# 2012–13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame in the sport of basketball during the 2012–13 college basketball season. The Fighting Irish competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Big East Conference. They were led by head coach Mike Brey, and played their home games at the Edmund P. Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana.

## Previous season

The Fighting Irish finished the 2011–12 season 22–12, 13–5 in Big East play, finishing third place behind Champion Syracuse. There were several Irish to receive All-Big East honors. Junior Jack Cooley was named the Big East's Most Improved as well as was named 2nd Team All-Big East.
The Irish were defeated in the semifinals of the Big East tournament by Louisville. They earned a #7 seed for the NCAA tournament, where they were eliminated in the second round by Xavier.

## Pre-season

Following the end of the 2011–12 season, both Tim Abromaitis and Scott Martin applied to the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility. Abromaitis had been a redshirt during the 2008–09 season, but suffered a torn ACL on November 25, 2011, during practice. He played in just two games during the season, having sat out the first four due to a misunderstanding of the rules during his redshirt season (he had played in exhibition games before the official start of the '08-'09 season).
Martin had transferred to Notre Dame after his freshman season at Purdue and sat out the 2008–2009 season due to NCAA transfer rules, but then suffered a torn ACL during a preseason practice in October 2009, causing him to miss a second full season. His petition for a sixth year was successful, but Abromaitis' was denied.
In June 2012, Notre Dame officially announced a 10-year contract extension for head coach Mike Brey, the third-winningest coach in school history and, with the retirement of Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, now the second-longest tenured coach in the Big East after Jim Boeheim.
Notre Dame recruited three players from the high school senior class of 2011–12, each of whom signed letters-of-intent in November 2011. The recruiting class was rated 16th in the nation by Rivals.com:
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Zach Auguste PF | Marlborough, MA | New Hampton School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 23, 2011 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Cameron Biedscheid SF | St. Louis, MO | Cardinal Ritter | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Sep 23, 2010 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 93 ||||||
| Austin Burgett PF | Avon, IN | Avon HS | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 200 lb (91 kg) | Sep 11, 2010 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: NR Rivals: 16 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Notre Dame 2012 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012. "2012 Notre Dame Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012. "2012 Player Commitments – Notre Dame". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012. "2012 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved November 21, 2012. ||||||

## Roster

* Brooks will redshirt in order to preserve a year of eligibility, which will be spent at another school after he graduates from Notre Dame.
* Katenda, as he arrived at Notre Dame at the beginning of the 2012 Spring Semester, will not be eligible to play until the end of the 2012 Fall Semester.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| October 29, 2012* 7:00 pm | | Quincy | W 111–52 | – | Purcell Pavilion (7,017) South Bend, IN |
| November 2, 2012* 9:00 pm | | Cardinal Stritch | W 70–56 | – | Purcell Pavilion (8,162) South Bend, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| November 10, 2012* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 20 | Evansville | W 58–49 | 1–0 | Purcell Pavilion (8,224) South Bend, IN |
| November 12, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 20 | Monmouth | W 84–57 | 2–0 | Purcell Pavilion (7,427) South Bend, IN |
| November 16, 2012* 9:00 pm, TruTV | No. 20 | vs. Saint Joseph's Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic | L 70–79 $^{OT}$ | 2–1 | Barclays Center (6,433) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 17, 2012* 7:00 pm, TruTV | No. 20 | vs. BYU Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic | W 78–68 | 3–1 | Barclays Center (5,502) Brooklyn, NY |
| November 21, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | George Washington | W 65–48 | 4–1 | Purcell Pavilion (8,133) South Bend, IN |
| November 24, 2012* 1:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Saint Francis (PA) | W 69–52 | 5–1 | Purcell Pavilion (6,174) South Bend, IN |
| November 26, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | Chicago State | W 92–65 | 6–1 | Purcell Pavilion (7,523) South Bend, IN |
| November 29, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 8 Kentucky SEC–Big East Challenge | W 64–50 | 7–1 | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| December 8, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 22 | Brown | W 84–57 | 8–1 | Purcell Pavilion (8,360) South Bend, IN |
| December 15, 2012* 5:05 pm, ESPN2 | No. 22 | vs. Purdue Close the Gap Crossroads Classic | W 81–68 | 9–1 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (19,192) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 17, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 22 | IPFW | W 74–62 | 10–1 | Purcell Pavilion (6,755) South Bend, IN |
| December 19, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 22 | Kennesaw State | W 85–57 | 11–1 | Purcell Pavilion (6,772) South Bend, IN |
| December 21, 2012* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 22 | Niagara | W 89–67 | 12–1 | Purcell Pavilion (8,043) South Bend, IN |
| Big East Regular Season ||||||
| January 5, 2013 12:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 21 | Seton Hall | W 93–74 | 13–1 (1–0) | Purcell Pavilion (8,523) South Bend, IN |
| January 7, 2013 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | at No. 21 Cincinnati | W 66–60 | 14–1 (2–0) | Fifth Third Arena (10,293) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 12, 2013 2:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 17 | Connecticut | L 58–65 | 14–2 (2–1) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 15, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 20 | at St. John's | L 63–67 | 14–3 (2–2) | Madison Square Garden (7,434) New York, NY |
| January 19, 2013 8:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 20 | Rutgers | W 69–66 | 15–3 (3–2) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 21, 2013 7:30 pm, ESPN | No. 24 | Georgetown | L 47–63 | 15–4 (3–3) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| January 26, 2013 12:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 24 | at South Florida | W 73–65 | 16–4 (4–3) | USF Sun Dome (6,373) Tampa, FL |
| January 30, 2013 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Villanova | W 65–60 | 17–4 (5–3) | Purcell Pavilion (8,075) South Bend, IN |
| February 2, 2013 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at DePaul | W 79–71 $^{OT}$ | 18–4 (6–3) | Allstate Arena (11,354) Chicago, IL |
| February 4, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 25 | at No. 9 Syracuse | L 47–63 | 18–5 (6–4) | Carrier Dome (23,982) Syracuse, NY |
| February 9, 2013 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 25 | No. 11 Louisville ESPN College GameDay | W 104–101 $^{5OT}$ | 19–5 (7–4) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| February 13, 2013 7:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 21 | DePaul | W 82–78 $^{OT}$ | 20–5 (8–4) | Purcell Pavilion (8,554) South Bend, IN |
| February 16, 2013 12:00 pm, Big East Network/ESPN3 | No. 21 | at Providence | L 54–71 | 20–6 (8–5) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (12,428) Providence, RI |
| February 18, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN | No. 25 | at No. 20 Pittsburgh | W 51–42 | 21–6 (9–5) | Petersen Events Center (12,556) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 24, 2013 2:00 pm, CBS | No. 25 | Cincinnati | W 62–41 | 22–6 (10–5) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| March 2, 2013 2:00 pm, ESPN | No. 21 | at No. 22 Marquette | L 64–72 | 22–7 (10–6) | Bradley Center (19,093) Milwaukee, WI |
| March 5, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | St. John's | W 66–40 | 23–7 (11–6) | Purcell Pavilion (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| March 9, 2013 4:00 pm, CBS | No. 24 | at No. 8 Louisville | L 57–73 | 23–8 (11–7) | KFC Yum! Center (22,815) Louisville, KY |
| 2013 Big East tournament ||||||
| March 13, 2013 9:45 pm, ESPN2 | (6) No. 24 | vs. (11) Rutgers Second Round | W 69–61 | 24–8 | Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York, NY |
| March 14, 2013 9:43 pm, ESPN | (6) No. 24 | vs. (3) No. 12 Marquette Quarterfinals | W 73–65 | 25–8 | Madison Square Garden (20,057) New York, NY |
| March 15, 2013 9:50 pm, ESPN | (6) No. 24 | vs. (2) No. 4 Louisville Semifinals | L 57–69 | 25–9 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| 2013 NCAA men's basketball tournament ||||||
| March 22, 2013 9:59 pm, CBS | (7 W) No. 23 | vs. (10 W) Iowa State Second Round | L 58–76 | 25–10 | University of Dayton Arena (12,495) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time (#) during NCAA Tournament is seed with Region. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. :
| Poll | Pre season | Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7 | Week 8 | Week 9 | Week 10 | Week 11 | Week 12 | Week 13 | Week 14 | Week 15 | Week 16 | Week 17 | Week 18 | Final |
| AP | 22 | 20 | (RV) | (RV) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 24 | (RV) | 25 | 21 | 25 | 21 | | | |
| Coaches | 23 | 21 | (RV) | (RV) | 25 | 24 | 22 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 20 | 23 | (RV) | (RV) | 21 | 25 | 20 | | | |