Men’s Basketball
Standing at 13-12 overall and 3-9 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Irish have seven known games remaining — six to close the regular season and at least the opener in the ACC Tournament.
The Fighting Irish must win that “best of seven” by going at least 4-3 in this stretch to ensure an NIT bid. The three “must wins” are home encounters tomorrow (Feb. 19) with Wake Forest, which is 2-10 in the league, and Clemson (5-7 in ACC play) on March 3, and at Pitt (2-11 in the ACC) in the regular season finale.
They will be the underdog at home this Saturday versus Virginia Tech, and then at Florida State (Feb. 25) and Louisville (March 3) — but at this point of the season, stealing one of those games shouldn’t be out of the question.
While the 60-54 loss at No. 4 Virginia on Saturday was an encouraging sign of competitiveness, it must also be viewed from a context of human nature. The Cavaliers were coming off back-to-back contests against perennial national title contenders Duke and North Carolina, so hosting a Notre Dame team it had dismantled 82-55 a few weeks earlier was not going to elicit much motivation.
Conversely, the Irish were embarrassed by their earlier effort against the Cavs, so they were going to extend maximum effort this time. It still wasn’t good enough to beat Virginia — and just because the game was close doesn’t mean Notre Dame has “turned the corner.”
Any underdog can be “up” for games in which it is given little to no chance. Witness Ball State football losing 24-16 at playoff-bound Notre Dame last year. Fans of the Cardinals might have thought, “Wow, we might have something special this year.” A week later they were whipped 38-10 at Indiana en route to a 4-8 finish.
That’s why it’s imperative for Notre Dame to demonstrate progress more by finishing with victories against the teams "it is supposed to defeat" — Wake Forest, Clemson and Pitt — and take it from there.
Last year at this time, Notre Dame seniors Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell and Martin Geben were part of a class that had recorded a school record-tying seven NCAA Tournament wins in three years. An NIT bid was going to be a supreme letdown, especially after Colson had been sidelined two months with an injury.
This year, an NIT bid would be viewed as more opportunity for a team in transition and attempting to grow. Next year that won’t, nor should be, the case.
Women’s Basketball
In a week that saw No. 2 Louisville get toppled at home by No. 20 Miami — which also upset Notre Dame earlier this month — and No. 5 Mississippi State fall to unranked Missouri, head coach Muffet McGraw’s reigning national champs (23-3 overall, 10-2 in the ACC) are back to controlling their own destiny in regard to achieving an eighth straight No. 1 seed.
With its top-ranked RPI and strength of schedule, winning the four remaining league games and the ACC Tournament should put the Irish on the top line of a bracket.
That seven-game closing stretch begins tonight at No. 12 North Carolina State (22-2, 9-2 overall) with a 7 p.m. ET tip-off on ESPN2.
The Wolfpack stunned the Irish there two years ago (70-62) and it’s another classic “something has to give” matchup. Notre Dame is No. 1 in the 15-team ACC in scoring offense (87.2 points per game), while North Carolina State is No. 1 in scoring defense (57.2). Especially notable is head coach Wes Moore’s team is sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.341), while Notre Dame is third-best in shooting percentage (.515).
Since the 72-65 loss at Miami on Feb. 7, McGraw has ratcheted up the heat on her Irish.
“The bench is trying to help us a lot in bringing intensity, but as starters and leaders we’ve definitely picked it up a little bit,” said senior All-American guard Arike Ogunbowale, who needs only 33 more points to become the program’s all-time scoring leader.
Ogunbowale and three other seniors have noted that back-to-back national titles would be a supreme legacy to leave — but all McGraw wants to see for now is consistent intensity on the defensive end of the floor that NC State possesses. The Wolfpack have lost two of their top players — guards Kaila Ealey and Grace Hunter — to season ending injuries. However, much like Notre Dame last year, when four players were lost to ACL tears, it has cultivated a resilient, galvanized determination within, just like the Irish last year.
NC State is led by 6-1 guard Kiara Leslie, its version of Jackie Young in that she can excel at virtually any position (15.8 points and 7.7 rebounds) on offense and defense. She and Aislinn Konig have combined to convert 125 three-pointers at just over 40 percent.
“They’re smart, they play great position defense, their rotation is really good, they’re aggressive, they’re just a team that really enjoys playing defense,” McGraw said. "They love defense, and that really helps.”
That may have been a subliminal message to her own team.
“The whole key all year, it’s our defense,” McGraw said. “… You can’t just come out and play defense on game day. You’ve got to practice it. I think they’re a little more in tune to it — but we’re not good at it because we haven’t been doing it all year long.”
Asked whether the legacy rhetoric from the players serves as inspiration, McGraw remained unfazed.
“I hope so because they’ve really shot themselves in the foot,” she said. “They could have really left an incredible legacy — but the first time we’ve ever had two losses in (ACC) conference play is not the legacy they want to leave. Hopefully, they’re ready to build on what we’ve done the last two games (97-70 and 97-47 blowouts of Florida State and Boston College).”
Sophomore reserve forward Mikayla Vaughn is back in commission after sitting out the Boston College game because of concussion protocol, but freshman reserve point guard Jordan Nixon is out again after pulling a hamstring during warm-ups for the game at BC.
Hockey
After splitting at home this past weekend versus Wisconsin — which is in last place in the seven-team Big Ten Conference — Notre Dame (16-11-3 overall, and 9-9-2-2 in the league) stands at No. 3 in the Big Ten. It is two points behind Minnesota — which is No. 2 in the league, fresh off a series sweep of No. 1 Ohio State in Columbus, and the team the Irish must face this weekend.
Head coach Jeff Jackson’s troops are No. 17 in the crucial PairWise Rankings that help determine the 16-team NCAA Tournament field. The Golden Gophers (13-14-4) are only No. 21 in PairWise despite the sweep of the Buckeyes, so Notre Dame might still be on the outside looking in even with a sweep of Minnesota. Just one more regular season loss could jeopardize their NCAA Tournament hopes after advancing to the Frozen Four each of the past two seasons, and likely would require winning the Big Ten Tournament to earn the automatic bid.
Following the Minnesota series, the regular season closes out by hosting Penn State March 1-2.
News & Notes
• There has been no greater mainstay of championship excellence in athletics at Notre Dame the past 40 years than fencing, where the men and women’s combined teams remain No. 1 and will compete in the ACC Championships this weekend at Boston College.
The Irish will seek their unprecedented third straight national title in Cleveland from March 21-24, and 11th overall since 1977.
• No. 7-ranked men’s lacrosse opened with a 19-6 victory this weekend versus Detroit Mercy on the strength of goals by junior Bryan Costabile and three from senior Brendan Gleason. They travel to Richmond for a Saturday tilt.
• The 3-0 and No. 20 women’s lacrosse squad posted a 14-10 win at Liberty, with sophomore Andie Aldave and senior Samantha Lynch tallying four goals apiece. They will play at Ohio State on Friday.
• Men’s tennis (8-4) has climbed to No. 11 against one of the nation’s top schedules, and play No. 16 Michigan this Saturday.
• The baseball program that has floundered since the departure of head coach Paul Mainieri to LSU after the 2006 campaign opened the season with 10-1, 20-7 and 16-5 losses at Arizona State this past weekend.
This week it will host the Alamo Irish Classic in San Antonio versus Eastern Michigan (Thursday-Friday) and Incarnate Word (Friday and Saturday).
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