Rushing the court after Notre Dame defeated number one Syracuse 67-58 on Jan. 21, 2012. (Photo credit: Matt Cashore.)

Finally, we had a game that didn’t end with a heart attack finish … and now we get Kentucky. So what is it going to take to beat Kentucky? Lets take a look!

How does Kentucky manage to look superhuman against every team they face? Here are some stats that show just how incredible this team (and Calipari) really is. (Stats from UKathletics.com)

• Kentucky’s team record? 37-0
• Kentucky is the first team in the history of college basketball to start a season 37-0. Not just Kentucky history, the history of college basketball. (Wow.)
• Kentucky is 214-27 all-time when ranked No. 1 and has won 59 of the last 61 games as the Associated Press top-ranked team.
• Calipari has led three schools to a No. 1 ranking (Massachusetts, Memphis, Kentucky) and has a 103-9 record as the top-ranked coach, including 62-4 at Kentucky.
• Calipari is now 189-37 (.836) as head coach at Kentucky, the best winning percentage of any coach in Kentucky history.
• Kentucky has reached the Elite Eight in every NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach John Calipari.
• Following the win on Thursday against West Virginia, Kentucky now has 119 NCAA Tournament wins. Kentucky is 119-47 (.717) all-time in the Big Dance.
• Since 1992, the Wildcats are 118-32 (.787) in postseason play (NCAA, NIT and SEC)
• Kentucky is 21-3 in tournament games under Coach John Calipari.
• Kentucky’s 39-point win is the third-largest winning margin in the NCAA Tournament in program history. The largest two scoring margins both came in the first round.

Now this is where the stats really get mind-blowing.

• Kentucky held West Virginia to 18 points in the first half, the 17th half this season Kentucky has held its opponent to less than 20 points. The 18 points is tied for the lowest in a half of any team in the 2015 NCAA Tournament and is a season low for the Mountaineers.
• Kentucky entered the game as the nation’s top-rated shooting-percentage defense, and the Wildcats held West Virginia to 24.1 percent from the field. It is the fifth time this season Kentucky has held its opponent to less than 25.0-percent shooting.
• Kentucky is now holding opponents to a combined total shooting percentage of .348.
• The Wildcats are 60-0 under Calipari when they limit the opponent to 55 or fewer points, including 22 times this season.
• Kentucky has held its opponents to fewer than 40 points for the fourth time this season.
• Three of the five lowest scoring outputs vs. the Wildcats this season were by ranked opponents (Providence, Kansas and West Virginia).
• Kentucky held West Virginia to .582 points per possession, the second lowest by a Kentucky opponent this season.
• Kentucky’s 1.164 points per possession was a team high in the NCAA Tourney and the third highest in Kentucky’s last seven games.
• Kentucky shot 81.3 percent from the foul line, 26 of 32.
• Kentucky opened the game on an 18-2 run. The Wildcat lead reached 20 at 30-9 with 7:53 left in the first half and peaked in the opening frame at 27 at 42-15 with 1:52 remaining.
• Kentucky shot 4 of 15 from beyond the arc.

Okay, enough mind-blowing. How does Notre Dame stack up? (Stats from UND.com)

• The Fighting Irish are making their first appearance in the Elite Eight since 1979 when they dropped an 80-68 decision to eventual national champion Michigan State in Indianapolis.
• With its 81-70 win over No. 7 Wichita State on Thursday night, the Irish upped their win streak to eight games (six in the postseason – three at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship and three in the NCAA tournament).
• Notre Dame owns a 1-4 record in Elite Eight appearances.
• The only win for Notre Dame in a regional final came in 1978 when the Irish defeated DePaul 84-64 in Lawrence, Kansas on March 19 en route to the program’s only Final Four appearance in its 110-year history.
• The last time Notre Dame played in a regional final was against Michigan State in 1979 as a No. 1 seed in the Mideast Region on March 18, 1979. The Irish dropped an 80-68 decision to No. 2 Michigan State in Indianapolis, Indiana. MSU went on that season to win the national championship.
• This season’s 32 wins are the second-most in Notre Dame history. The program record is 33 victories back in 1908-09 (33-7).
• Notre Dame boasts an all-time record of 34-37 in the NCAA tournament (34 appearances).
• This is Notre Dame’s fourth trip in the last five seasons and an impressive 10th appearance in 15 campaigns under head coach Mike Brey. Brey has an 9-9 NCAA Championship record during his Notre Dame tenure.
• Notre Dame’s three wins in this year’s NCAA tournament matches the most in ND Men’s Basketball history. The Irish also had three wins in 1978 during its Final Four run.

How does Notre Dame stack up when facing number one?

• Notre Dame’s matchup against Kentucky will mark the 35th time in program history the an Irish team has gone up against a No. 1 team.
• Notre Dame’s last win over a top-ranked opponent was against Syracuse at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center as the Irish earned a 67-58 victory on Jan. 21, 2012.
• Notre Dame has faced Kentucky six times when the Wildcats have been ranked No. 1 and are 1-5 in those matchups. After five straight setbacks, the lone win for an Irish squad over a top-ranked Kentucky squad came on Dec. 27, 1980 — 67-61 in Louisville.
• Notre Dame has faced a top-ranked Kentucky in the NCAA tournament on one other occasion. That game was played in 1970 (Mideast Region) as the Irish were beaten 109-99 by the Wildcats in Columbus, Ohio on March 12.
• The last time Notre Dame faced on No.-1 ranked team was in 2002 when the Irish dropped an 84-77 decision to Duke in a South Region second-round matchup on March 16, 2002.
• This will be the 62nd meeting between the two teams and the first game between ND and UK since Nov 2012 at Notre Dame as the Irish defeated the Wildcats 64-50 in a matchup between the two schools in the BIG EAST/SEC Challenge.
• Irish head coach Mike Brey is 2-5 all-time versus Kentucky. All seven of those games has been while he has been at Notre Dame.

What needs to keep happening in order for Notre Dame to keep winning and beat Kentucky? These key factors:

•  Notre Dame is 15-3 this season in games played away from Purcell Pavilion (7-2 road, 8-1 neutral). The 15 road/neutral wins are the most for the Irish since the 1957-58 season when they won 14 away from home (14-3).
• Notre Dame seniorJerian Grant is very hot right now.
  • Jerian Grant played all 125 minutes of Notre Dame’s first three NCAA Championship games (Northeastern, Butler and Wichita State) and averaged 14.0 points per contest. He was 15-of-32 from the field in those three games.
  • Grant has scored in double-figures in 10 of the last 11 games.
  • He ranks eighth nationally in assists per game (6.6) and 13th in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.05).
• Notre Dame senior PatConnaughton is also very hot right now.
  • Pat Connaughton leads the Notre Dame in rebounding (7.4 rpg.) and is tied for third in scoring (12.6 ppg.).
  • Connaughton has a team-high eight double-doubles this season and his 15 career double-doubles are the most for any current Irish player.
  • Nationally, Connaughton is 17th in three-point percentage (.426) and 37th in made three-pointers (92).
  • Connaughton ranks fifth in Fighting Irish basketball history in made three-pointers (267).
• Notre Dame boasts the nation’s second-best field goal percentage (.511).
• Notre Dame is fourth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60) and fifth in fewest turnovers per game (9.4).
• Notre Dame is 13th nationally in scoring (78.3 ppg.).
• Notre Dame’s 78.3 points-per-game average this season is the highest since the Irish averaged 79.0 ppg. during the 2007-08 campaign.
• All five Fighting Irish starters are impressively averaging at least 9.8 points per game this season – Jerian Grant(16.6), Zach Auguste (12.7), Pat Connaughton (12.6), Demetrius Jackson (12.6) and Steve Vasturia(9.9).
• With his career-high 20-point effort on Saturday against Butler, Steve Vasturia became the fifth different Notre Dame player to tally 20 points in a game this season. Jerian Grant has done it a team-best 11 times, while Zach Auguste (4), Demetrius Jackson (4) and Pat Connaughton (3) also have netted 20-plus points on multiple occasions this season.
• The Reign of Threes: Notre Dame is 18th nationally in made three-point field goals (298) and 22nd in three-point field goal percentage (.392).
• Junior forward Zach Auguste has averaged 15.7 points and 8.0 rebounds in Notre Dame’s NCAA tourney wins over Northeastern, Butler and Wichita State. He was 18-of-27 (.667) from the field in those three games, including a perfect six-for-six from the field against the Shockers on Thursday night.
• Sophomore Demetrius Jackson is shooting 58.8 percent (30-51) in Notre Dame’s six postseason games (ACC & NCAA tournaments). He is averaging 13.3 points, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals in those five contests.
• Sophomore guard Steve Vasturia tallied a career-high 20 points in the win over Butler. He also pulled down six rebounds against the Bulldogs.

What can I say? Notre Dame is on fire right now. Not just one or two players, all of them are on a streak like we haven’t seen in years. This is the team. If any team can beat Kentucky in this tournament, it’s Notre Dame. If they can stay calm, focused, make their threes, not be intimidated by Kentucky’s size … who am I kidding? I’m terrified about this game, but I still think if anyone can beat Kentucky, we can. What say you?

Cheers & GO IRISH!

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Lisa

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Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.



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