Irish thrive when playing near home
It’s easy to understand why Notre Dame coach Mike Brey appreciates the opportunity to play two NCAA Tournament games at United Center.
When the Irish play within a two-hour radius of campus, they own an 18-0 record this year.
Notre Dame, the No. 2 seed in the Southwest regional, faces Akron at 12:40 p.m. Friday on the Bulls’ home floor.
“We’re thrilled to be coming that way,” Brey said Sunday night. “Obviously it was looking that way for the last couple weeks. I’m glad we could solidify coming to Chicago. I think it’s extremely important for us to play in Chicago.”
But Brey took pains not to assume the Irish will advance to Sunday’s third-round game against the Texas A&M-Florida State winner.
Notre Dame entered last year’s NCAA Tournament with a No. 6 seed, but Old Dominion pulled off a 51-50 upset.
“One of the things that drove our group all summer is they didn’t win a first-round NCAA Tournament game,” Brey said. “Our goal is to win a first-round NCAA Tournament game first.”
Technically, of course, Friday’s opener serves as a second-round game because of the new 68-team format. But Brey’s comment stands.
He’s guarding against everyone that’s looking ahead to a potential Sweet 16 matchup against Purdue in San Antonio.
The third-seeded Boilermakers, who also earned a short jaunt to United Center, face 14th-seeded Saint Peter’s (20-13) at 6:20 p.m. Friday.
It’s the second year in a row Purdue opens against the Metro Atlantic Athletic champ. The Boilers had to work to beat Siena last season, so Purdue coach Matt Painter isn’t worried whether his players will take Saint Peter’s seriously.
He’s more concerned about his team’s last two games: A road loss to Iowa and an 18-point Big Ten tournament quarterfinal loss to Michigan State.
“Hopefully this allows us to get on edge,” Painter said. “But I know we have to do a better job competing and we have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.”
That’s not the end of Painter’s to-do list before Purdue, like Notre Dame, boards the bus Wednesday for the two-hour ride to Chicago.
“Taking good shots,” Painter said. “I don’t think in the last game we took good shots and we just weren’t patient. And just being tougher and doing a better job on the defensive end.”
If Purdue makes it to Sunday, either sixth-seeded Georgetown or 11th-seeded Southern California or VCU will await.
Southern California and VCU are part of the inaugural “First Four” concept that requires the last four at-large qualifiers to go to Dayton for first-round play.