh (ACCN) 12 p.m. Feb. 4 Boston College (RSN) 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at Duke (CBS) 1 p.m. Feb. 10 at Clemson (ESPN2) 7 p.m. Feb. 17 Wake Forest (ESPNU) 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at Boston College (RSN) 4 p.m. Feb. 24 Syracuse (ACCN) 8 p.m. March 4 at Louisville (ESPN2) 7 p.m. March 7 Clemson (ACCN/RSN) 4 p.m. March 10-14 ACC Tournament$ TBA ^ Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament, preliminary rounds at campus sites; * Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament at Uncasville, Conn.; # ACC-Big Ten Challenge; % Cross- roads Classic at Indianapolis; $ at Greensboro, N.C.