Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL BY JORDAN WELLS R egardless of ACC Tournament results, Notre Dame is NCAA Tournament bound again. Despite a late-season slide that saw them lose three of four games prior to an 89-75 win over North Carolina State in their Purcell Pavilion finale March 5, the Irish concluded regular- season play with a 20-10 overall record and an 11-7 mark in the ACC. The Irish boasted an RPI rank of 35 as of March 8, plus ESPN's March 8 Brack- etology also projected them safely into the tournament as a No. 7 seed. The real question is: How far can Mike Brey's squad advance? A week-long stretch from Feb. 6-13 earned Notre Dame well-deserved praise nationally. The program de- feated then-No. 2 North Carolina 80-76 Feb. 6, won 89-83 at Clemson in an absolute dogfight following a 48-hour turnaround, and then ended the week with a 71-66 victory over then-No. 13 Louisville. Everything was clicking. The Irish had tightened their rotation to the usual starters, plus talented rookies in fresh- man guard Rex Pflueger and freshman forward Matt Ryan subbing in first off the bench. A 9-4 record in conference action found the Irish looking at their remain- ing five-game schedule and asking some questions that, just days prior, would have maybe been viewed as laughable. "The top of the league plays itself a lot, so the regular-season championship is something for us to talk about tomor- 2015‑16 NOTRE DAME MEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE Date Opponent Result/Time (ET) Nov. 13 St. Francis (Pa.) W, 87-56 Nov. 17 Milwaukee W, 86-78 Nov. 21 UMass Lowell W, 83-57 Nov. 26 vs. Monmouth# L, 70-68 Nov. 27 vs. Iowa# W, 68-62 Nov. 29 vs. Alabama# L, 74-73 Dec. 2 at Illinois+ W, 84-79 Dec. 8 Stony Brook W, 86-61 Dec. 13 Loyola Chicago W, 81-61 Dec. 19 vs. Indiana^ L, 80-73 Dec. 21 Youngstown State W, 87-78 Dec. 29 Liberty W, 73-56 Jan. 2 at Virginia L, 77-66 Jan. 7 at Boston College W, 82-54 Jan. 9 Pittsburgh L, 86-82 Jan. 13 Georgia Tech W, 72-64 Jan. 16 at Duke W, 95-91 Jan. 20 Virginia Tech W, 83-81 Jan. 23 Boston College W, 76-49 Jan. 28 at Syracuse L, 81-66 Jan. 31 Wake Forest W, 85-62 Feb. 3 at Miami L, 79-70 Feb. 6 North Carolina W, 80-76 Feb. 8 at Clemson W, 89-83 Feb. 13 Louisville W, 71-66 Feb. 20 at Georgia Tech L, 63-62 Feb. 24 at Wake Forest W, 69-58 Feb. 27 at Florida State L, 77-56 March 2 Miami L, 68-50 March 5 NC State W, 89-75 March 10 vs. Duke or NC State$ 2:30 p.m. March 11 ACC Semifinals$ 7 p.m. March 12 ACC Championship$ 9 p.m. March 17-21 NCAA Tournament* TBD # Advocare Invitational at Orlando, Fla. (Notre Dame, USC, Wichita State, Dayton, Xavier, Alabama, Iowa, Monmouth); + ACC/Big Ten Challenge; ^ at Indianap- olis; $ ACC Tournament at Verizon Center in Washing- ton, D.C..; * First and second rounds, sites and times to be determined