It’s tournament time in the city. Ring-a-ling. Hear them ring. Soon it will be the Final Four…
A trip to the Sweet Sixteen is on the line when the Atlantic Coast Conference meets the the Big East in the Second City.
Fifth-ranked Notre Dame (27-6) will face Florida State (22-10) on Sunday in the third round of the 2011 NCAA Championship at the United Center in Chicago, Ill. The Fighting Irish are the No. 2 seed from the Southwest Region, while the Seminoles are the No. 10 seed in the region. The winner will advance to the Southwest Regional in San Antonio, Texas. Notre Dame defeated 15th-seeded Akron, 69-56, in Friday’s second round. Florida State topped No. 7 seed Texas A&M, 57-50, in Friday’s action. This will be the first meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Florida State. Notre Dame is 13-2 in its last 15 contests. The Fighting Irish are making their 31st appearance in the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame boasts an all-time record of 31-34 in the NCAA Championship. This is the second straight trip for the Irish and the seventh in 11 seasons under head coach Mike Brey. Brey has a 6-6 NCAA Tournament record during his Notre Dame tenure. The No. 2 seed is the highest for Notre Dame since the Irish were the No. 2 seed in 1981. That season, Notre Dame defeated James Madison in a second-round game and then fell 51-50 to BYU in a regional semifinal in Atlanta.
Florida State, which won its first NCAA Tournament game since 1998 with a 57-51 victory over No. 20 Texas A&M on Friday, plays No. 5/5 Notre Dame in the third round of the 2011 NCAA Tournament on Sunday March 21 at 9:40 p.m. EST at the United Center in Chicago. It marks the first time since the 1998 season the Seminoles have advanced in the NCAA Tournament. Florida State defeated Texas A&M on Friday to mark their third victory over a ranked team this season following wins over then No. 15 Baylor (Dec. 25, 68-61) and then No. 1 ranked Duke (Jan. 12, 66-61) earlier this season. The Seminoles’ win over No. 7 seed Texas A&M marked the first time since the 1998 NCAA Tournament that Florida State had defeated a higher seeded team in the event. The No. 12 seeded Seminoles defeated No. 5 ranked Texas Christian, 96-87, in their last win before Friday’s victory over the Aggies in the NCAA Tournament. Florida State’s win overTexas A&M marked its 22nd of the season marking the school record third consecutive season the Seminoles have won at least 22 games – they have won 69 games in the last three seasons for an average of 23 wins per season. The Seminoles’ 69 wins in the last three seasons is the second highest total of wins in a three season period – rivaling only Florida State’s 1970, 1971 and 1972 teams which won 71 games. The Seminoles played for the national championship in 1972 as they lost to John Wooden and UCLA, 81-76, in the final game of the NCAA Tournament.
Stopping 3-pointer Seminoles’ key to beating Irish
Notre Dame offers complete test for battle-tested Florida State
Irish’s Hansbrough a ‘different kind of animal’
Florida State’s Chris Singleton ‘feels great’ after return from injury
FSU coach Hamilton hopes his players will get defensive against Notre Dame
Poise and persistence key for Irish
NOTRE DAME PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
2010-11 Statistics
No. Player……….. Pos …Ht…. Wt… Yr… PPG ..RPG.. APG
1 Tyrone Nash …….F …6-8 ….232.. Sr…. 9.7… 5.9… 2.7
21 Tim Abromaitis .F… 6-8… 235.. Sr…. 15.3.. 6.1…. 1.8
34 Carleton Scott …F …6-8… 218 ..Sr….. 11.4.. 7.3…. 2.2
14 Scott Martin ……G …6-8… 219.. Sr…. 10.0… 4.9…. 1.9
23 Ben Hansbrough G …6-3.. 206.. Sr….. 18.4… 3.9…. 4.3
PROBABLE STARTERS FOR FLORIDA STATE
F #5 Bernard James (8.5 ppg, 2.3 bpg; 10 pts and 3 blks vs. Texas A&M in 2011 NCAA Tourn.)
F #10 Okaro White (6.6 ppg, 3.2 rpg; 7 pts and 3 rebs vs. Texas A&M in 2011 NCAA Tourn.)
G #4 Deividas Dulkys (7.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg; 14 pts and 2 asts vs. Gonzaga in 2010 NCAA Tourn.)
G #21 Michael Snaer (8.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg; 9 pts and 4 rebs vs. Gonzaga in 2010 NCAA Tourn.)
G #22 Derwin Kitchen (10.0 ppg. 3.6 apg; 15 pts and 7 rebs vs. Texas A&M in 2011 NCAA Tourn.)
TEAM STATISTICS…………. ND……………….. OPP
SCORING ……………………………2501……………… 2156
Points per game …………………..75.8……………….. 65.3
Scoring margin ………………….+10.5 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT…………… 824-1770………. 793-1948
Field goal pct …………………….. 4 6 6 ……………….. 4 0 7
3 POINT FG-ATT ……………….266-678…………… 225-643
3-point FG pct …………………… 3 9 2………………… . 3 5 0
3-pt FG made per game …………8.1…………………….. 6.8
FREE THROWS-ATT ……………587-808……………. 345-486
Free throw pct ……………………. 7 2 6 ………………… 7 1 0
F-Throws made per game ……….17.8…………………. 10.5
REBOUNDS ………………………….1223…………………. 1071
Rebounds per game ……………….37.1…………………. 32.5
Rebounding margin ……………….+4.6 –
ASSISTS ………………………………..551………………….. 442
Assists per game …………………….16.7…………………. 13.4
TURNOVERS ………………………….356…………………… 339
Turnovers per game ……………….10.8………………….. 10.3
Turnover margin …………………….-0.5 –
Assist/turnover ratio ……………….1.5…………………….. 1.3
STEALS ………………………………….152……………………. 171
Steals per game ………………………..4.6…………………….. 5.2
BLOCKS ………………………………….123 …………………….104
Blocks per game ……………………….3.7……………………. 3.2
ATTENDANCE ………………………132350 ………………194725
Home games-Avg/Game ………..17-7785 …………….9-12432
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 7-11834
Score by Periods …….1st …….2nd …….OT …..OT2………. Totals
Notre Dame ………….1227…. 1227……. 27 …..20………… 2501
Opponents …………….968…… 1151 …….23 …..14 ………….2156
TEAM STATISTICS……………………. FS …………………….OPP
SCORING …………………………………….2206………………….. 1980
Points per game ……………………………68.9……………………. 61.9
Scoring margin …………………………….+7.1 –
FIELD GOALS-ATT ……………………779-1784…………….. 653-1803
Field goal pct ……………………………… 4 3 7 ……………………. 3 6 2
3 POINT FG-ATT …………………………196-596………………. 214-705
3-point FG pct …………………………….. 3 2 9…………………… . 3 0 4
3-pt FG made per game ……………………6.1………………………. 6.7
FREE THROWS-ATT ……………………452-682……………….. 460-657
Free throw pct …………………………….. 6 6 3 ……………………. 7 0 0
F-Throws made per game ………………..14.1……………………… 14.4
REBOUNDS ……………………………………1245 ……………………..1097
Rebounds per game ………………………..38.9………………………. 34.3
Rebounding margin………………………… +4.6
ASSISTS ………………………………………….401 …………………………353
Assists per game ………………………………12.5 ………………………..11.0
TURNOVERS……………………………………. 513………………………… 492
Turnovers per game …………………………16.0……………………….. 15.4
Turnover margin ………………………………-0.7 –
Assist/turnover ratio …………………………0.8…………………………. 0.7
STEALS ……………………………………………278………………………… 235
Steals per game ………………………………….8.7 ………………………….7.3
BLOCKS …………………………………………….188……………………….. 103
Blocks per game …………………………………5.9…………………………. 3.2
ATTENDANCE……………………………….. 139904…………………… 170475
Home games-Avg/Game ………………….15-9327 …………………..13-8978
Neutral site-Avg/Game – 4-13442
Score by Periods ……………………………1st………… 2nd…………….. Totals
Florida State ………………………………..992……….. 1214 ………………2206
Opponents …………………………………..871……….. 1109 ……………….1980
Notes courtesy of und.com and seminoles.com
Like a high % of the games over the past few days, this one figures to be a close fought battle … likely decided down the stretch in the last 3-5 minutes. If no other advantage, the Irish at least should have a very strong fan contingent there in Chicago.
“Interesting” how CBS has scheduled such a late start (9:40 EST) for a Sunday night.
I’m hopeful ND can pull this one out … they need to play with poise like the mostly seniors they are and better play great team D and rebound. If they do, they should win. GO IRISH!!!
Wally – I was wondering the same thing. How does the NCAA has 5 games being with a starting time after 6 pm on a Sunday?
A few of those couldn’t be this afternoon?
So on Saturday evening, I turn on ESPN for a respite between commercials during the NCAA’s and there I find the Notre Dame women playing their first round NCAA tourney game vs Utah. ND is a 2 seed and Utah a 15 seed. So WHERE is the game being played??? On Utah’s HOME COURT in Salt Lake City!!!!!! How in the world does a 2 seed have to face a 15 seed on the 15 seed’s home court?!?!?! How could the NCAA let that happen???? Sheeeeeeesh.
Florida State is making Notre Dame really work for every basket.
That is Seminole basketball.
By the way, did you notice the stat above? ND has scored exactly as many points (1227) in the first half as the have the second this year. What are the chances?
We will have to take that to a Vegas bookie to get the odds. Something telling me that it is somewhere between slim and none.
Check my math – nine different conferences represented in the Sweet 16?
Florida State is beating the Irish at their own game right now.. They are lights out from 3 point land.
I got the same 9 different conferences as well. Parity in college basketball is alive and well.
The Irish better go in the locker room, break out some lacquer and rub it all over themselves because the Seminoles are stuck to them like glue.
I haven’t had a chance to see much FSU basketball – but I am assuming that they reason they haven’t won more games this year is because of their offense. Their team defense is impressive!
Paging Coach Brey, Paging Coach Brey to the Halftime adjustments room. Please report – stat!!
Gagfest by the Irish thus far. When the other team makes their open 3s and you miss yours, plus your shorties and layups, you’re gonna lose. ND crash and burn thus far. Seniors have lost their poise and toughness all in one half. Same old tired story.
Yes, let’s just let everyone catch the ball on the lowpost and dribble drive at us. That’ll work!! This ND team is just as soft as their predecessors.
Looks like ND had a very good season in a very “middle-heavy” Big East conference. I think that’s a good way of looking at this season. Worthy of a 2 seed??? Nope. It was hard to believe and maybe that’s because we never got the feeling that this was a REALLY good team. They did pretty good with what they have. Which is not really a lot.
Pitino looked comfortable as a analyst but he shouldn’t start his first night telling Barkley Notre Dame will win. That’ just ‘turrible’ !
I gained a better appreciation for the overhead camera during the Noles-Irish game. Looking at the contest from above showed how well Florida State’s defense played. Their movement on the flight of the ball suffocated ND. The Irish didn’t gag. Florida State strangled them.
Agreed. That was easily some of the best team defense I have seen all season. I there might be a handful of teams that could have beaten the Seminoles last night. They played that well.
Soooo … how’d FSU manage to lose 10 games this past season??? They just “don’t come to play every night”? They turn it on and off?
And why didn’t ND play better D??? I saw a team that got punched in the mouth in the first 8 mins or so and retreated into a shell.
FSU’s 10 losses this season: Florida, Ohio State, Butler, at Auburn (their one true “bad” loss of the season), at Va Tech, at Clemson, at North Carolina.
They lost their three other games with Singleton out of the lineup – one of those to UNC by 2 (March 2nd when the Heels were getting hot).
Smitty mentioned offensive struggles for the Seminoles. It was a matter of establishing roles. You look at a guy like Michael Snaer. In the loss to Auburn, he goes 2-11 from the field. Against ND, he hits 5-7 including 3-4 from behind the arc. FSU did not have a consistent game from long range earlier this season. Now, their defense is feeding the offense. Steals or rebound and outlet situations leading to open looks at the other end.
Here’s the thing, yeah FSU punched ND in the mouth. But it was a TEAM effort. There was no one player carrying the load for FSU. FSU won 71–57. Their leading scorer had 14. Notre Dame had two guys score more than that – Abromaitis (21) and Hansbrough (18). But nobody else. Give credit to FSU for playing 40 minutes of defense. The Irish had their moments, but the Noles had no give up in them.
This could turn into a college hoops vs. college football discussion. FSU’s basketball team took advantage of the opportunity to grow as a team.
Yes … agreed … I’m reluctantly giving credit to FSU for probably playing one of their very best games of the season. They did indeed play GREAT for just about the entire game, including as you point out really shooting the ball quite well, esp for them.
I don’t really remember the Irish “having their moments” as you say. They went up 2-0 and after that is was all FSU. I think ND fell behind by like 22 or so midway thru the 2nd half and then cut it to about 12 (I guess that was their “5 min moment”). But it was much too little and much too late. Undoubtedly one of ND’s worst performances of the season … at a very inopportune time. Hansbrough and Abro may have been high scorers, but most of those points came after 30 mins when the huge hole was already dug. Carleton Scott looked especially scared … I couldn’t believe the shots he was passing up and the rest of the guys … Martin, Atkins, Cooley et al were nowhere to be found. Just disappointing that a VETERAN team with a VETERAN coach could lose their poise so dramatically.
Oh well … every team except one loses their last game of the season. I honestly did not expect ND to get by Kansas to win the region anyway … but I also didn’t expect the Irish to look so pathetic in a round 2 defeat.
This is just what I was thinking:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-spt-0322-notre-dame-basketball–20110321,0,6992657.story
Hey, some good news: ND’s Women’s hoops team has advanced to the Sweet 16 in that tournament, and ND’s hockey team received a bid to the NCAA tournament, which starts with only 16 teams. I think Irish hockey was most recently ranked #8 in the nation.