Notre Dame Basketball: Keys to beating Rutgers in First Four matchup
Notre Dame basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. The Irish had a very successful regular season finishing with 23 wins overall, but it turns out they were very close to missing out on being invited to the Big Dance. The Irish were one of the last four teams selected in the field, meaning they have drawn a matchup against Rutgers in Dayton on Wednesday night.
The ACC had a down year no doubt about it, but it still seems puzzling to see Notre Dame being featured in the play-in game when they finished with 15 wins in league play. Yes, their NET ranking was not the best being in the 50’s, but so was Miami’s (who Notre Dame beat on the road) and they got to avoid the play-in-game. I am not on the committee obviously, but that is just one that stuck out when the field was announced on Sunday.
Notre Dame was predicted in the preseason to finish eighth in the ACC standings but surpassed those expectations finishing tied for second in the ACC regular season. Coach Mike Brey has always liked to be old and stay old. He has had that in South Bend this season led by seniors Dane Goodwin, Nate Laszewski, Prentiss Hubb, Paul Atkinson Jr., Cormac Ryan, and Trey Wertz.
The Irish have a veteran team obviously with the names that were just mentioned, but they also have a really good freshman in Blake Wesley who is a key reason why Notre Dame saw their name pop up on the screen on Selection Sunday. Wesley was inserted into the starting lineup six games into the regular season and shortly after Notre Dame really started to turn their season around because of what Wesley was able to bring to the floor.
As mentioned earlier, this is Notre Dame’s first trip back to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 which means this will be the first time the senior class for the Irish (minus Paul Atkinson Jr. when at Yale) gets to experience and be a part of March Madness. They hope to advance to play Alabama in the Round of 64, but they will have their hands full against a tough Rutgers squad.
Rutgers (18-13) was one of nine Big Ten teams that was invited to the Big Dance this year. Like Notre Dame, Rutgers did not have the hottest start to the season with losses to DePaul, Lafayette, and Massachusetts. Rutgers had a huge upset win over Purdue in December after a heave from Ron Harper Jr. at the buzzer, and also had probably the best four-game run of any team in the country for the month of February.
The Scarlet Knights were able to knock off Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Those are four tournament teams and an extremely impressive run for Rutgers. That stretch for Rutgers is a huge reason why they were invited to the field of 68 and playing Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
Rutgers is led by its seniors in Ron Harper Jr., Geo Baker, and Caleb McConnell. Those are not the only threats as junior Paul Mulcahy and sophomore big man Clifford Omoruyi have both had very productive seasons and are key parts of this Rutgers roster.
Notre Dame and Rutgers used to meet regularly when they were both in the Big East Conference. The last time these two teams played was back in 2013, so just about ten years. This should be a very fun and entertaining game in Dayton with two teams just trying to fight and claw to advance to the next round.
Here are some major keys for Notre Dame to beat Rutgers on Wednesday night.