No. 7 UAB Blazers (22-11, 11-5 C-USA) at No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (18-14, 8-10 BE)
NIT—First Round
Tuesday, Mar. 17—9:00 PM EST
Preview
To say that both of these teams are disappointed to be in the NIT and not in the NCAA's is an understatement.
UAB was a popular early-season sleeper pick within Conference USA. Many people believed that they had the talent to derail Memphis, but their season started to go off-track during their tough non-conference schedule.
At the start of conference play, the Blazers had amassed five losses, but they were all against respectable teams—Oklahoma, BC, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Butler. They finished in third in Conference USA, but they were five games behind C-USA perfect Memphis.
Notre Dame was picked in early Big East polls to finish among the best of the Big East. Unfortunately they found themselves grouped with Providence and Cincinnati after losing seven straight games in January and February.
It became clear towards the end of the season that the only way for them to dance was to win the Big East Tournament, a dream that was promptly crushed by West Virginia.
Both of these teams have very talented players on their squads who should match up very well. Both are going to be frustrated with how their seasons turned out, so look for a great dogfight of a game.
By The Numbers
| Record | Conf | ATS | RPI | SOS | PF | PA | |
| UAB | 22-11 | 11-5 | 14-16-1 | 46 | 73 | 72.6 | 65.9 |
| Notre Dame | 18-14 | 8-10 | 9-16 | 77 | 43 | 76.6 | 71.2 |
| FG% | D. FG% | 3P% | D. 3P% | FT% | RPG | SPG | APG | TPG | BPG | |
| UAB | 45.6 | 42.7 | 33.7 | 32.3 | 71.3 | 37.2 | 6.6 | 12.8 | 11.4 | 2.0 |
| Notre Dame | 43.7 | 42.8 | 40.2 | 33.6 | 69.5 | 42.6 | 5.3 | 17.2 | 9.6 | 2.6 |
Stat Leaders
| UAB | Notre Dame | |
| PPG | R. Vaden - 17.5 | L. Harangody - 23.2 |
| P. Delaney III - 16.0 | K. McAlarney - 15.4 | |
| L. Kinnard - 14.2 | R. Ayers - 11.4 | |
| RPG | L. Kinnard - 9.0 | L. Harangody - 12.0 |
| APG | A. Johnson - 3.6 | T. Jackson - 5.0 |
| SPG | P. Delaney III - 2.1 | T. Jackson - 1.2 |
| BPG | L. Kinnard - 0.6 | L. Harangody - 1.0 |
Prediction
Want to see Ryan's FREE Pick Against the Spread? Please head over to CBBPlace.com!
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