1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Independent
Record	20–9
Head coach	Digger Phelps (17th season);
Home arena	Joyce Center
	Seasons ← 1986–87 1988–89 →

1987–88 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Akron		–		–	21	–	7	.750
DePaul		–		–	22	–	8	.733
Notre Dame		–		–	20	–	9	.690
Wright State		–		–	16	–	11	.593
Miami (FL)		–		–	17	–	14	.548
UMBC		–		–	13	–	15	.464
Dayton		–		–	13	–	18	.419
Brooklyn		–		–	11	–	17	.393
Central Connecticut State		–		–	10	–	18	.357
Marquette		–		–	10	–	18	.357
Nicholls State		–		–	10	–	18	.357
U.S. International		–		–	10	–	18	.357
UMKC		–		–	9	–	18	.333
Central Florida		–		–	9	–	19	.321
Florida International		–		–	9	–	19	.321
Chicago State		–		–	8	–	20	.286
Northern Illinois		–		–	8	–	20	.286
Oral Roberts		–		–	8	–	21	.276
Southeastern Louisiana		–		–	7	–	21	.250

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1987–88 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1987-88 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 17th 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 fell in the opening round to SMU.^[1] The team finished with a 20–9 record.

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown
G	4	David Rivers	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Jersey City, New Jersey
F	54	Gary Voce	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	Sr	Bronx, New York

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
Dec 1, 1987*		at No. 5 Indiana	L 59–76	0–1	Assembly Hall Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 5, 1987*		vs. No. 14 Louisville Big Four Classic	W 69–54	1–1	RCA Dome Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 8, 1987*	No. 19	Boston University	W 74–49	2–1	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 10, 1987*	No. 19	Prairie View A&M	W 89–52	3–1	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 12, 1987*	No. 19	at DePaul	L 69–73 ^OT	3–2	Rosemont Horizon Rosemont, Illinois
Dec 19, 1987*		Valparaiso	W 88–49	4–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 28, 1987*		Saint Joseph's (IN)	W 91–70	5–2	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 30, 1987*		at St. Bonaventure	W 64–49	6–2	Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York
Jan 2, 1988*		at La Salle	W 68–59	7–2	The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 4, 1988*		at Lafayette	L 68–83	7–3	Kirby Sports Center Easton, Pennsylvania
Jan 9, 1988*		at Marquette	W 62–44	8–3	MECCA Arena Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jan 13, 1988*		Yale	W 85–59	9–3	Joyce Center (10,487) Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 16, 1988*		DePaul	L 71–77	9–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 21, 1988*		Penn	W 67–48	10–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 23, 1988*		No. 16 Kansas	W 80–76	11–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 27, 1988*		Butler	W 85–66	12–4	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 31, 1988*		vs. No. 9 Kentucky	L 69–78	12–5	Freedom Hall Louisville, Kentucky
Feb 2, 1988*		Maryland	L 75–78	12–6	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 7, 1988*		at No. 4 Duke	L 61–70	12–7	Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina
Feb 10, 1988*		Fordham	W 64–59	13–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 14, 1988*		UCLA	W 73–66	14–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 16, 1988*		vs. Rutgers	W 75–62	15–7	Meadowlands Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Feb 18, 1988*		Dayton	W 58–47	16–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 22, 1988*		Creighton	W 66–54	17–7	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 27, 1988*		No. 17 Vanderbilt	L 66–75	17–8	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 5, 1988*		Marquette	W 72–50	18–8	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 7, 1988*		Hardin-Simmons	W 100–71	19–8	Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 12, 1988*		at Dayton	W 72–59	20–8	University of Dayton Arena Dayton, Ohio
NCAA Tournament
Mar 17, 1988*	(10 E)	vs. (7 E) Southern Methodist First round	L 75–83	20–9	Dean Smith Center Chapel Hill, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

^[2]

Rankings

^[3]

References

^ "East Regional: Syracuse Gains On Late Surge". The New York Times. March 18, 1988. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
^ "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 954–955. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1] "East Regional: Syracuse Gains On Late Surge". The New York Times. March 18, 1988. Retrieved February 3, 2022.

[2] "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved February 3, 2022.

[ESPN-3] *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 954–955. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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