March 17, 2017
WHO: #5 Notre Dame (26-9) vs. #4 West Virginia (27-8)
WHAT: NCAA Championship, West Region, Second Round
WHERE: KeyBank Center, Buffalo, New York
WHEN: Saturday, March 18, 2017, 12:10 p.m. ET
NATIONAL BROADCAST: CBS with Verne Lundquist (play-by-play), Jim Spanarkel (analyst) and Allie LaForce (sideline).
RADIO BROADCAST: Westwood One with Scott Graham (play-by-play) and Donny Marshall (analyst). Available on SiriusXM Radio and Westwood One affilates across the country.
NOTRE DAME RADIO BROADCAST: Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Zach Hillesland (analyst). Available via any Notre Dame Basketball Radio network affiliate.
Here are Five Things To Know about the Irish – Mountaineer match up –
BY THE NUMBERS – NOTRE DAME Vs. WEST VIRGINIA:
|
1 |
Junior Bonzie Colson is the only player in the ACC to finish the season averaging a double-double (17.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg). An All-ACC First Team selection, Colson also is among the final 15 in consideration for the 2017 John R. Wooden Award and the 2017 Karl Malone Trophy (best power forward in the nation). |
|
3 |
Notre Dame has advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament in the past three seasons, the first time the Irish have won an NCAA first round game for three consecutive years since Mike Brey’s first three seasons at Notre Dame (2001, 2002 and 2003). Notre Dame has never won its first two games in three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. |
|
5 |
The Irish are 5-1 in their last six games in the NCAA tournament decided by five points or less (see page 2 for more details). |
|
7 |
Notre Dame has won seven NCAA tournament games over the past three seasons, matching the school record for the most over a four-year span. See page 2 for more details. |
|
8 |
Notre Dame is the only school in the country to advance to the Elite Eight in the past two seasons. |
|
9 |
Notre Dame is ninth all-time in NCAA Tournament appearances with 36 and has a 39-38 (.506) all-time touranment record (see page 5 for a complete history of Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament). |
|
10 |
Mike Brey and Bob Huggins will be meeting for the 10th time as opposing head coaches on Saturday. Brey leads the all-time series 5-4 (1-0 vs. Huggins at Cincinnati, 4-4 vs. Huggins at West Virginia). |
|
12 |
The Irish are making their 12th NCAA Tournament appearance in 17 years under head coach Mike Brey. |
|
19 |
Notre Dame has played in the city of Buffalo, New York 19 times in the history of the program, including Thursday’s victory over Princeton. Prior to Thursday the most recent trip occurred in Mike Brey’s second year, an 84-73 Irish victory over Canisius at KeyBank Center. Current Notre Dame assistant coach Ryan Humphrey (14 pts, 11 reb) and Director of Basketball Operations Harold Swanagan (15 pts, 5 reb) played in that game. |
|
25 |
Junior Matt Farrell has connected on at least one three-point field goal in 25 consecutive games, the second-best streak of any ACC player (L. Kennard, Duke, 37 games). |
|
82 |
Program-record number of victories over the past three seasons for the Irish. |
|
97 |
Wins over the past four years for the senior class of 2017, matching the school-record. See page for more details. |
|
382 |
Victories at Notre Dame for head coach Mike Brey, the second-most in Notre Dame history and 11 away from matching the all-time record (393). |
NCAA POSTSEASON SUCCESS:
Not only did Notre Dame advance to the NCAA Championship Elite Eight for the second consecutive season in 2015-16, but the Irish victory on Thursday over Princeton was the seventh NCAA tournament wins over the past three years – matching the The Irish were the only team in the nation to advance to the Elite Eight in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons and the back-to-back regional final games are a first for the program since the NCAA touranment expanded to 64 or more teams in 1985.
Notre Dame’s six NCAA touranment victories over the past two seasons:
|
Teams |
Date |
Site |
Region |
Outcome |
Score |
|
#3 Notre Dame vs. #14 Northeastern |
3-19-15 |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
Midwest |
W |
69-65 |
|
#3 Notre Dame vs. #6 Butler |
3-21-15 |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
Midwest |
W (OT) |
67-64 |
|
#3 Notre Dame vs. #7 Wichita State |
3-26-15 |
Cleveland, OH |
Midwest |
W |
81-70 |
|
#6 Notre Dame vs. #11 Michigan |
3-18-16 |
Brooklyn, NY |
East |
W |
70-63 |
|
#6 Notre Dame vs. #14 Stephen F. Austin |
3-20-16 |
Brooklyn, NY |
East |
W |
76-75 |
|
#6 Notre Dame vs. #10 Wisconsin |
3-25-16 |
Philadelphia, PA |
East |
W |
61-56 |
|
#5 Notre Dame vs. #12 Princeton |
3-16-17 |
Buffalo, NY |
West |
W |
60-58 |
NCAA WINS RECORD IN SIGHT:
The senior class of V.J. Beachem and Steve Vasturia, along with graduate student walk on Patrick Mazza, who could become the winningest graduating class in school history, could also claim their place as the winningest class in terms of NCAA victories.
Notre Dame has matched the senior class of 1979 with seven NCAA tournament wins over the past four years. A victory on Saturday and the current Irish seniors will hold the school record for most NCAA wins during their time on campus.
A breakdown of the winningest four years, in terms of NCAA tournament victories, at Notre Dame:
|
Year 1 |
Wins |
Year 2 |
Wins |
Year 3 |
Wins |
Year 4 |
Wins |
Total |
|
2014 |
0 |
2015 |
3 |
2016 |
3 |
201 |
1 |
7 |
|
1976 |
1 |
1977 |
1 |
1978 |
3 |
1979 |
2 |
7 |
|
1978 |
3 |
1979 |
2 |
1980 |
0 |
1981 |
1 |
6 |
|
1977 |
1 |
1978 |
3 |
1979 |
2 |
1980 |
0 |
6 |
|
1974 |
2* |
1975 |
2 |
1976 |
1 |
1977 |
1 |
6 |
* – includes a regional final consolation victory
Notre Dame – WEST VIRGINIA SERIES HISTORY:
Notre Dame and West Virginia will be meeting for the 40th time on Saturday. The Irish lead the all-time series 27-12, 16-3 at home and 9-7 on the road. The series is even at 2-2 at neutral sites and Notre Dame led the series 17-6 when both teams were a member of the Big East Conference.
West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was 1-1 against the Irish as a player at WVU, falling 97-77 at Notre Dame in 1976 and claiming a home court victory 81-68 in 1977.
Overall, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey is 5-4 against Bob Huggins, 4-4 while Huggins has been at WVU and 1-0 at Cincinnati (69-51 in the 2000 Wooden Tradition at BankersLife Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana).
NOTRE DAME VS. WEST VIRGINA – HUGGINS ERA 4-4 | home 3-0 | away 1-2 | neutral 0-2
|
Date |
City |
Site |
ND rank |
Opp rank |
W/L |
ND |
Opp |
|
1/3/2008 |
*Notre Dame, IN |
Purcell Pavilion |
W |
69 |
56 |
||
|
2/18/2009 |
*Morgantown, WV |
WVU Coliseum |
L |
68 |
79 |
||
|
3/11/2009 |
#New York, NY |
Madison Square Garden |
L |
62 |
74 |
||
|
1/9/2010 |
*Notre Dame, IN |
Purcell Pavilion |
8 / 8 |
W |
70 |
68 |
|
|
3/12/2010 |
#New York, NY |
Madison Square Garden |
7 / 6 |
L |
51 |
53 |
|
|
2/19/2011 |
*Morgantown, WV |
WVU Coliseum |
8 / 7 |
L |
58 |
72 |
|
|
2/8/2012 |
*Morgantown, WV |
WVU Coliseum |
W |
55 |
51 |
||
|
2/22/2012 |
*Notre Dame, IN |
Purcell Pavilion |
20 / 18 |
W |
71 |
44 |
IRISH EXTEND THREE-YEAR WIN MARK RECORD:
Notre Dame’s two victories on the run to the ACC Championship game, pushed the program’s win record over the past three seasons to 81. The Irish already posted the best two-year stretch of victories last season, winning 56 combined games in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
|
Season 1 |
Wins |
Season 2 |
Wins |
Season 3 |
Wins |
Total |
|
2014-15 |
32 |
2015-16 |
24 |
2016-17 |
26 |
82 |
|
2010-11 |
27 |
2011-12 |
22 |
2012-13 |
25 |
74 |
|
2013-14 |
15 |
2014-15 |
32 |
2015-16 |
24 |
71 |
|
2008-09 |
21 |
2009-10 |
23 |
2010-11 |
27 |
71 |
NCAA CLOSE SHAVES:
With the 60-58 victory over Princeton on Thursday, Notre Dame improves to 5-1 in its last six NCAA games decided by five points or less, including the last three in a row.
|
Date |
ND Seed |
Opp Seed |
Region |
Opponent |
W/L |
ND |
Opp |
Margin |
Site |
|
3/19/2015 |
3 |
14 |
MW |
Northeastern |
W |
69 |
65 |
+4 |
Consol Energy Center |
|
3/21/2015 |
3 |
6 |
MW |
Butler |
W (OT) |
67 |
64 |
+3 |
Consol Energy Center |
|
3/28/2015 |
3 |
1 |
MW |
Kentucky |
L |
66 |
68 |
-2 |
Quicken Loans Arena |
|
3/20/2016 |
6 |
14 |
E |
Stephen F. Austin |
W |
76 |
75 |
+1 |
Barclays Center |
|
3/25/2016 |
6 |
7 |
E |
Wisconsin |
W |
61 |
56 |
+5 |
Wells Fargo Center |
|
3/16/2017 |
5 |
12 |
W |
Princeton |
W |
60 |
58 |
+2 |
KeyBank Center |