All too often over the past decade, we’ve heard that Notre Dame never can beat Alabama in football. That’s because they’ve been correct, and those can’t stand the Irish will blurt that out for all the world to hear. However, they haven’t said anything about basketball, and the Irish can write a new narrative when these programs meet in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament.
These programs last played each other at Walt Disney World in November 2015, and the Crimson Tide’s 74-73 win cut the Irish’s all-time lead in the series to 3-2. Now, they’ll be playing on the other side of the country in San Diego. The winner of this game will advance to play either Texas Tech or Montana State in the Round of 32.
Can the Irish count on another big game from Paul Atkinson Jr.? His 26 points, which included the game-winning putback in the First Four against Rutgers, set a record for the highest scoring total in a player’s debut NCAA Tournament game with the program. Or maybe the Irish should look to Cormac Ryan and his 12.3 scoring average since joining the starting lineup in February. It really doesn’t matter who steps up as long as the Irish are ahead when the clock hits zero.
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