Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL winning games against top-notch com- petition with challenging ACC Tourna- ment and NCAA matchups looming, the Irish offense cannot afford pro- longed cold streaks over 40 minutes of play. LOOKING AHEAD Preseason, the magic number of ACC wins for Notre Dame to earn a NCAA Tournament bid was considered to be 10, depending on what teams they de- feated along the way. Victories over Duke on the road and UNC at home help lessen that pressure to reach double-digit conference wins, and the Irish had already logged eight in the conference as of Feb. 8. A road game at Wake Forest Feb. 24 and a home tilt against North Carolina State March 5 are the best bets for Brey's team to get wins nine and 10 in league play. The remaining conference games are versus Louisville, at Georgia Tech, at Florida State and versus Miami. Snag- ging two or more wins against that final group would be paramount for better seeding in the NCAA field. "I told our guys I'm getting greedy again," Brey said on Feb. 8 after the win over UNC. "I used that phrase when we got on that four-game win streak back in January. "I said we need to think about being greedy here again. We put ourselves in a good position after tonight, let's not waste it." ✦ Three-Point Play Among the most recent talking points surrounding the Irish are a still-changing rotation and the play of a few key players like senior forward Zach Auguste. Here are thoughts on the three most discussed topics: 1. More Rex Pflueger Please — Brey has slowly opened up to the idea of utilizing Pflueger, the fresh- man guard who played largely a reserve role in the non-conference season. The rookie sat out Notre Dame's ACC opener at Virginia, played single-digit minutes in the following three games, then played double-digit minutes every night in a seven-game stretch from Jan. 16 to Feb. 6. His role in the offense still needs development, and his confidence on that side of the floor must con- tinue to grow. But the defensive tools he brings, even as a freshman, could be utilized in a lineup that has struggled guarding its opponents. 2. Changing Starters — On the Pflueger topic, Brey has toyed with his starting lineup some — Notre Dame utilized four different starting lineups through its first 24 games — in an effort to start games faster. Reserve senior forward A.J. Burgett even slid into a starting role against Wake Forest Jan. 31 and at Miami Feb. 3. 3. More Consistency From Zach Auguste — Auguste is great on his good days, but seemingly really struggles on his off days. Recently, there's been no gray area. On Jan. 16 at Duke, he had nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. On Jan. 20 at Virginia Tech, he posted 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. On Jan. 28 at Syracuse, he had eight points on 3-of-8 shooting. On Jan. 31 versus Wake Forest, he produced 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting. It's pretty late in his career now, but if the Irish can find a way to get Auguste consistent on a nightly basis, that will bode well for their postseason hopes. — Jordan Wells