Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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ing a 6‑12 introduction to the Atlantic Coast Conference just one year ago. "We have come a long way in one year," head coach Mike Brey said sim‑ ply. For Brey, the success begins with the senior seasons of captain Pat Con‑ naughton and All‑ACC first‑team se‑ lection Jerian Grant. Both could have chosen to be elsewhere this season — Connaughton in Major League Base‑ ball and Grant in the NBA — but both returned to South Bend to try to finish their careers with a better taste in their mouth. "That's been really consistent with these two guys," Brey said. "We are where we are going into the postsea‑ son because those two guys have led us there and set the tone in the locker room, and when your two senior guys are unselfish and chasing it as a group and wanting to win, that has circu‑ lated down through the young guys and they have been fabulous on that front." While Brey has consistently had leaders throughout his 15 years at Notre Dame, Connaughton and Grant can separate themselves by leading the Irish to a Sweet 16 berth for just the second time during the coach's tenure. "You've really got to balance focus and really wanting something and be‑ ing hungry and being kind of a loose, attacking group that we have been," Brey said. "That needs to come from me. I've certainly never been a guy to get guys too uptight, so … I think that's a real balance point. "It has to come from me — what we work on, how we emphasize it. The accountability on it probably has to be 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* W, 81-68 Nov. 23 vs. Providence* L, 75-74 Nov. 26 Grambling State W, 81-54 Nov. 29 Chicago State W, 90-42 Dec. 3 Michigan State# W, 79-78 (OT) Dec. 6 Fairleigh Dickinson W, 75-57 Dec. 9 Mount St. Mary's W, 93-67 Dec. 13 Florida State W, 83-63 Dec. 20 vs. Purdue% W, 94-63 Dec. 22 Northern Illinois W, 91-66 Dec. 30 Hartford W, 87-60 Jan. 3 Georgia Tech* W, 83-76 (OT) Jan. 5 at North Carolina* W, 71-70 Jan. 10 Virginia* L, 62-56 Jan. 14 at Georgia Tech* W, 62-59 Jan. 17 Miami* W, 75-70 Jan. 22 at Virginia Tech* W, 85-60 Jan. 25 at NC State* W, 81-78 (OT) Jan. 28 Duke* W, 77-73 Jan. 31 at Pittsburgh* L, 76-72 Feb. 4 Boston College* W, 71-63 Feb. 7 at Duke* L, 90-60 Feb. 10 at Clemson (ESPN2) W, 60-58 Feb. 17 Wake Forest* W, 88-75 Feb. 21 at Boston College* W, 87-70 Feb. 24 Syracuse* L, 65-60 March 4 at Louisville* W, 71-59 March 7 Clemson* W, 81-67 March 12-14 ACC Tournament$ TBD March 19-22 NCAA Tournament TBD ^ Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament, preliminary rounds at campus sites; * Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament at Un- casville, Conn.; # ACC-Big Ten Challenge; % Crossroads Classic at Indianapolis; $ at Greensboro, N.C.