1991–92 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team

The 1991–92 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team represented the University of Notre Dame during the 1991-92 college basketball season. The Fighting Irish, led by first-year coach John MacLeod, played their home games at the Joyce Center located in Notre Dame, IN as Independent members. They finished the season 18–15 and were invited to the 1992 National Invitation Tournament, where they advanced to the championship game before losing to Virginia 76–81 in overtime. During the season, they defeated five AP Top 25 teams.

1991–92 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball
NIT, Finals
Conference	Independent
Record	18–15
Head coach	John MacLeod (1st season)
Home arena	Joyce Center

1991–92 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
UMKC	-	–	-		–			21	–	7		.750
Penn State	-	–	-		–			21	–	8		.724
UW-Milwaukee	-	–	-		–			20	–	8		.714
Southern Utah	-	–	-		–			20	–	8		.714
College of Charleston	-	–	-		–			19	–	8		.704
Notre Dame	-	–	-		–			18	–	15		.545
Cal State Northridge	-	–	-		–			11	–	17		.393
Northeastern Illinois	-	–	-		–			8	–	20		.286
Chicago State	-	–	-		–			7	–	21		.250
UNC Greensboro	-	–	-		–			7	–	21		.250
Youngstown State	-	–	-		–			6	–	22		.214
Sacramento State	-	–	-		–			4	–	24		.143
Rankings from AP Poll

Roster

1991–92 Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown PG 12 Elmer Bennett 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Sr Bellaire, Texas PF 20 LaPhonso Ellis 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Sr East St. Louis, Illinois F 30 Billy Taylor 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr Aurora, Illinois C 43 Keith Tower 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Coraopolis, Pennsylvania F 3 Monty Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Fredericksburg, Virginia	Head coach John MacLeod Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
November 26		Butler	L 60–67	0–1	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 3		at No. 9 Indiana	L 46–78	0–2	Assembly Hall  Bloomington, Indiana
December 5		Louisville	L 81–84	0–3	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
December 9		at Valparaiso	W 71–66	1–3	Athletics-Recreation Center  Valparaiso, IN
December 11		at Boston College	L 58–78	1–4	Silvio O. Conte Forum  Boston, Massachusetts
January 2		at No. 17 Kentucky	L 70–91	1–5	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
January 6		at No. 23 USC	W 64–58	2–5	L.A. Sports Arena  Los Angeles, CA
January 9		at La Salle	W 87–79	3–5	Convention Hall  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 11		vs. No. 8 North Carolina	W 88–76	4–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
January 13		at West Virginia	L 67–87	4–6	WVU Coliseum  Morgantown, WV
January 18		at Virginia	L 56–83	4–7	University Hall  Charlottesville, Virginia
January 21		at Marquette	W 69–63	5–7	Bradley Center  Milwaukee, WI
January 23		No. 12 Missouri	L 68–77	5–8	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 27		Dayton	W 76–54	6–8	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
January 29		DePaul	W 74–69	7–8	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 1		at No. 1 Duke	L 71–100	7–9	Cameron Indoor Stadium  Durham, NC
February 4		Detroit	L 70–72	7–10	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 9		No. 15 Michigan	L 65–74	7–11	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 11		Stanford	W 64–63	8–11	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 15		at No. 10 Syracuse	W 101–98	9–11	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, NY
February 18		Marquette	W 60–53	10–11	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 22		No. 2 UCLA	W 84–71	11–11	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 25		at Dayton	L 58–60	11–12	University of Dayton Arena  Dayton, Ohio
February 27		Loyola (IL)	W 75–72	12–12	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
February 29		No. 20 St. John’s (NY)	W 79–70	13–12	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 3		Xavier	W 87–86	14–12	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 7		at No. 15 DePaul	L 65–66	14–13	Rosemont Horizon  Rosemont, IL
March 9		at Evansville	L 56–74	14–14	Roberts Municipal Stadium  Evansville, IN
NIT
March 18		Western Michigan First Round	W 63–56	15–14	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 23		Kansas State Second Round	W 64–47	16–14	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 25		Manhattan Quarterfinal	W 74–58	17–14	Joyce Center  Notre Dame, IN
March 30		vs. Utah Semifinals	W 58–55	18–14	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
April 1		vs. Virginia Finals	L 76–81 OT	18–15	Madison Square Garden  New York, NY
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.