# 1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1986-87 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 16th season, and played their home games at the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana. Notre Dame earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they reached the Sweet Sixteen. The team finished with a 24–8 record and a No. 18 rankings in both major polls.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 21, 1986* | | Western Kentucky Preseason NIT | L 63–80 | 0–1 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 2, 1986* | | No. 3 Indiana | L 62–67 | 0–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 4, 1986* | | Cornell | W 60–56 | 1–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 6, 1986* | | Brigham Young | W 62–46 | 2–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 11, 1986* | | Eastern Michigan | W 81–76 | 3–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 20, 1986* | | Valparaiso | W 63–50 | 4–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 29, 1986* | | Central Michigan | W 55–54 | 5–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 31, 1986* | | at Maryland | W 63–50 | 6–2 | Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland |
| Jan 3, 1987* | | at Pennsylvania | W 71–67 | 7–2 | Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 4, 1987* | | at Yale | W 64–49 | 8–2 | New Haven Coliseum (3,423) New Haven, Connecticut |
| Jan 10, 1987* | | at No. 7 DePaul | L 54–58 | 8–3 | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Jan 12, 1987* | | at Creighton | W 67–54 | 9–3 | Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska |
| Jan 17, 1987* | | West Virginia | L 55–57 | 9–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 24, 1987* | | at UCLA | L 59–63 | 9–5 | Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 27, 1987* | | Dayton | W 66–55 | 10–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 29, 1987* | | Marquette | W 58–48 | 11–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 1, 1987* | | No. 1 North Carolina | W 60–58 | 12–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 4, 1987* | | La Salle | W 76–64 | 13–5 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 6, 1987* | | at Vanderbilt | L 56–60 | 13–6 | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| Feb 8, 1987* | | at No. 18 Kansas | L 60–70 | 13–7 | Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas |
| Feb 15, 1987* | | No. 15 Duke | W 70–66 $^{OT}$ | 14–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 16, 1987* | | Wagner | W 74–54 | 15–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 18, 1987* | | vs. Fordham | W 69–57 | 16–7 | |
| Feb 21, 1987* | | at Utah | W 57–56 | 17–7 | Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Feb 25, 1987* | | No. 4 DePaul | W 73–62 | 18–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 28, 1987* | | at Marquette | W 72–60 | 19–7 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Mar 3, 1987* | No. 20 | Brooklyn | W 76–57 | 20–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 5, 1987* | No. 20 | Miami (FL) | W 65–49 | 21–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 7, 1987* | No. 20 | at Dayton | W 62–56 | 22–7 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 12, 1987* | (5 E) No. 18 | vs. (12 E) Middle Tennessee First round | W 84–71 | 23–7 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Mar 14, 1987* | (5 E) No. 18 | vs. (4 E) No. 19 TCU Second round | W 58–57 | 24–7 | Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina |
| Mar 19, 1987* | (5 E) No. 18 | vs. (1 E) No. 2 North Carolina East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen | L 68–74 | 24–8 | Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||