Washington State's defense limited Harangody and McAlarney to a combined 8 for 30 shooting and held the Irish to half its scoring average.

FIRST ROUND
Notre Dame 68, George Mason 50: Luke Harangody powered Notre Dame with 18 points and 14 rebounds, leading the Fighting Irish past former Cinderella George Mason in the first round.

It was Notre Dame's first tournament victory in five years. The Irish will face Washington St. in the second round.

How they got in: At-large bid

Basically: After a 2-2 November start, the Irish was one of the nation's hottest teams over the rest of the regular season with the firepower to blast anyone out of the water. However, there was just enough inconsistency to prevent a regular season Big East title, and not enough defense to get past Marquette in the Big East tournament. Led by the league's best player this season, Luke Harangody, Notre Dame has a selfless, high-powered offense that's great at moving the ball around and is tremendous on the glass, but the big road games were a problem getting annihilated at Marquette and Georgetown and losing in February at Connecticut and Louisville. While there's decent talent, the whole is better than the sum of the parts, even with a player like Harangody.

Strengths: Assists. The nation's leader in assists throughout the year, averaging around 19 per game, the Irish offense always seems to find the open man, especially for the outside shot. Along with being one of the most efficient teams in the country, with few turnovers and not that many fouls, it's also one of the best shooting offenses around, hitting 41 percent from beyond the arc and a tremendous 74 percent on the line.

Weaknesses: The defense is no big deal. It usually doesn't matter since the offense is explosive enough to make up for the defensive issues, but a decent opposing offense should have few problems scoring well over 70 points. Inside the Irish is fine defensively, but the guards are merely adequate at pressuring the ball. There will be big problems with attacks that can do a little of everything well.

Players you should care about: It begins and ends with Harangody. While Kyle McAlarney is one of the tournament's most dangerous outside bombers, and Rob Kurz is a glass-eating inside presence, it's Harangody who needs to be the star in every game. Always a tough inside presence who has no problems drawing fouls, he's turned into a better all-around offensive force upping his average from 11 points per game last year to 21 while grabbing 10 boards per game. While he needs to be fantastic, it should be noted that the Irish lost to Louisville when he put up 40 and lost to Connecticut when he put up 32, his two biggest scoring games this season.

Best wins: Connecticut 73-67; Marquette 86-83

Worst losses: Baylor 68-64; Georgia Tech 70-69