Although Notre Dame faces an uphill climb in trying to salvage its season, that it’s making that effort at all is encouraging. Saturday’s 84-58 road win over a Pittsburgh team that’s suddenly struggling was the Irish’s best-played game of the season, and they’ve now won three of their past four. They’ll look to continue this successful run against Wake Forest on Tuesday at Purcell Pavilion.
This recent surge by the Irish (6-9, 3-6) comes after dropping six of seven. The Demon Deacons (5-7, 2-7) come to South Bend in a similar situation. Though they’ve won two of their past three, this stretch has come after they dropped their first six games in January. With these teams going a combined 0-11 against ranked programs, the expectations have been lowered for both, and this game could determine who gets off to a stronger start in the final full month of the season.