Okay Irish faithful, what do the numbers 3, 7, 7, and 8 mean? No, it's not the projected NCAA Tournament seedings for the Irish; that will come later. Those numbers are what Notre Dame is ranked nationally in Assists, Rebound Margin, Personal Fouls, and Assist-to-Turnover Ratio. More importantly for the 18-4 (8-2 BE) Fighting Irish, the two numbers that really matter right now is 18 and 20.
Today Notre Dame jumped up in the current ESPN/USAToday and AP polls to 18th and 20th, respectively. The Irish are one of six Big East schools ranked in both polls. Notre Dame also jumped up in their RPI rankings too, when they checked in at 27th. All of these numbers can be contributed by individual numbers, as well as, team numbers.
Big East Player of the Year frontrunner Luke Harangody, and his sling shooting sidekick Kyle McAlarney are in the Top 30 nationally in two categories each. Senior captain Rob Kurz and sophomore Tory Jackson are also ranked nationally in an individual statistical category:
Luke Harangody 29th Points (20.4)
17th Rebounds (10.1)
Kyle McAlarney 22nd 3pt. FG Made (3.3)
14th 3 pt. FG% (45.8)
Rob Kurz 34th FT% (86.5)
Tory Jackson 19th Assists (6.1)
Overall as a team, the Fighting Irish have put up some of their best numbers in the Mike Brey era. Besides being ranked in the Top 10 in assists, rebound margin, personal fouls, and assists-to-turnover ratio, Notre Dame is ranked for their offensive output and their defensive stalwart.
Offense:
19. Scoring (80.5)
20. Scoring Margin (13.4)
12. 3pt. FG% (40.7)
38. FT% (73.8)
Defense:
33. FG% (40.0)
Here's another number I'll throw at you, 8. That's how many games remain in regular season. If the Irish can come up with 7-1 or 6-2 combination, Notre Dame will be in the driver's seat for a possible Sweet 16 run. But don't tell that to Coach Brey and the Irish. They'll be taking it, ONE game at a time!
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