# 2015–16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 2015–16 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by sixteenth year head coach Mike Brey, played its home games at Edmund P. Joyce Center in South Bend, Indiana and were third year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They finished the season 24–12, 11–7 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They defeated Duke in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament to advance to the semifinals where they lost to North Carolina. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Michigan, Stephen F. Austin, and Wisconsin to advance to the Elite Eight where they lost to fellow ACC member North Carolina.

## Previous season

The Fighting Irish finished the season 32–6, 14–4 in ACC play to finish in third place. They defeated Miami (FL), Duke, and North Carolina to become champions of the ACC tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they defeated Northeastern in the second round, Butler in the third round, and Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen before losing in the Elite Eight to unbeaten Kentucky in a close game, 68–66.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Eric Katenda | 15 | F | 6'9" | 230 | Junior | Paris, France | Graduate transferred to North Texas |
| Jerian Grant | 22 | G | 6'5" | 202 | Senior | Bowie, MD | Graduated/2015 NBA draft |
| Pat Connaughton | 24 | G/F | 6'5" | 206 | Senior | Arlington, MA | Graduated/2015 NBA draft |

### 2015 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Rex Pflueger SG | Dana Point, CA | Mater Dei High School | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 11, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Elijah Burns PF | Troy, NY | Blair Academy | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 230 lb (100 kg) | Jul 19, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Matt Ryan SF | Cortlandt Manor, NY | Iona College Prep | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jul 11, 2014 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 15 Rivals: 20 ESPN: 17 ||||||
| 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 2015 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2015 Notre Dame Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2015 Player Commitments – Notre Dame". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2015 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. ||||||

### 2016 Recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for 2016 recruits :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| T. J. Gibbs SG | Scotch Plains, NJ | Seton Hall Prep | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | May 4, 2015 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: |||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 15 Rivals: 20 ESPN: 17 |||||||
| 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 2016 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2016 Notre Dame Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2016 Player Commitments – Notre Dame". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. "2016 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015. |||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Oct 30, 2015* 7:00 pm | No. 19 | St. Francis (IL) | W 87–56 | | Edmund P. Joyce Center (5,873) South Bend, IN |
| Nov 5, 2015* 7:00 pm | No. 19 | Caldwell | W 81–56 | | Edmund P. Joyce Center (5,585) South Bend, IN |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 13, 2015* 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | No. 19 | Saint Francis (PA) | W 87–56 | 1–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Nov 17, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 18 | Milwaukee | W 86–78 | 2–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,464) South Bend, IN |
| Nov 21, 2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 18 | UMass Lowell | W 83–57 | 3–0 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,888) South Bend, IN |
| Nov 26, 2015* 6:30 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | vs. Monmouth AdvoCare Invitational First Round | L 68–70 | 3–1 | HP Field House (4,871) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Nov 27, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | No. 17 | vs. Iowa Advocare Invitational Consolation 2nd Round | W 68–62 | 4–1 | HP Field House (4,508) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Nov 29, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | vs. Alabama Advocare Invitational 5th Place Game | L 73–74 | 4–2 | HP Field House (4,633) Lake Buena Vista, FL |
| Dec 2, 2015* 9:15 pm, ESPN2 | | at Illinois ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 84–79 | 5–2 | State Farm Center (14,953) Champaign, IL |
| Dec 8, 2015* 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Stony Brook | W 86–61 | 6–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,537) South Bend, IN |
| Dec 13, 2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Loyola–Chicago | W 81–61 | 7–2 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,653) South Bend, IN |
| Dec 19, 2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Indiana Crossroads Classic | L 73-80 | 7–3 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (19,156) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 21, 2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Youngstown State | W 87–78 | 8–3 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,313) South Bend, IN |
| Dec 29, 2015* 5:00 pm, ESPNU | | Liberty | W 73–56 | 9–3 | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,837) South Bend, IN |
| ACC Regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2016 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 5 Virginia | L 66–77 | 9–4 (0–1) | John Paul Jones Arena (14,389) Charlottesville, VA |
| Jan 7, 2016 7:00 pm, RSN | | at Boston College | W 82–54 | 10–4 (1–1) | Conte Forum (4,165) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Jan 9, 2016 4:00 pm, RSN | | No. 24 Pittsburgh | L 82–86 | 10–5 (1–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,298) South Bend, IN |
| Jan 13, 2016 9:00 pm, ACCN | | Georgia Tech | W 72–64 | 11–5 (2–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,795) South Bend, IN |
| Jan 16, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 9 Duke | W 95–91 | 12–5 (3–2) | Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) Durham, NC |
| Jan 20, 2016 7:00 pm, RSN | | Virginia Tech | W 83–81 | 13–5 (4–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (7,888) South Bend, IN |
| Jan 23, 2016 12:00 pm, ACCN | | Boston College | W 76–49 | 14–5 (5–2) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Jan 28, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 25 | at Syracuse | L 66–81 | 14–6 (5–3) | Carrier Dome (22,861) Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 31, 2016 1:00 pm, ACCN | No. 25 | Wake Forest | W 85–62 | 15–6 (6–3) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Feb 3, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at No. 17 Miami (FL) | L 70–79 | 15–7 (6–4) | Bank United Center (6,819) Coral Gables, FL |
| Feb 6, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 2 North Carolina ESPN College GameDay | W 80–76 | 16–7 (7–4) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Feb 8, 2016 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Clemson | W 89–83 | 17–7 (8–4) | Bon Secours Wellness Arena (8,195) Greenville, SC |
| Feb 13, 2016 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 13 Louisville | W 71–66 | 18–7 (9–4) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Feb 20, 2016 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 19 | at Georgia Tech | L 62–63 | 18–8 (9–5) | Hank McCamish Pavilion (8,600) Atlanta, GA |
| Feb 24, 2016 9:00 pm, RSN | No. 23 | at Wake Forest | W 69–58 | 19–8 (10–5) | LJVM Coliseum (8,498) Winston-Salem, NC |
| Feb 27, 2016 4:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 23 | at Florida State | L 56–77 | 19–9 (10–6) | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (7,819) Tallahassee, FL |
| Mar 2, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | No. 7 Miami (FL) | L 50–68 | 19–10 (10–7) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (9,149) South Bend, IN |
| Mar 5, 2016 12:00 pm, CBS | | NC State | W 89–75 | 20–10 (11–7) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (8,715) South Bend, IN |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2016 2:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | vs. (5) No. 19 Duke Quarterfinals | W 84–79 $^{OT}$ | 21–10 | Verizon Center (18,561) Washington, D.C. |
| Mar 11, 2016 7:00 pm, ESPN | (4) | vs. (1) No. 7 North Carolina Semifinals | L 47–78 | 21–11 | Verizon Center (20,719) Washington, D.C. |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 18, 2016* 9:40 pm, CBS | (6 E) | vs. (11 E) Michigan First Round | W 70–63 | 22–11 | Barclays Center (17,502) Brooklyn, NY |
| Mar 20, 2016* 2:40 pm, CBS | (6 E) | vs. (14 E) Stephen F. Austin Second Round | W 76–75 | 23–11 | Barclays Center (17,401) Brooklyn, NY |
| Mar 25, 2016* 7:27 pm, TBS | (6 E) | vs. (7 E) Wisconsin Sweet Sixteen | W 61–56 | 24–11 | Wells Fargo Center (20,686) Philadelphia, PA |
| Mar 27, 2016 8:49 pm, TBS | (6 E) | vs. (1 E) No. 3 North Carolina Elite Eight | L 74–88 | 24–12 | Wells Fargo Center (20,743) Philadelphia, PA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East Region. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Post | Final |
| AP | 19 | 18 | 17 | RV | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | NR | RV | 25 | RV | RV | 19 | 23 | RV | RV | RV | N/A |
| Coaches | 18 | 18 | 18 | RV | NR | RV | RV | RV | NR | NR | NR | RV | RV | RV | 18 | 20 | RV | RV | RV | 17 |