Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL row," said Brey, following the victory over the Cardinals. "I think what I'll talk to them about is not so much the NCAA Tournament, but now we're get- ting into that double bye territory, and why not talk about a regular-season championship?" Notre Dame had a week off prior to its next game, a Feb. 20 contest at Geor- gia Tech. Brey planned to use that time to fine-tune his squad. "I like that we have a little 'bye week' to get into the practice routine," Brey said. "[It's] our last time of good reps in practice before we get into a busy stretch in March, and then you kind of are who you are." However, that "bye week" actually seemed to have the opposite effect. Notre Dame slipped into a downward spiral, dropping three of its next four games. It started with a last-second 63-62 loss at Georgia Tech, and ended with shocking blowouts at Florida State (77-56) Feb. 27 and versus Miami (68-50) at home March 2. The lone victory in that stretch came Feb. 24 in an ugly, 69- 58 affair against a Wake Forest team that finished with a 2-16 record in the ACC. It wasn't inconceivable that the Irish could drop some of those games — playing on the road in arguably the best conference in college basketball is al- ways a challenge. But the fashion Notre Dame struggled in those contests was truly stunning. The 62 points Brey's squad posted in its one-point loss at Georgia Tech was its lowest total of the season, until that mark was replaced just days later with the 56-point effort at Florida State. The bar was lowered yet again with a season-low 50 points against Miami, even though the Irish were playing in the friendly confines of Purcell Pavilion. The conclusion? Notre Dame set new season lows in points in three of the four games, and in consecutive order. Ring the alarms. Loudly. "I don't think we've been in a very good rhythm since the bye week," said Brey, following the loss to the Hurri- canes. "I don't know if you lose practice rhythm or whatever. "But I told them, 'We'll figure it out because that's what we do around here.' We usually figure it out." And work it out they did. Well … maybe. Brey had Notre Dame playing patient in offensive half-court sets most of the season, slowing down the Irish to an games this winter. He took his official visit to Notre Dame over the Oct. 10 weekend for the home game against Navy, and has also taken official visits to Kansas, Kentucky and Houston. Maker wrapped up his first official visit, a trip to Kansas, over the March 5 weekend. As of March 8, he had not scheduled his remaining official visits, but Notre Dame remained in good position to receive one. Like Allen, he hopes to wrap up his recruitment in the spring. "I'm still playing around with '16," said Brey, when asked about recruiting the 2017 class. "I'm in '16 mode, and I think my assistants are in '17 mode. "That's all I've got on that." — Jordan Wells