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
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 11
APNo. 6
Record23–8
Head coach
Assistant coachDanny Nee
Home arenaJoyce Center
Seasons
1977–78 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
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

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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
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Schedule and results

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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

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[7]

References

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  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.