Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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MEN'S BASKETBALL We stayed level, and just kept work- ing hard and trusted the process." That mental fortitude played a big part in several Irish wins this year, when Notre Dame was forced to make comebacks from some difficult halftime margins. The Irish rallied from a halftime deficit to earn a vic- tory in eight contests in 2015-16 (defi- cit at halftime) — at Illinois (eight), at Duke (five), versus Virginia Tech (eight), against North Carolina (nine), versus Louisville (seven), against Duke in the ACC Tournament quar- terfinals (eight), versus Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tourna- ment (12) and against Wisconsin in the NCAA Sweet 16 (four). Notre Dame's comeback against the Wolverines marked just the third time in NCAA play the Irish rallied when trailing at halftime, and it was the program's largest halftime deficit ever overcome in the Big Dance. Those efforts can also be attributed to Brey's loose coaching style. Look no further than the locker room at halftime in the Sweet 16 against Wis- consin, when the Irish scored just 19 points in the first half. "We were laughing," Brey said of the atmosphere at halftime. "I said, 'Gosh, we can't play any worse.' "Guys were kind of laughing, and I said we'll play better. I said we've always been great in second halves. Down the stretch from 12 minutes on — I said, 'Fellas, they're going to feel us coming. We're coming. That's what we've done all year, not only in this tournament. We're going to Forward Zach Auguste led the ACC in rebounding (10.7 caroms per contest) and averaged a career- high 14.0 points per game during his senior campaign. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND