Notre Dame Loses To North Carolina In Elite Eight

Notre Dame’s Mike Brey left the locker room in Cleveland last season after the Irish were bounced from the Elite Eight wondering if he could ever feel more warmly toward a team he coached.

Then came the 2015-16 team, one Brey found himself adoring even more.

“I felt better about this group,” Brey said. “They were unbelievably coachable. Their leadership grew in areas I didn’t think they could. … (They) were better than (the 2014-15 Irish) and tougher than them and I never thought I would say that. It was a fabulous run for us.”

Yet it ended in the same place.

Sixth-seeded Notre Dame fell just shy of the Final Four for a second straight season, losing 88-74 to North Carolina on Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center in the East Region final. The Irish were aiming for the program’s first Final Four appearance since 1978.