March 9, 2016
Notre Dame – Duke Match Up Details 
| Interactive Bracket
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team begins the defense of its 2015 ACC Championship on Thursday, March 10, in the quarterfinals vs. the winner of the Duke/NC State matchup at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN.
NOTRE DAME AT ACC CHAMPIONSHIP – BY THE NUMBERS
1 – The Irish are first in the nation in least amount of fouls committed per game with an average of 15.1.
4 – Notre Dame is the fourth-seeded team in the ACC Championship, the second straight year the team has earned a double-bye in the tournament.
7 – Wins by Mike Brey coached Notre Dame teams in the Verizon Center since 2000-01. See side bar page 2 for details.
9.1 – Turnovers per game average by the Irish, third in the nation.
10 – Wins over teams from North Carolina for the Irish since the start of the 2014-15. Notre Dame is 10-1 against teams from the Tar Heel state during that timeframe.
16.3 – Points per game average over the last 10 games for Zach Auguste. Auguste is on a 10-game run of double-digit scoring (matching the longest streak of his career from last season).
18 – Double-Doubles compiled by Zach Auguste this season, his most recent a 18-point, 11-rebound effort vs. Miami on Wednesday.
25 – Conference wins by Notre Dame over the past two seasons. The Irish have posted double-digit conference wins in six of the past seven seasons. 52 – Wins over a two-year span for the Irish currently, the best two-year total in school history. The Irish finished 32-6 in 2014-15 and are 20-10 this season.
119.8 – Notre Dame’s Adjusted Offense Efficiency Index as compiled by KenPom.com – third-best in the nation.
1,815 – Wins in Notre Dame men’s basketball history, ranked eighth all-time. Since Mike Brey took over the Irish program in 2000-01, the Irish have moved from 12th to 8th on the all-time wins list.
14,987 – Points scored by the nine Notre Dame 1,000-point scorers who have called the Washington, D.C., area home. See side bar page 2 for more details.
2015 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP: Notre Dame captured its first conference championship in program history with three consecutive wins in Greensboro, N.C. to earn the 2015 ACC title. The Fighting Irish claimed the championship in their second year of membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference, becoming the first school outside of the league’s original membership to win the title in its first or second year in the ACC.
Notre Dame became the third team from outside North Carolina to win the tournament title in the Tar Heel state by defeating both UNC and Duke along the way, joining Maryland (1958) and Georgia Tech (1993).
Jerian Grant tallied 24 points and 10 assists versus the Tar Heels and was named tournament MVP. In three ACC Tournament games, Grant averaged 16.7 points and 6.3 assists. Pat Connaughton and Steve Vasturia joined Grant on the all-tournament first team, while Demetrius Jackson was a second-team selection.
The Notre Dame basketball program has a deep connection with Washington, DC. Irish head coach Mike Brey grew up in the area, playing two seasons at DeMatha High School and helping the Stags to a 55-9 record.
After three collegiate seasons at Northwestern State, Brey returned to the Beltway to play his final year at George Washington, serving as team captain and earning team MVP honors in his lone year at GW. His alma mater honored him with induction into the George Washington University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014.
Brey started his coaching career back at DeMatha High School, spending five seasons (1982-87) as assistant coach under the legendary Morgan Wooten. In those five seasons, Brey helped DeMatha to a 139-22 record, two city titles and the number-one ranking by USA Today in 1984.
On the student-athlete side of the Notre Dame – DC connection, it all starts with Bob Whitmore (1966-69). A DeMatha graduate, Whitmore scored 1,580 points at Notre Dame and set the stage for a Washington, DC, pipeline to Notre Dame that would include 1,000-point scorers Austin Carr, Collis Jones, Don Williams, Adrian Dantley, Tracy Jackson, Monty Williams, Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant.
Carr is the greatest scorer in Notre Dame and NCAA Tournament history and as you can see by the graphic below, the Fighting Irish – Washington DC pipeline has provided a staggering number of career points at Notre Dame.
Name Years Points Scored
Austin Carr 1968-71 2,560
Adrian Dantley 1973-76 2,223
Jerian Grant 2011-15 1,739
Bob Whitmore 1966-69 1,580
Don Williams 1974-78 1,433
Eric Atkins 2010-14 1,421
Collis Jones 1968-71 1,367
Monty Williams 1989-94 1,371
Tracy Jackson 1977-80 1,293
Total 14,987
700 REBOUNDS, .560 SHOOTING: Zach Auguste is averaging a double-double in 2015-16 (14.5 ppg, 10.4 rpg) and has moved up the all-time Notre Dame rebound list along the way. Auguste passed the 700-rebound barrier against Wake Forest on Feb. 24, becoming the 19th Irish player to reach that plateau.
Auguste is also shooting .563 in his career. Should he finish above .560 shooting for his time at Notre Dame, he would become just the fifth Irish player to shoot over .560 and grab 700-plus rebounds
NOTRE DAME REACHES 1800-WIN MILESTONE: Notre Dame’s 84-79 victory at Illinois on Dec. 2 marked the 1800th win in program history. The Fighting Irish are 1815-981 (.649) all-time in 111-plus seasons.
Notre Dame ranks eighth in Division I in all-time program wins behind Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Temple, Syracuse and UCLA. The Irish have improved four spots in the all-time wins list since Mike Brey took over the program for the 2000-01 season, surpassing Indiana, Oregon State, Pennsylvania and St. John’s. As of March 6, Notre Dame is the only NCAA program to rank in the top 10 for men’s basketball victories (1813) and football victories (892, 2nd).
ACADEMIC HONORS: The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its All-ACC Academic Men’s Basketball team on March 1. Two members of Notre Dame’s freshman class – Rex Pflueger and Matt Ryan – were named to the 26-member team. To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career.
FANTASTIC FOUR: On Jan. 4, Irish head coach Mike Brey named Steve Vasturia a captain for the remainder of the 2015-16 season, joining Demetrius Jackson, Zach Auguste and A.J. Burgett as Irish players with a `C’ on their uniforms
BEST CENTER IN THE COUNTRY: Zach Auguste has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the 2016 Kareem Abul-Jabaar award, given to the top center in the nation by the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Auguste is averaging a career-best 14.5 ppg and 10.4 rpg. Auguste is also one of 11 semifinalists for the Eddie Sutton Tustenugee Award, presented by the Tulsa Sports Charities. The award singles out a player who exhibits the traits of tenacity and unselfishness that Sutton advocated during his 36-year coaching career that included more than 800 victories. SUCCESS ON TOBACCO ROAD: Notre Dame joined the ACC at the start of the 2013-14 basketball season. The Irish ended up 0-3 in the state of North Carolina that year (65-58 loss at Wake Forest, 63-61 loss at North Carolina, 81-69 loss to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament in Greensboro).
Since breaking through for the program’s first win in Chapel Hill, 71-70, at North Carolina on Jan. 5, 2015, the Irish have won seven of the last eight games they have played in the Tar Heel State.
SUCCESS VS. ACC `BLUE BLOODS’: Not only have the Irish been impressive in the state of North Carolina recently – they have been equally impressive against the traditional power programs from the state over the past two seasons.
The Irish boast a 10-1 record against teams from North Carolina since the start of the 2014-15 season:
IRISH INK THREE ON SIGNING DAY: Guards Nikola Djogo (Stoney Creek, Canada) and Temple (T.J.) Gibbs (Scotch Pines, New Jersey) and power forward John Mooney (Longwood, Florida) signed their National Letters of intent on the first day of the 2015 November early signing period. The trio is set to enroll at Notre Dame in the fall of 2016.
Gibbs and Mooney recently were named nominees for the 2016 McDonald’s All-American Game.
GRANT, CONNAUGHTON HEAR NAMES CALLED IN 2015 NBA DRAFT: Jerian Grant became the 17th player in Notre Dame history, and third under head coach Mike Brey, to be selected in the first round as the 19th overall pick by the Washington Wizards at the 2015 National Basketball Association Draft. Less than an hour after hearing his name, he was traded to the New York Knicks.
The Brooklyn Nets chose Pat Connaughton in the second round as the 41st pick overall, but Connaughton ultimately traded to the Portland Trailblazers.
Grant has seen action in 58 games this season, averaging 4.6 points per game (as of March 6). Connaughton has appeared in 25 games for the Trailblazers and recently scored a career-high seven points against his hometown NBA team – the Boston Celtics – on March 2.
EVENING WITH NOTRE DAME BASKETBALL: The traditional end-of-the-year celebration of Irish Hoops – `An Evening With Notre Dame Basketball’ is set for Monday, April 11, starting at 5:00 p.m. Tickets for the event can be purchased online at www.und.com/tickets, or by calling the Notre Dame Ticket Office at 574-631-7356.
The evening will feature a tour of Notre Dame’s basketball facilities, a chance to meet each Irish player and coach for pictures and autographs, a buffet-style dinner and a video-centric awards ceremony when Notre Dame will announce its team awards,. A new feature this year will be a photo booth where Irish fans can take pictures with Notre Dame props and receive a keepsake photo strip.