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

2. Slow the pace of game, and take care of the ball

Alabama comes into this matchup against Notre Dame averaging eighty points per game which is 10th in the whole country. They want to go as fast as they can to try and score as quickly as possible. Alabama would rather have this game be in the upper seventies, or the eighties compared to a slugfest in the high fifties or sixties overall.

The higher the score the better Alabama feels about winning the game. Not saying they cannot win if the game is a lower scoring contest, but just look at their schedule and it is pretty clear they like it being higher score.

Notre Dame can be aggressive when it wants to me as they have this season at times. This matchup against Alabama should not be one of those times. Not saying you have to go full burn offense as Mike Brey did back in the old days at times, but the Irish should definitely make sure they are taking their time.

I know they do this regularly getting into their sets overall, but there has to be an emphasis going into this game against Alabama that you do not want to get in a track meet with them. The more patient you can be on offense while still being efficient the better.

The Irish for the majority of the season have been a team that has taken care of the ball. Look no further than Wednesday night when they only had five turnovers in a game that went two overtimes. Some teams have five turnovers in a half and the Irish were able to go a whole game with that number. That needs to continue on Friday with taking care of the ball.

You are already going into this matchup as the underdog in the matchup, so taking care of the ball and giving them more opportunities is something that Notre Dame needs to limit if they want to advance to the round of 32 on Sunday.