# 1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1987-88 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 17th 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 fell in the opening round to SMU. The team finished with a 20–9 record.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| Dec 1, 1987* | | at No. 5 Indiana | L 59–76 | 0–1 | Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana |
| Dec 5, 1987* | | vs. No. 14 Louisville Big Four Classic | W 69–54 | 1–1 | RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana |
| Dec 8, 1987* | No. 19 | Boston University | W 74–49 | 2–1 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 10, 1987* | No. 19 | Prairie View A&M | W 89–52 | 3–1 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 12, 1987* | No. 19 | at DePaul | L 69–73 $^{OT}$ | 3–2 | Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois |
| Dec 19, 1987* | | Valparaiso | W 88–49 | 4–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 28, 1987* | | Saint Joseph's (IN) | W 91–70 | 5–2 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Dec 30, 1987* | | at St. Bonaventure | W 64–49 | 6–2 | Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York |
| Jan 2, 1988* | | at La Salle | W 68–59 | 7–2 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 4, 1988* | | at Lafayette | L 68–83 | 7–3 | Kirby Sports Center Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 9, 1988* | | at Marquette | W 62–44 | 8–3 | MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Jan 13, 1988* | | Yale | W 85–59 | 9–3 | Joyce Center (10,487) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 16, 1988* | | DePaul | L 71–77 | 9–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 21, 1988* | | Penn | W 67–48 | 10–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 23, 1988* | | No. 16 Kansas | W 80–76 | 11–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 27, 1988* | | Butler | W 85–66 | 12–4 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 31, 1988* | | vs. No. 9 Kentucky | L 69–78 | 12–5 | Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky |
| Feb 2, 1988* | | Maryland | L 75–78 | 12–6 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 7, 1988* | | at No. 4 Duke | L 61–70 | 12–7 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| Feb 10, 1988* | | Fordham | W 64–59 | 13–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 14, 1988* | | UCLA | W 73–66 | 14–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 16, 1988* | | vs. Rutgers | W 75–62 | 15–7 | Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| Feb 18, 1988* | | Dayton | W 58–47 | 16–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 22, 1988* | | Creighton | W 66–54 | 17–7 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Feb 27, 1988* | | No. 17 Vanderbilt | L 66–75 | 17–8 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 5, 1988* | | Marquette | W 72–50 | 18–8 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 7, 1988* | | Hardin-Simmons | W 100–71 | 19–8 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Mar 12, 1988* | | at Dayton | W 72–59 | 20–8 | University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1988* | (10 E) | vs. (7 E) Southern Methodist First round | L 75–83 | 20–9 | Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. ||||||