Sophomore Bonzie Colson (left) and senior Zach Auguste (right) will take on the winner of Michigan/Tulsa on Friday, March 18, in the Barclays Center at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET.

Sixth-Seeded Irish Set For NCAA Tournament Challenge

March 15, 2016

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EVENT INFORMATION
DATE/TIME: Friday, March 18, 9:30 p.m. (approx)
VENUE: Barclays Center (Capacity: 17,732)
CITY: Brooklyn, N.Y.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION: CBS. Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst), Allie LaForce (sidelines)
NOTRE DAME RADIO NETWORK : Check Affiliates (page 8). Jack Nolan (play-by-play). Torrian Jones (analyst)
WESTWOOD ONE NATIONAL RADIO: Chris Carinno (play-by-play) Kelly Tripuka (analyst). Available on Sirius Channel 83 and XM Channel 202

Notre Dame earned the sixth seed in the Philadelphia Regional of the 2016 NCAA Championship and will play the winner of the Michigan – Tulsa `First Four’ play-in game on Friday, March 18, at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET in Brooklyn, N.Y.

It is the 35th overall appearance by Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament and 17th since the field expanded to 64 in 1985. The spot is also the 11th earned in the Mike Brey era (start of the 2001 season) and eighth in the last 10 years. The Irish are coming off a historic run to the Elite Eight in last season’s tournament, knocking off #14 Northeastern, #6 Butler and #7 Wichita State before falling to #1 seed Kentucky by two points just one game away from the Final Four.

Historically, the Irish are 34-38 in NCAA Competition since participating in the tournament for the first time in 1953 and are 9-10 under Mike Brey. As a sixth-seeded team, the Irish are 1-3 in the tournament, with a victory over Xavier in 2001, and losses to #3 Mississippi in 2001, #11 Winthrop in 2007 and #11 Old Dominion in 2010.

AUGUSTE 22 REBOUNDS vs. DUKE:

Zach Auguste grabbed a career-high 22 rebounds in the ACC quarterfinal victory over Duke on March 10. It was the first 20-plus rebound performance for an Irish player vs. an ACC opponent and the first for Notre Dame since Luke Harangody pulled down 22 boards vs. Washington State in the 2008 NCAA Championship.

The 22 rebound mark tied for the 8th-best fifth-best single game performance in Irish history with Bob Arnzen (1/28/67), Bob Whitmore (2/23/67), Collis Jones (3/20/71) and Harangody. Whitmore holds the school record with 30 rebounds vs. St. Norbert’s on Dec. 14, 1967.

In ACC Championship play, it matches Tim Duncan’s 22-rebound effort in 1996 as the second-most in a tournament game ever.

BETTER BIG MAN?

After his 19-point, 22-rebound performance vs. Duke in the ACC quarterfinals on March 10, Irish head coach Mike Brey mentioned that there might not be a `big man’ playing better anywhere in the nation than Zach Auguste – and the numbers back up that claim.

In the past 12 games, Auguste is averaging 15.7 ppg and 11.9 rpg – failing to scoring in double figures just once. Over that same stretch of games, Auguste has posted eight double-doubles. For more details, see Auguste’s bio on page 30 of this notes package.

OVERTIME MASTERS:

There is a good reason Notre Dame refers to overtime as `Our Time’ – the Irish are 11-1 in their last 12 overtime games going back to February of 2013, including the 84-79 overtime win over Duke in the 2016 ACC Quarterfinals on March 10. Overall, the Irish are 21-10 in overtime during the Mike Brey era.

BEACHEM STEPPING UP THIS MARCH:

It was a forgettable post season for junior V.J. Beachem last year. While the Irish team pushed toward the ACC Championship and eventual Elite Eight run in the NCAA Championship, Beachem’s minutes and production dropped. Then a sophomore, Beachem scored just 14 points combined in the ACC and NCAA Championships.

But if this season’s ACC Championship effort is any indication, Beachem is focused on putting last season’s slow March behind him.

In the ACC Quarterfinals vs. Duke on March 10, Beachem tied for the team lead with 19 points, going 7-12 from the field with four three point field goals and matching his career high in minutes played (38).

His three pointer at 2:35 left in regulation gave the Irish their first lead of the game since the early minutes, he then followed up with a three pointer during Notre Dame’s second possession of overtime to put the Irish head to stay.

In the ACC semifinal loss to North Carolina, Beachem continued his hot shooting with 11 points, going 3-6 from behind the arc. Entering NCAA tournament action, Beachem is 12-24 (.500) from behind the three point line in Notre Dame’s last five games.

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 1816-982 (.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. 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.

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.

Please download the PDF at the top of the page for the full extensive post season notes package, including bio updates, statistics and more.