Notre Dame Basketball: Keys for Irish to upset Alabama in Round of 64

Notre Dame basketball gets to see another day after defeating Rutgers on Wednesday night in theFirst Four matchup in Dayton, Ohio. The Irish were nice enough to wait until it was officially St Patrick’s Day on the east coast to have Irish fans across the country start celebrating the holiday. With the win over Rutgers, the Irish now have to travel across the country to San Diego where the number six seeded Alabama Crimson Tide are waiting for them for the matchup on Friday afternoon.

The Alabama Crimson Tide had a good year, but also a confusing season at the same time if you followed college basketball the whole time. Alabama finished the regular season going 19-13, and 9-9 in a tough SEC. Alabama had some huge wins over the likes of Gonzaga, Memphis, Tennessee, Baylor, and others which is great, but at the same time, they had some real head-scratching losses against teams like Missouri, Georgia, and Vanderbilt.

Alabama is a good team as their resume shows above but you have to ask the question if you are an Alabama fan on what Crimson Tide team is actually going to show up in the NCAA Tournament? If it is the one with the great wins this team led by Nate Oats can definitely go on a run and make some noise, but if it is the one who lost to the bottom feeders in the SEC then they will be heading back home rather quickly in the big dance.

Alabama is led by its three guards in Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly, and Keon Ellis. Shackelford is averaging 16.7 ppg, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, Jahvon Quinerly is at 14.3 ppg, 3.1 rebs, 4.3 assists, and finally, Keon Ellis is averaging 12.0 ppg, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Those are their upper-class leaders on the floor, but unlike Notre Dame who only goes 7 deep in the rotation the Crimson Tide likes to go deeper into their bench going as deep as 10 in the rotation.

Notre Dame is a senior-laden team that also plays one freshman in their rotation. The Irish two most consistent players all season long have been Dane Goodwin and Blake Wesley. Lately, Notre Dame really has been more of a balanced attack with the emergence of guys like Paul Atkinson Jr., Cormac Ryan, Nate Laszewski, and Prentiss Hubb really stepping up their games. Atkinson Jr, Laszewski, and Ryan showed how important they are in the first four matchup on Wednesday night.

According to Sports Reference, Notre Dame and Alabama are pretty even when it comes to the offense rating as the Irish come in at 108.9 (50th of 358), while Alabama is at 108.7( 52nd of 358). Where there is a difference is on the defense end where Notre Dame is listed at 100.4 (182nd of 358) which is not great but is a whole lot better than Alabama is at 103.9 (261st out of 358).

Notre Dame was able to score 87 against a good Rutgers team who defended the ball all year long. Yes, I know it was in two overtimes, but they still were shooting it great. It should be an interesting matchup to see if Notre Dame is able to replicate their shooting against the Alabama defense on Friday.

Notre Dame comes into this game feeling good about themselves picking up the win in the first four matchup, but also are not going to be as well-rested as Alabama who has not played since their loss to Vanderbilt last week in the SEC Tournament. Alabama is much more rested but it will be interesting to see if they are a bit rusty to start off the game with the layoff.

Here are my keys for Notre Dame to beat Alabama on Friday afternoon.