By PAUL GOTHAM
BROOKLYN — On the heels of an Elite Eight finish a year ago, the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish opened the 2015-16 season ranked top 20 in all major polls. By the end of November, Notre Dame stumbled and fell from the rankings not to return until mid-February.
“We lost two pretty good players and two great leaders,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said at Thursday’s NCAA Tournament press conference referring to Pat Connaughton and Jerian Grant. “I think we always understood, and I try to remind myself that this year’s team would not be an extension of last year’s team even though our fan base and even people evaluating thought we could just pick right up.”
The Irish opened the season 3-0. In their first loss they were a footnote as the Monmouth Hawks and their “Bench Mob” captured the nation’s attention. Three nights later, ND fell to Alabama.
“I always thought we were a team that would evolve throughout the season,” Brey added. “Then I kind of reminded our guys that so we didn’t jump off any buildings after tough losses or celebrate too much after wins.”
The Irish lost two of three to open the Atlantic Coast Conference season before taking four straight including a win at then No. 9 Duke on January 16th.
“I think our staff did a good job methodically bringing them along,” Brey continued. “The area where I was most concerned, the leadership that I lost in Connaughton and Grant, was my biggest worry. We still had good basketball players. I figured we’d learn how to score and defend and all that.”
Zach Auguste notched a double-double (15 points/10 rebounds) a little more than three weeks later as the Irish took down then No. 2 North Carolina, 80-76.
“Early on in the season, we kind of struggled with our identity and kind of re-establishing who we were as a team,” Auguste said. “We had a lot of great pieces, a lot of talent, but we just at the time didn’t know how to fit them all for 40 minutes consecutively. That’s something we worked on. Now we’re very unselfish, and we play high efficiency basketball.”
Seven days later, Demetrius Jackson matched a career high with 27 points, and the Irish defeated No. 13 Louisville, 71-66.
“One thing we struggled with was finishing,” Jackson noted. “A lot of the games we were right there, and it was tough for us to finish down the line, and a lot of times that’s what it comes down to, like the final four minutes. How can you finish? So I think, as the year went on, we got more comfortable because we were put in those situations a lot. We got a lot more comfortable with the game situations and finishing them.”
“Jackson, Auguste, and Steve Vasturia have exceeded my expectations as leaders, and I didn’t think we’d get that from them. I really emphasize how far Demetrius has come since his freshman year.”
No. 6-seed Notre Dame (21-11/11-7 ACC) will face the No. 11-seed Michigan Wolverines (23-12/10-8 Big Ten) Friday at the Barclays Center in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s East Region.
ND will look to put behind them a 31-point drubbing from North Carolina in the ACC semi-finals.
“You know, it may be a little easier in that it’s one of those burn the tape kind of games at this time of year,” Brey said. “The only thing you come back to to dwell on is how we turned the ball over.”
Michigan defeated Tulsa, 67-62 in Wednesday’s First Four matchup to advance. Zak Irvin, Duncan Robinson and Derrick Walton, Jr. score 11 points a game apiece to lead the Wolverines.
“We had the latest wakeup call ever at noon for our players, and just ate and walked through a few things that Notre Dame does,” said Michigan head coach John Beilein whose team arrived in New York at 4 a.m. “Look forward to getting a little shootaround and getting the kids sweating a little bit today and get prepared for Notre Dame.”
Notre Dame and Michigan will tip off Friday 30 minutes after the completion of the No. 3-seed West Virginia and No. 14-seed Stephen F. Austin matchup which starts at 7:10 p.m. EST.
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