Men's Basketball: Rutgers, Notre Dame once were Big East colleagues in the Big East
Tom NoieNOTRE DAME vs. RUTGERS in NCAA Tournament, TV, radio, matchup
No. 11 seed Notre Dame (22-10 overall; 15-5 ACC) faces fellow No. 11 seed Rutgers (18-13; 12-8) in a First Four West Regional game Wednesday in the NCAA tournament.
Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.
When does Notre Dame play Rutgers in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament?
Wednesday’s contest is the second First Four game at University of Dayton (Ohio) Arena. The game will tip at approximately 9:10 p.m.
Notre Dame men's basketball:Team has plenty to prove and a short time to do it
How can I watch?
The game will be broadcast on truTV with Tom McCarthy (play by play), Steve Lavin (analyst), Avery Johnson (analyst) and Jon Rothstein (sideline).
How can I listen?
The Notre Dame game can be heard locally on WSBT (960 AM) with Irish play-by-play voice Tony Simeone.
What’s at stake for Notre Dame?
Back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, Notre Dame looks to extend its win streak in openers to four straight dating back to the last time it lost a tournament opener (2013) also in Dayton.
What’s at stake for Rutgers?
Having qualified for the NCAA tournament for a second straight season, which last happened in 1975-76, Rutgers looks to win a tournament game for a second straight season.
Irish to keep an eye on
► Freshman guard Blake Wesley is the team’s leading scorer (14.6 ppg.), a second team all-league selection and overdue for a big game. The Irish need to get senior guard Dane Goodwin (13.9 ppg.) into more of an offensive flow while Cormac Ryan (8.4 ppg., 4.9 rpg., 2.0 apg.) is playing the best stretch of basketball in a college career that also includes one season at Stanford.
Scarlet Knights to track
►Senior swingman Ron Harper, Jr., leads Rutgers in scoring (15.6 ppg). Senior guard Caleb McConnell doesn’t score it (6.5 ppg.) or rebound it (5.2) at high volumes, but he leads the Knights in steals (69). Junior guard Paul Mulcahy does a little of everything (9.0 ppg., 4.1 rpg.) while also leading the team in assists (164).
Notre Dame vs. Rutgers series
Notre Dame leads the all-time series 20-13, including 5-2 in neutral-site games. The Irish were 15-10 against the Scarlet Knights as Big East colleagues.
Notre Dame has won three straight and four of five in the series, which has been dormant since the Irish beat the Scarlet Knights on March 13, 2013 in a Big East tournament game.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI