Feb. 07--SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Last March, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey stood in a dim hallway at the ACC tournament, the weight of the world seemingly lifted from his shoulders after Wake Forest put the Irish out of their misery and ended their inaugural ACC season in Greensboro, N.C.
It was finally time to turn the page to the 2014-15 season, and when discussing this season's group Brey said: "Nine league wins would be heaven next year."
It was comment that didn't sit too well with the more rabid Notre Dame fans. The Irish had six conference victories last year and some thought the program should aim higher than a .500 finish in league play.
No. 10 Notre Dame (21-3, 9-2 ACC) won't quite be in heaven Saturday, but they will be on one of basketball's hallowed grounds in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and they will visit fourth-ranked Duke (19-3, 6-3) with nine league victories already in hand after beating Boston College on Wednesday night.
Now instead of just trying to survive league play, the Irish have shifted their focus to March and tweaking the things they need to do to become a threat in the NCAA tournament.
"On Monday we came in and our whole theme was February improvement for March success," Brey said. "This is a month we need to get better. I want them still understanding we can get better because I really believe we can."
To do that, Brey had his team list the qualities they needed to improve to become better. It might come as no surprise that some of the items on the list included defense, rebounding and communication. The list can serve as a constant refresher not to get complacent with current success.
The Irish know what they need to do, but can they actually improve on those areas through February?
"Those things are something we need to emphasize continually," forward Zach Auguste said. "At the same time, we're good and we have some resiliency."
Notre Dame will have a chance to do that Saturday against the Blue Devils, whose prolific offense but the Irish defense on its heels until the last 10 minutes of Notre Dame's 77-73 victory Jan 28.
It will help that Auguste and forward Bonzie Colson, Notre Dame's post defenders, already have faced scoring machine Jahlil Okafor, who had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the first meeting.
"We have to do a better job with Jahlil," Auguste said. "We have a sense for him now, I have a sense for him. It's not as heavy a weight on me now. I have a feel for what he's doing and I have to be more aggressive."
There isn't much for the Irish to lose by doing that at this point in the season given where the Irish stand in the college basketball landscape.
"Bracketology is out there," Brey said. "Everybody gets ahead of themselves and we're just trying to stay here in the moment right now."
Staying in the moment, but getting ready for what lies ahead.
chine@tribpub.com
Twitter @ChristopherHine
