March 29, 2015

Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery

University of Notre Dame Men’s Basketball
NCAA Championship · Midwest Regional Final
#1 seed Kentucky 68, #3 seed Notre Dame 66
March 28, 2015
Quicken Loans Arena · Cleveland, Ohio

Postgame Notes

TEAM
· This was Notre Dame’s first Elite Eight appearance since 1979 and the sixth regional final all-time for the Fighting Irish … Notre Dame is 1-5 all-time in regional final games.
· Notre Dame moved to 34-38 all-time in the NCAA tournament (34 appearances) … the Fighting Irish are 9-10 in the NCAA tournament under head coach Mike Brey (10 appearances).
· Notre Dame finished the season 32-6 … the 32 wins are the second-most in program history (33-7 in 1908-09).
· This was the 62nd meeting all-time between Notre Dame and Kentucky and the first since Nov. 29, 2012 (a 64-50 Irish win) … the Wildcats lead the series 43-19 … this was the third time Notre Dame and Kentucky met in the NCAA tournament and the second time in a regional final (1958 the other) … the Wildcats have won all three NCAA tournament games versus the Irish.
· Note Dame was 9-4 this season in games decided by five points or less.
· Notre Dame only committed seven turnovers … it was the 20th time this season the Irish had less than 10 turnovers in a game.
· The game was tied 31-31 at halftime … it was the first time this season the Fighting were tied with their opponent at halftime.
· Demetrius Jackson (So./G), Jerian Grant (Sr./G), Steve Vasturia (So./G), Pat Connaughton (Sr./G-F) and Zach Auguste (Jr./F) started tonight’s contest … the Irish were 30-6 this season with that starting quintet.
· A three-pointer from Pat Connaughton in the first half upped Notre Dame’s streak of consecutive games with a made three-pointer to 547.

PLAYERS
Zach Auguste (Jr./F)
· Scored a team-high 20 points … it was the fifth time this season (second in the NCAA tournament) that he reached the 20-point plateau.
· Netted double-figures for the second straight game and the 28th time this season.
· Was 10-of-13 from the field … was 28-of-40 (.700) from the field in Notre Dame’s four NCAA tournament games.
· Hauled down a team-high tying nine rebounds.

Pat Connaughton (Sr./G-F)
· Grabbed a team-high tying nine rebounds.
· Made his 120th consecutive start and his 123rd career start overall … played in all 139 games during his Notre Dame career.
· Finished his Notre Dame career first in games played (139), third in games started (123), fifth in made three-pointers (268), 12th in rebounds (823) and 17th in points (1,465)

Jerian Grant (Sr./G)
· Scored in double-figures (15 points) for a team-best 34th time this season (99th time of his career).
· Dished out a game-high six assists and only committed one turnover.
· Played all 40 minutes … played every minute in 12 games this season, including all four NCAA tournament games.
· Concluded his Notre Dame career third in assists (690), fifth in games started (117), fifth in steals (175), ninth in made three-pointers (179) and 11th in points (1,739)

Demetrius Jackson (So./G)
· Played all 40 minutes … it was the second time this season he played every minute of a game.

Steve Vasturia (So./G)
· Scored in double-figures (16 points) for the third straight game and the 21st time this season.