While the nation was paying attention to the major schools and power coaches, Mike Brey has patiently turned Notre Dame into one of the most reliable programs in college basketball.
The 15th-ranked Irish are 16-2 and 5-0 in the ACC -- their best start in conference play in program history. Brey's guys are the only remaining undefeated team in the ACC, the deepest league in the country. Even more impressive: They've won more road games than home games in league play.
Game No. 4 away from home -- at 16-2, 10th-ranked Florida State -- goes down Wednesday night. It's not often that Notre Dame plays one of the biggest games of the week, in any week, but that's what we have here. ND-FSU is a marquee matchup and a fun storyline for college basketball because it pits two of the biggest surprises in the sport against each other, and both teams have realistic goals, right now, of chasing a coveted No. 1 seed.
Notre Dame's success into 2017 has come as a revelation to many because Brey has lost three significant NBA picks in the past two years (Jerian Grant, Pat Connaughton, Demetrius Jackson), plus a fourth fringe prospect (Zach Auguste). If you're not a one-and-done or two-and-through factory, it's hard to maintain top-25 quality on an annual basis. But Brey is on his way to a seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in eight years, the previous two highlighted with runs to the Elite Eight.
Despite losing NBA talent, how is Notre Dame this good again? After entering the season unranked, the Irish have proven themselves as a top-15 team thanks to quality W's at Miami, Virginia Tech and Pitt, plus a home defeat of Louisville and an offense that ranks in the top-eight in efficiency at KenPom.com. Making your foul shots helps a lot: This team might break the single-season free-throw percentage record.
The formula is an adage that Brey can't help but repeat to media and fellow coaches: Get old -- and stay old. That is the design for Notre Dame's long-term prosperity. This team's four most important players are juniors and seniors. Bonzie Colson (who leads the ACC in rebounding and double-doubles) has played at an All-American level this season, averaging 16 and 11. Junior point guard Matt Farrell has turned into one of the best breakout players in hoops (14.1 points, 5.4 assists per game), and Steve Vasturia (15.0 points) is the late-game killer for opponents. V.J. Beachem, an NBA prospect, almost never fouls, and averages the fewest points of the quartet (13.9).
With experience comes an elevated acknowledgement of trust between coach and crew. The all-out belief Brey has in his players is what's impressive. He doesn't over-coach and he doesn't overuse his timeouts. Few coaches in college basketball have a level of trust with their players (to, you know, play basketball and run the stuff they practice) the way Brey does. He's allowed himself to grow into a loosened coaching style, one that's affable in the huddle and endlessly steady in confidence of his guys.
"We're able to think and be poised in chaos better than our opponent," Brey said. "I think they have that [mindset] anyways. But I try to convince them of that. We're better, we're calmer, we're smarter. Get high-IQ guys that are good with the ball and let them go. You can always rein them back."
This was recently on display when Brey opted not to call a timeout during the end of regulation and the end of overtime at Pitt. Notre Dame won when Vasturia delivered a 3-point killshot.
Brey has long refused to be one of those guys who "coaches every dribble," he said, and referenced the program's insistence on recruiting smart basketball players.
The team's ability to win close games has determined its status as one of the best squads in the country. While there are a handful of teams with better records, no one has been more impressive more often in late-game situations than the Irish. Here's what Notre Dame has overcome in conference play in order to get to 5-0.
- Trailed 75-70 in overtime at Pitt with 2:25 remaining, closed game on an 8-2 run.
- Tied at 68 with Louisville with two minutes remaining, closed game on a 9-2 run.
- In a one-point game with Clemson with 2:17 remaining, closed game on an 8-2 run.
- Trailed at Miami 61-57 with 2:53 remaining, closed game on a 10-1 run.
- Trailed at Virginia Tech 67-66 with 1:52 remaining, closed game on a 10-4 run.
"We make it a one-possession in the under-4 timeout, that's right where we want to be," Brey said.
Brey also believes having smart students affects a winning culture. Eight of the players on his team are in Notre Dame's Mendoza School, one of the elite business programs in the country. Thanks to Farrell's heady play, Notre Dame is third in the country in turnover percentage. What's wild is when you watch Notre Dame, it's basically running motion offense, with Farrell being trusted to read the defense and roll from there. I don't know if any coach truly has as much trust in his "final five," if you will, as Brey.
"People have missed some free throws and have had some costly, unforced turnovers against us in some key games that have helped us," Brey said. "I think after the Pittsburgh game and after Louisville, where you finish both of them, you have a great psychological advantage now. So when you go into those timeouts with two and a half minutes, down two, up one, I do it with a smile sometimes."
It helps that Vasturia is turning into one of college basketball's most reliable late-game scorers. In that Pitt game, Vasturia scored 10 of the final 12 points for his team, including the winner. Against Louisville, he had a career-high 24 points. In beating Clemson, Vasturia's 3-pointer with 1:45 to go was the go-ahead-stay-ahead basket en route to victory. He made a clutch shot with eight seconds remaining in the win at Miami, and had another pivotal basket in the final minute in the win at Virginia Tech. The guy is stones, and Notre Dame probably wouldn't be in the top 25 without him.
But it's not only offense. Brey cited this team's "under-4" defense as probably the best he's ever seen with any of his teams. Brey is referencing the final TV timeout of a game, which comes after the first whistle under four minutes. The team tracks "kills," which are three consecutive possessions without allowing a field goal. That equates to one kill. And in every ACC game so far, with less than four minutes to go, Notre Dame's had at least one kill.
"We're stealing the ball at a rate we've never really done before," he said.
And it's not just man-on-man. While Vasturia is such a strong-willed defender and Beachem has great athleticism, the truth is, Brey deploys a 2-3 zone often, and he said that's been the catalyst for Notre Dame's steal success. Brey has had a couple of good defensive teams in his tenure with Notre Dame, but the program has never built its rep on defense. Now, in a surprise to Brey himself, that's changing when the game is close and the clock is running out.
Now the Irish are going to try to defeat their third straight quality ACC opponent and take down a winning streak in the process. Miami won 24 straight at home -- until Notre Dame arrived. Virginia Tech was riding a 15-game streak at the Cassell Colliseum -- then the Irish showed up. Florida State has also gone 15 in a row without a loss on its home floor. Does that end on Wednesday night?
If it does, this team will have a chance to compete with the 2014-15 team, which made the Elite Eight and lost to one of the best teams in college basketball history, as one of the best in school history. Get old, stay old. Then keep winning, and winning, and winning.
