1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1985-86 college basketball season. The Irish were led by head coach Digger Phelps, in his 15th season, and played their home games at the Athletic & Convocation Center in Notre Dame, Indiana. The Irish completed a perfect season at home (15–0). Notre Dame earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were upset by Arkansas–Little Rock in the opening round.^[1] The team finished with a 23–6 record and a No. 10 ranking in the final AP poll.

1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA tournament
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 10
Record	23–6
Head coach	Digger Phelps (15th season)
Home arena	Athletic & Convocation Center
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 10 Notre Dame	-	–	-		–			23	–	6		.793
Chicago State	-	–	-		–			22	–	6		.786
Eastern Washington	-	–	-		–			20	–	8		.714
Texas–Pan American	-	–	-		–			20	–	8		.714
Marquette	-	–	-		–			19	–	11		.633
DePaul	-	–	-		–			18	–	13		.581
New Orleans	-	–	-		–			16	–	12		.571
Dayton	-	–	-		–			17	–	13		.567
Southwestern Louisiana	-	–	-		–			15	–	13		.536
Miami	-	–	-		–			14	–	14		.500
Tennessee State	-	–	-		–			14	–	14		.500
Utica	-	–	-		–			13	–	14		.481
Florida A&M	-	–	-		–			12	–	16		.429
Brooklyn	-	–	-		–			9	–	22		.290
U.S. International	-	–	-		–			8	–	20		.286
Texas–San Antonio	-	–	-		–			7	–	24		.226
Central Florida	-	–	-		–			6	–	22		.214
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1985–86 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown G 4 David Rivers 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Jersey City, New Jersey F 15 Donald Royal 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Jr New Orleans, Louisiana F/C 41 Tim Kempton 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Jamaica, 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
Nov 22, 1985*	No. 12	Saint Joseph's (IN)	W 79–49	1–0	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Nov 30, 1985*	No. 11	Butler	W 87–56	1–0	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 3, 1985*	No. 10	at No. 19 Indiana	L 67–82	1–1	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, Indiana
Dec 7, 1985*	No. 10	Loyola–Chicago	W 71–58	2–1	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 9, 1985*	No. 17	Oregon	W 72–63	3–1	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 21, 1985*	No. 19	Valparaiso	W 98–54	4–1	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Dec 30, 1985*	No. 17	Creighton	W 80–54	5–1	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 4, 1986*	No. 17	at La Salle	W 77–63	6–1	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 7, 1986*	No. 16	at Providence	W 78–72	7–1	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 11, 1986*	No. 16	at DePaul	W 70–54	8–1	Rosemont Horizon  Rosemont, Illinois
Jan 13, 1986*	No. 13	at BYU	L 76–80	8–2	Marriott Center  Provo, Utah
Jan 18, 1986*	No. 13	UCLA	W 74–64	9–2	Athletic & Convocation Center (11,345) Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 20, 1986*	No. 16	Hofstra	W 91–67	10–2	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 22, 1986*	No. 16	American	W 67–56	11–2	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Jan 26, 1986*	No. 16	at No. 1 North Carolina	L 61–73	11–3	Dean Smith Center  Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Jan 29, 1986*	No. 14	Utah	W 94–64	12–3	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 1, 1986*	No. 14	Marquette	W 72–70	13–3	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 3, 1986*	No. 14	Maryland	W 69–62	14–3	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 5, 1986*	No. 14	at Dayton	L 65–67	14–4	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
Feb 8, 1986*	No. 14	at No. 8 Syracuse	W 85–81	15–4	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Feb 11, 1986*	No. 14	Fordham	W 81–58	16–4	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Feb 16, 1986*	No. 14	at No. 2 Duke	L 74–75	16–5	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, North Carolina
Feb 19, 1986*	No. 14	vs. Manhattan	W 102–47	17–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Feb 22, 1986*	No. 14	at Miami (FL)	W 126–73	18–5	Knight Center  Miami, Florida
Feb 25, 1986*	No. 12	DePaul	W 70–59	19–5	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
Mar 1, 1986*	No. 12	at Marquette	W 74–66	20–5	MECCA Arena  Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mar 3, 1986*	No. 12	at New Orleans	W 75–67	21–5	Lakefront Arena  New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 8, 1986*	No. 12	Dayton	W 69–55	22–5	Athletic & Convocation Center  Notre Dame, Indiana
NCAA Tournament
Mar 14, 1986*	(3 MW) No. 10	vs. (14 MW) Arkansas–Little Rock First round	L 83–90	23–6	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome  Minneapolis, Minnesota
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll/UPI Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

^[2]

Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

References

1. "LITTLE ROCK FALLS ON IRISH". The Chicago Tribune. March 15, 1986. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
2. "2019-20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. p. 120. Retrieved February 26, 2022.
3. *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 932–933. ISBN 0-345-51392-4.