Mike Brey on tough start: "Why didn't we schedule like Kentucky?"

Notre Dame came into its matchup against Kentucky boasting a 3-4 record, with the team’s only wins coming against Cal State Northridge, High Point and Chaminade. Zero victories against teams with a KenPom ranking higher than No. 264 (High Point).

As for the losses, the Fighting Irish fell at the hands of St. Mary’s (CA), Texas A&M, Illinois and Boston College, with the latter two being true road games. All matchups away from home against name-brand programs, but losses nonetheless. 3-4 is 3-4.

On the other end, Kentucky was 7-1 going into the matchup, with seven wins against cupcakes at home and one loss against Duke to open the season in the Champions Classic. Unlike Notre Dame, the record looked nice, but we still had no idea what this team was.

“There were times the last ten days where I said, ‘Why didn’t we schedule like Kentucky?'” ND head coach Mike Brey said after the game.

Was Notre Dame as bad as their record said it was? And was Kentucky as good as its record said it was? The answer proved to be no on both accounts, as the Wildcats fell to the Fighting Irish by a final score of 66-62 in South Bend.

In a rock fight from start to finish, the Irish were more prepared to throw the last stone, and their schedule leading up to this point played a significant part in that.

“We both lost 15 games last year, John (Calipari) and I,” Brey said. “I didn’t have control over Maui, Vegas, sending me to Champaign (Illinois), or the league going, ‘You’re opening at (Boston College).’ I looked and said, ‘God, could there be some middle ground a little bit?’ You come home after 25 days, then you’ve got to deal with these guys.

“We probably are a little weathered because we’ve been punched in the face a little bit and have had to go through some stuff, talk through some stuff. So maybe it helped us. Being at home in that atmosphere really helped us.”

It was a game that proved Kentucky isn’t where it needs to be right now, and Calipari knows that. In his eyes, though, the Wildcats aren’t too far off. They may have lost the rock fight and the Irish may have known how to close out the game, but his squad was in position late.

Now, it’s about finishing the job.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do on this team. We just do,” Calipari said. “To come here — you know where we were to win the game. You don’t win it, you lost it, but you know the chances we had.

“Finish them off, make some shots, do some stuff, we’re not that far off.