1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1977–78 NCAA men's basketball season. The team was led by head coach Digger Phelps and played their home games at the Joyce Center.

1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 6
Record	23–8
Head coach	Digger Phelps
Assistant coach	Danny Nee
Home arena	Joyce Center
Seasons ← 1976–77 1978–79 →

1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 DePaul		–			–			27	–	3		.900
No. 18 Detroit		–			–			25	–	4		.862
Illinois State		–			–			24	–	4		.857
No. 8 Marquette		–			–			24	–	4		.857
Pan American		–			–			22	–	4		.846
VCU		–			–			24	–	5		.828
Fairfield		–			–			22	–	5		.815
North Texas State		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Syracuse		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Rhode Island		–			–			24	–	7		.774
Providence		–			–			24	–	8		.750
St. John's		–			–			21	–	7		.750
Utah State		–			–			21	–	7		.750
Georgetown		–			–			23	–	8		.742
No. 6 Notre Dame		–			–			23	–	8		.742
Holy Cross		–			–			20	–	7		.741
Northeast Louisiana		–			–			20	–	7		.741
UNC Wilmington		–			–			19	–	7		.731
St. Bonaventure		–			–			21	–	8		.724
UNLV		–			–			20	–	8		.714
Virginia Tech		–			–			19	–	8		.704
James Madison		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Maine		–			–			17	–	8		.680
Army		–			–			19	–	9		.679
Dayton		–			–			19	–	10		.655
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Iona		–			–			17	–	10		.630
William & Mary		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Air Force		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Loyola (IL)		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Mercer		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Oklahoma City		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Seton Hall		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Boston College		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Butler		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			15	–	11		.577
South Carolina		–			–			16	–	12		.571
Siena		–			–			13	–	10		.565
Navy		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Milwaukee		–			–			15	–	12		.556
Niagara		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Northeastern		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Southern Mississippi		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Portland State		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Stetson		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Oral Roberts		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Xavier		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Cleveland State		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Tennessee State		–			–			11	–	12		.478
Catholic		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Manhattan		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Georgia Southern		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Northwestern State		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Connecticut		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Old Dominion		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Vermont		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Boston University		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Hardin–Simmons		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Campbell		–			–			9	–	15		.375
Centenary (LA)		–			–			10	–	17		.370
Denver		–			–			10	–	17		.370
Colgate		–			–			9	–	17		.346
East Carolina		–			–			9	–	17		.346
Fordham		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Long Island		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Saint Peter's		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Baptist		–			–			8	–	19		.296
Samford		–			–			8	–	19		.296
Canisius		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Houston Baptist		–			–			7	–	19		.269
New Hampshire		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Wagner		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Evansville		–			–			1	–	3		.250
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			6	–	18		.250
Valparaiso		–			–			6	–	19		.240
Robert Morris		–			–			4	–	19		.174
Richmond		–			–			4	–	22		.154
Hawaii		–			–			1	–	26		.037
Rankings from AP Poll

Notre Dame entered the season with high expectations, as they opened with an AP preseason ranking of No. 4. Battle tested from a challenging schedule, the Irish earned a spot in the 1978 NCAA Tournament and played their way to the first Final Four appearance in school history.

Roster

1977–78 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown F/C 45 Dave Batton 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Springfield Springfield, PA G 12 Rich Branning 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 160 lb (73 kg) So Marina Huntington Beach, CA G 10 Jeff Carpenter 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Fenwick Oak Park, IL G 24 Chris Fabian 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Haddonfield Haddonfield, NJ F/C 34 Bruce Flowers 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Jr Berkley Huntington Woods, MI F 22 Randy Haefner 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr McNicholas Milford, OH G/F 42 Bill Hanzlik 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Beloit Beloit, WI G 11 Tim Healy 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Cardinal Gibbons Fort Lauderdale, FL F 30 Tracy Jackson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) Fr Paint Branch Silver Spring, Maryland C 52 Bill Laimbeer 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 235 lb (107 kg) Jr Palos Verdes Owens CC Palos Verdes, CA C 55 Gilbert Salinas 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr   San Antonio, Texas F 44 Kelly Tripucka 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Bloomfield Essex Fells, New Jersey G 25 Don Williams 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Sr Mackin Washington, D.C. C 32 Orlando Woolridge 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Mansfield Mansfield, Louisiana	Head coach Digger Phelps Assistant coach(es) Danny Nee 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 26, 1977*	No. 4	Ole Miss	W 111–62	1–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Nov 30, 1977*	No. 3	Baylor	W 98–57	2–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 3, 1977*	No. 3	Valparaiso	W 89–75	3–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 5, 1977*	No. 3	Lafayette	W 76–42	4–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 7, 1977*	No. 3	at Northwestern	W 88–48	5–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, Illinois
Dec 10, 1977*	No. 3	at No. 5 UCLA Rivalry	W 69–66	6–0	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, California
Dec 14, 1977*	No. 2	at Indiana	L 66–67	6–1	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 23, 1977*	No. 5	Saint Joseph's (IN)	W 108–72	7–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 31, 1977*	No. 4	vs. No. 1 Kentucky	L 68–73[1]	7–2	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
Jan 10, 1978*	No. 5	at San Francisco	L 70–79	7–3	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena  Oakland, California
Jan 14, 1978*	No. 5	at St. Bonaventure	W 79–78	8–3	Rochester Community War Memorial  Rochester, New York
Jan 17, 1978*	No. 7	Manhattan	W 81–64	9–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 19, 1978*	No. 7	Villanova	W 70–69	10–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 22, 1978*	No. 7	No. 3 UCLA Rivalry	W 75–73	11–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 23, 1978*	No. 7	Dartmouth	W 78–64	12–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 25, 1978*	No. 5	West Virginia	W 103–82	13–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 29, 1978*	No. 5	Maryland	W 69–54	14–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 1, 1978*	No. 4	at La Salle	W 95–90	15–3	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 4, 1978*	No. 4	Davidson	W 100–76	16–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 12, 1978*	No. 4	No. 11 DePaul	L 68–69 OT	16–4	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 16, 1978*	No. 7	at Fordham	W 95–76	17–4	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Feb 18, 1978*	No. 7	at South Carolina	L 60–65	17–5	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, South Carolina
Feb 21, 1978*	No. 9	North Carolina State	W 70–59	18–5	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 26, 1978*	No. 9	No. 1 Marquette	W 65–59[2]	19–5	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 4, 1978*	No. 7	at Dayton	L 59–66	19–6	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
Mar 6, 1978*	No. 10	Loyola-Chicago	W 83–68	20–6	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1978*	No. 6	vs. Houston First round	W 100–77	21–6	Mabee Center  Tulsa, Oklahoma
Mar 17, 1978*	No. 6	vs. No. 14 Utah Midwest Regional Final – Sweet Sixteen	W 69–56	22–6	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 19, 1978*	No. 6	vs. No. 3 DePaul Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 84–64[3][4]	23–6	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
Mar 25, 1978*	No. 6	vs. No. 7 Duke National semifinal – Final Four	L 86–90[5]	23–7	Checkerdome  St. Louis, Missouri
Mar 27, 1978*	No. 6	vs. No. 5 Arkansas National consolation – Third-place game	L 69–71	23–8	Checkerdome  St. Louis, Missouri
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest.

^[6]

Rankings

Main article: 1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[7]

References

1. "Kentucky Rally Tops Notre Dame, 73-68". The New York Times. January 1, 1978. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
2. "Irish Upset Marquette, 65-59". The New York Times. February 27, 1978. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
3. "Notre Dame, Duke Win Region Titles". The Washington Post. March 20, 1978. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
4. "Finally in the Finals". Sports Illustrated. March 27, 1978. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
5. "Duke Holds Off Irish". The Washington Post. March 26, 1978. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
6. "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 116. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
7. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. pp. 846–847. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.