Football Foes Battle on the Hardcourt
Frank Vitovitch
March 15, 2000

South Bend, Ind - Sunday brought a lot of disappointment to the Notre Dame basketball team as well as to all of the Notre Dame fans around the country, but that chapter of this season is over and a new one begins tonight when the Irish will host a first round NIT game against one of the university's biggest football rivals, the Michigan Wolverines.

Notre Dame's bubble was burst while the likes of UNLV, Indiana State, Wisconsin, and other schools with similar records but with far less quality wins and loses, but in the field of 32 in the National Invitation Tournament, the Irish look like a contender.  Notre Dame joins fellow bubble teams of Arizona State, Virginia, Villanova, Bowling Green, and Wake Forest in the NIT.

The Irish will have to forget about their disappointment of being overlooked by the selection committee and concentrate on Michigan or their NIT run may be short lived.  Michigan is not what it has been in the past and they did get beat 114-63 by Michigan State in their regular season finale, but the Wolverines are not a cupcake opponent.

Michigan is lead by Freshman LaVell Blanchard who averages 14.4 points and 8.0 rebounds a game, both team highs.  He was recently voted the Big Ten Rookie of the Year and Third Team All Big Ten.  The Wolverines have two other freshman starting as well in guards Kevin Gaines and Gavin Groninger.  Pete Vingier is the only senior in the starting lineup and one of only two on the squad.  The Wolverines are a young team who should be fairly battle tested playing in the Big Ten and should play the Irish tough.

In Notre Dame's loss to Miami, the Irish were not hitting their three pointers.  They will have to do so against Michigan or they could very well find themselves being upset in round 1.  As I have said all year, not only does hitting the trifecta add points quickly, it spreads defenses out and forces them to only single cover Troy Murphy who can dominant almost any single defender. 

Look for Jere Macura to continue his strong play in the NIT as he really started to come on as of late.  In Notre Dame's final three games, the freshman started to look like an experienced player more and more and should continue to do so.  He hit a huge three pointer to close the Miami lead to only one point in the final minute and hit key shots in all three of the final three games.  Macura should see a lot of minutes again against Michigan tonight.

The key to winning will be what it has been all year long, hitting the jump shot. When Notre Dame is on fire, they can play with anyone in the country and have against teams like Ohio State, UConn, and Syracuse.  Troy Murphy should be able to get plenty of boards and work down low with Michigan having only one starter over 6'7".  If Jimmy Dillon, Macura, Matt Carroll, and company make some early jump shots, Notre Dame should be able to get out to an early lead and hold it for the victory.

Notre Dame cannot overlook Michigan however.  The Wolverines are very capable of winning this game if the Irish play half-heartedly, but I don't see Matt Doherty letting his kids lose focus which is why I think Notre Dame will win this one with a strong second half.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan is nothing new in the NIT.  In 1984 the Wolverines beat the Irish in the title game 83-63.  They also beat Notre Dame in the 1997 Final Four 67-66.  Michigan holds the series lead at 12-6 and own a 3-1 record on Notre Dame's home court.  Michigan has history on its side, but the Irish have destiny and a guy named Troy Murphy.

Go Irish!