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

1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 18
Record	24–8
Head coach	Digger Phelps (16th season)
Home arena	Joyce Center

1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 DePaul	-	–	-		–			28	–	3		.903
No. 16 New Orleans	-	–	-		–			26	–	4		.867
No. 18 Notre Dame	-	–	-		–			24	–	8		.750
Texas–Pan American	-	–	-		–			16	–	12		.571
Marquette	-	–	-		–			16	–	13		.552
Miami (FL)	-	–	-		–			15	–	16		.484
Dayton	-	–	-		–			13	–	15		.464
Central Florida	-	–	-		–			12	–	15		.444
UMBC	-	–	-		–			12	–	15		.444
Chicago State	-	–	-		–			11	–	17		.393
Southwestern Louisiana	-	–	-		–			11	–	17		.393
U.S. International	-	–	-		–			11	–	17		.393
Utica	-	–	-		–			10	–	16		.385
Brooklyn	-	–	-		–			10	–	18		.357
Northern Illinois	-	–	-		–			9	–	19		.321
Central Connecticut State	-	–	-		–			8	–	21		.276
Eastern Washington	-	–	-		–			5	–	23		.179
Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Roster

1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 4 David Rivers 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Jersey City, New Jersey F 15 Donald Royal 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr New Orleans, Louisiana	Head coach Digger Phelps (Rider) Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

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[1]	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[2]	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[3]	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.

[4]

Rankings

Main article: 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

[5]

References

1. "Rivers Gives Irish Jump Start". Orlando Sentinel. March 13, 1987. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
2. "N.C.A.A Tournament: Runnin' Rebels Roll; Irish Squeak By; North Carolina Beats Michigan". The New York Times. March 15, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
3. "North Carolina, Syracuse Reach Final in East". The Washington Post. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
4. "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
5. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 943–944. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.