New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - Thanks to a late run down the stretch, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned the six seed in the South Region and will open the NCAA Tournament with a first round meeting against the 11th-seeded Old Dominion Monarchs at the New Orleans Arena this afternoon.
The Monarchs will be making their 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but in the previous nine showings, the team has gone just 2-9. This will be the third NCAA Tournament for ODU since 2005, and the first since 2007 when the team was bounced from the event in the first round by Butler. This season the Monarchs collected an impressive 26 victory and earned an automatic bid with a 60-53 victory over William & Mary to earn the Colonial Athletic Association tournament title.
The Fighting Irish were bounced from the Big East Tournament with a loss to West Virginia (53-51) in the semifinal round, but the team racked up six straight victories beforehand to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame was just 10-8 in Big East play, but the team finished with 23 overall victories, landing the squad in the Big Dance for the sixth time in the last 10 seasons. This is the 30th appearance for Notre Dame in this event, as the team is 30-33 in its previous 29 showings. In 2008, the Irish opened the tournament with a victory over George Mason, but followed that with a loss to Washington State.
This will be the second-ever meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. The only other matchup took place during the 1983-84 season, ands the Irish defeated ODU, 67-62, in the NIT.
The winner of this matchup will move into the second round where they will face either Baylor or Sam Houston State.
Defensive play has been the main reason for Old Dominion's success this season, as the Monarchs are limiting the opposition to just 57.1 ppg. Teams are shooting 40.1 percent from the floor, but behind the arc is where the Monarchs really step up their efforts, as the team is holding opponents to a woeful 30.0 percent clip from long range. At the other end of the floor the team has not enjoyed similar success. In fact, Old Dominion comes into this tournament with just one player averaging double figures, and that is Gerald Lee, who is posting 14.6 ppg, to go along with 4.9 rpg. Frank Hassell has been the second best option on the season and is currently netting 8.9 ppg, to go along with a team-high 6.6 rpg for ODU, which as a whole is producing 67.5 ppg, behind a 44.8 percent shooting effort.
The Irish are anchored by the play of Luke Harangody down low. The talented forward has been coming off the bench of late and it has paid off for the Irish. Notre Dame possesses other talented players, but the heart and soul of this squad is Harangody, who finished in the top 10 in the nation in scoring with 22.4 ppg. Harangody, who is shooting 48.6 percent on the season, is also leading the Irish with 9.2 rpg. However, the senior has not done all the work on his own, as Tim Abromaitis and Ben Hansbrough have also made solid contributions throughout the campaign. Abromaitis has been a dangerous weapon from behind the arc, connecting on 44.0 percent of his three-point attempts and comes into this matchup averaging 16.3 ppg. As for Hansbrough, he is netting 11.8 ppg for Notre Dame and has also dished out 150 assists on the season. Running the show on the floor has been Tory Jackson, who has distributed a team-best 181 assists, to go along with 9.8 ppg for the Irish, who as a whole are producing 76.0 ppg.
03/18 11:01:32 ET
