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NCAA Tournament Predictions: 7. Notre Dame vs. 10. Iowa State
- Updated: March 18, 2013
Guard Jerian Grant
7 Notre Dame (25-9, 11-7)-The Irish are deliberate and purposeful on offense, and play a grind-it-out defensive style. They’ve got some scorers in junior guard Jerrian Grant (13.4 ppg, 5.4 apg) and senior forward Jack Cooley (13.1 ppg, 10.3 rpg). Point guard Eric Atkins is a steady playmaker (11.4 ppg, 5.6 apg) and guard Pat Connaughton is a sharpshooter from deep who can catch fire at any time.
The Irish also share the ball a lot, ranking 6th in the country in assists per game. Their offensive numbers can be ugly, but the Irish can ‘D’ you up like few others in the country. Despite all of its recent regular season success, Notre Dame has lost to lower-seeded teams in three straight years and four of its past five tournament appearances. The Irish haven’t been to the Sweet 16 since 2003.
KEY STATS:
6th Assists Per Game (17.0)
41st Field Goal Percentage (.463)
100th Points Per Game (70.4)
Guard Will Clyburn
10 Iowa State (22-11, 11-7 Big 12)- “The Mayor” Fred Hoiberg has done an excellent job in turning Iowa State into a perennial tournament team. The Cyclones were downright dangerous last year, when anxiety-ridden Royce White was at his best. This season, ISU has a pair of excellent college guards in Korie Lucious (a Michigan State transfer) and Will Clyburn, who has tremendous size at 6-7 and can rebound the basketball well.
Clyburn leads the team in scoring at 15 points per game. Four other Cyclones average in double figures in scoring. 6-6 junior Melvin Ejim is the team’s leading rebounder at 9.3 per.
KEY STATS:
4th Points Per Game (79.6)
21st Rebounds Per Game (38.7)
14th Assists Per Game (16.0)
PREDICTION: Notre Dame
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