Winthrop at Notre Dame

Notre Dame came out of nowhere to have a very good season, finishing with 24 wins. The Irish possess a balanced team, sporting 5 double digit scorers. That is not their lone asset, as they shoot nearly 40% from 3, and hold opponents to low 40s shooting. The one weakness this team possesses is when the shots are not dropping, they seem to struggle all the way around, and lose to teams far below what they are talent-wise. That is evident in losses to both St. John's and S. Fla. Winthrop took Tennessee to the buzzer last season, before dropping a 2 point decision. There is a vast difference between this Winthrop team, and that one. Last year's team was very good, but quite experienced enough to play with the big boys, and even had 3 losses in a rather weak conference. This season, they are experienced, and much better. They lost no games in the conf., and have won 18 in a row, and gained the experience from the tournament last year, and big games in hostile gyms this season, against bigtime opponents. Wisconsin finished 22-0 at home this season. Their biggest scare was Winthrop. Winthrop had a shot to win that one in regulation, but missed a shot to end the game. They fell in OT by just 3. Then they went to #1 seed NC, and led for most of the game on the Heels home-court, before bowing by just 7. They have the moxie to play #1 and #2 seeds on their own court, and almost win. That tells us this team can win anywhere, and we will back them in this one.