1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
AP	No. 18
Record	24–8
Head coach	Digger Phelps (16th season);
Home arena	Joyce Center
	Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 5 DePaul	-	–	-	–	28	–	3	.903
No. 16 New Orleans	-	–	-	–	26	–	4	.867
No. 18 Notre Dame	-	–	-	–	24	–	8	.750
Texas–Pan American	-	–	-	–	16	–	12	.571
Marquette	-	–	-	–	16	–	13	.552
Miami (FL)	-	–	-	–	15	–	16	.484
Dayton	-	–	-	–	13	–	15	.464
Central Florida	-	–	-	–	12	–	15	.444
UMBC	-	–	-	–	12	–	15	.444
Chicago State	-	–	-	–	11	–	17	.393
Southwestern Louisiana	-	–	-	–	11	–	17	.393
U.S. International	-	–	-	–	11	–	17	.393
Utica	-	–	-	–	10	–	16	.385
Brooklyn	-	–	-	–	10	–	18	.357
Northern Illinois	-	–	-	–	9	–	19	.321
Central Connecticut State	-	–	-	–	8	–	21	.276
Eastern Washington	-	–	-	–	5	–	23	.179

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986–87 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1986-87 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 16th season, and played their home games at the Joyce Center in Notre Dame, Indiana. Notre Dame earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they reached the Sweet Sixteen. The team finished with a 24–8 record and a No. 18 rankings in both major polls.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	4	David Rivers	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Jr	Jersey City, New Jersey
F	15	Donald Royal	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	New Orleans, Louisiana

Head coach

Digger Phelps (Rider)

Assistant coach(es)

Legend

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

Injured
Current redshirt

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular season
Nov 21, 1986*		Western Kentucky Preseason NIT	L 63–80	0–1	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 2, 1986*		No. 3 Indiana	L 62–67	0–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 4, 1986*		Cornell	W 60–56	1–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 6, 1986*		Brigham Young	W 62–46	2–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 11, 1986*		Eastern Michigan	W 81–76	3–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 20, 1986*		Valparaiso	W 63–50	4–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 29, 1986*		Central Michigan	W 55–54	5–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 31, 1986*		at Maryland	W 63–50	6–2	Cole Fieldhouse College Park, Maryland
Jan 3, 1987*		at Pennsylvania	W 71–67	7–2	Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 4, 1987*		at Yale	W 64–49	8–2	New Haven Coliseum (3,423) New Haven, Connecticut
Jan 10, 1987*		at No. 7 DePaul	L 54–58	8–3	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
Jan 12, 1987*		at Creighton	W 67–54	9–3	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Jan 17, 1987*		West Virginia	L 55–57	9–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 24, 1987*		at UCLA	L 59–63	9–5	Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, California
Jan 27, 1987*		Dayton	W 66–55	10–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 29, 1987*		Marquette	W 58–48	11–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 1, 1987*		No. 1 North Carolina	W 60–58	12–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 4, 1987*		La Salle	W 76–64	13–5	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 6, 1987*		at Vanderbilt	L 56–60	13–6	Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 8, 1987*		at No. 18 Kansas	L 60–70	13–7	Allen Fieldhouse Lawrence, Kansas
Feb 15, 1987*		No. 15 Duke	W 70–66 ^OT	14–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 16, 1987*		Wagner	W 74–54	15–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 18, 1987*		vs. Fordham	W 69–57	16–7
Feb 21, 1987*		at Utah	W 57–56	17–7	Jon M. Huntsman Center Salt Lake City, Utah
Feb 25, 1987*		No. 4 DePaul	W 73–62	18–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 28, 1987*		at Marquette	W 72–60	19–7	MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 3, 1987*	No. 20	Brooklyn	W 76–57	20–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 5, 1987*	No. 20	Miami (FL)	W 65–49	21–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 7, 1987*	No. 20	at Dayton	W 62–56	22–7	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
NCAA Tournament
Mar 12, 1987*	(5 E) No. 18	vs. (12 E) Middle Tennessee First round	W 84–71^[1]	23–7	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 14, 1987*	(5 E) No. 18	vs. (4 E) No. 19 TCU Second round	W 58–57^[2]	24–7	Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, North Carolina
Mar 19, 1987*	(5 E) No. 18	vs. (1 E) No. 2 North Carolina East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	L 68–74^[3]	24–8	Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Eastern Time.

^[4]

Rankings

^[5]

References

^ "Rivers Gives Irish Jump Start". Orlando Sentinel. March 13, 1987. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
^ "N.C.A.A Tournament: Runnin' Rebels Roll; Irish Squeak By; North Carolina Beats Michigan". The New York Times. March 15, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
^ "North Carolina, Syracuse Reach Final in East". The Washington Post. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
^ "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 943–944. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

[1] "Rivers Gives Irish Jump Start". Orlando Sentinel. March 13, 1987. Retrieved March 12, 2022.

[2] "N.C.A.A Tournament: Runnin' Rebels Roll; Irish Squeak By; North Carolina Beats Michigan". The New York Times. March 15, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

[3] "North Carolina, Syracuse Reach Final in East". The Washington Post. March 20, 1987. Retrieved February 1, 2022.

[4] "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved January 30, 2022.

[ESPN-5] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 943–944. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.

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v t e Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
Venues	Notre Dame Fieldhouse (1898–1968) Joyce Center (1968–present)
Rivalries	UCLA
Culture & lore	Notre Dame Leprechaun Crossroads Classic
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1907 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Helms national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearance in italics