1973–74 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1973–74 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1973–74 season. The team was coached by Digger Phelps and was ranked in the Associated Press poll for the entirety of the season.

1973–74 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NCAA Men's Division I Tournament, 3rd place
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 3
AP	No. 5
1973–74 record	26–3
Head coach	Digger Phelps (3rd season)
Assistant coach	Dick DiBiaso (3rd season)
Captains	Gary Novak (2nd year) John Shumate (2nd year)
Home arena	Joyce Center

1973–74 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Notre Dame		–			–			26	–	3		.897
No. 8 Providence		–			–			28	–	4		.875
No. 16 Pittsburgh		–			–			25	–	4		.862
Charlotte		–			–			22	–	4		.846
Centenary (LA)		–			–			22	–	4		.846
Marquette		–			–			26	–	5		.839
No. 19 South Carolina		–			–			22	–	5		.815
No. 18 Oral Roberts		–			–			23	–	6		.793
South Alabama		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Creighton		–			–			23	–	7		.767
St. John's (NY)		–			–			20	–	7		.741
Georgia Southern		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Southern Illinois		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Syracuse		–			–			19	–	7		.731
Virginia Commonwealth		–			–			17	–	7		.708
Cincinnati		–			–			19	–	8		.704
Boston College		–			–			21	–	9		.700
Florida State		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Rutgers		–			–			18	–	8		.692
No. 20 Dayton		–			–			20	–	9		.690
Hawaii		–			–			19	–	9		.679
Jacksonville		–			–			20	–	10		.667
Manhattan		–			–			18	–	9		.667
Mercer		–			–			16	–	8		.667
Detroit Mercy		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Fairfield		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Houston		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Illinois State		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Marshall		–			–			17	–	9		.654
St. Bonaventure		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Stetson		–			–			17	–	9		.654
DePaul		–			–			16	–	9		.640
Memphis State		–			–			19	–	11		.633
Louisiana-Monroe		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Utah State		–			–			16	–	10		.615
Colgate		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Portland State		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Seton Hall		–			–			16	–	11		.593
Texas-Rio Grande Valley		–			–			13	–	9		.591
George Washington		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Portland		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			15	–	11		.577
Ball State		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Butler		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Canisius		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Milwaukee		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Penn State		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Northeastern		–			–			12	–	11		.522
Long Island		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Duquesne		–			–			12	–	12		.500
Georgetown		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Oklahoma City		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Virginia Tech		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Indiana State		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Loyola (IL)		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Niagara		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Tulane		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Air Force		–			–			11	–	13		.458
Iona		–			–			11	–	13		.458
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			11	–	13		.458
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			11	–	14		.440
Hardin-Simmons		–			–			11	–	14		.440
South Florida		–			–			11	–	14		.440
Denver		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Southern Mississippi		–			–			11	–	15		.423
Navy		–			–			9	–	13		.409
West Virginia		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Fordham		–			–			8	–	17		.320
Northern Illinois		–			–			8	–	17		.320
Eastern Michigan		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Holy Cross		–			–			8	–	18		.308
St. Peter's		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Xavier		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Villanova		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Army		–			–			6	–	18		.250
Houston Baptist		–			–			6	–	19		.240
Cleveland State		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Samford		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Buffalo		–			–			5	–	20		.200
Georgia Tech		–			–			5	–	21		.192
Georgia State		–			–			1	–	25		.038
Rankings from AP Poll

Forward John Shumate was the team's captain and leading scorer, averaging 24.2 points per game. After the season, Shumate was selected as a first-team player on the 1974 All-America team.

The team's sole loss was by a 77–68 score against Michigan in the NCAA Tournament.

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
December 1		Valparaiso	W 112–62	1–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 3		at Ohio State	W 76–72	2–0	St. John Arena  Columbus, Ohio
December 6		at Northwestern	W 98–74	3–0	Welsh-Ryan Arena  Evanston, Illinois
December 8		Saint Louis	W 94–65	4–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 11		at Indiana	W 73–67	5–0	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, Indiana
December 20		Denver	W 99–59	6–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 29		at Kentucky	W 94–79	7–0	Freedom Hall  Louisville, Kentucky
January 12		Xavier	W 87–44	8–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 15		Georgetown	W 104–77	9–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 19		UCLA	W 71–70	10–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 22		at Kansas	W 76–74	11–0	Allen Fieldhouse  Lawrence, Kansas
January 24		Saint Francis (PA)	W 78–58	12–0	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 26		at UCLA	L 75–94	12–1	Pauley Pavilion  Los Angeles, CA
January 29		Marquette	W 69–63	13–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 31		DePaul	W 101–72	14–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 2		Davidson	W 95–84	15–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 4		at Michigan State	W 91–89	16–1	Jenison Fieldhouse  East Lansing, Michigan
February 6		at La Salle	W 98–78	17–1	Tom Gola Arena  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
February 9		Duke	W 87–68	18–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 14		at Fordham	W 79–69	19–1	Rose Hill Gym  The Bronx, NY
February 16		at South Carolina	W 72–68	20–1	Carolina Coliseum  Columbia, SC
February 18		Western Michigan	W 85–68	21–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 23		West Virginia	W 108–80	22–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 26		Ball State	W 93–69	23–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 2		Villanova	W 115–85	24–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 4		at Dayton	L 82–97	24–2	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
March 9		vs. Austin Peay NCAA Tournament • First Round	W 108–66	25–2	Hulman Center  Terre Haute, Indiana
March 14		vs. Michigan NCAA Tournament • Semifinal	L 68–77	25–3	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
March 16		vs. Vanderbilt NCAA Tournament • Third Place	W 118–88	26–3	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, Alabama
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

[1][2]

Rankings

Team players drafted into the NBA

Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
1	4	John Shumate	Phoenix Suns
1	18	Gary Brokaw	Milwaukee Bucks
5	75	Gary Novak	Cleveland Cavaliers

[3]

References

1. "1973-74 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Schedule". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
2. "2018_19_MBB_Media_Guide_season" (PDF). Notre Dame Athletics. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
3. "1974 NBA Draft". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved February 12, 2020.