ACC Tournament Preview: Irish Look to Make a Run

NOTRE DAME NOTES

GREENSBORO, N.C. – It’s a clean slate and a new season for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team. A tall task lays ahead as the No. 14 seed – potentially five games in five days if they can make a run. It’s March, it’s time for some Madness, so why not embrace it. The message from Glenn & Stacey Murphy head coach Mike Brey was simple – this first one will be a dogfight; handle it, then we’ll talk game two then let the momentum take care of itself.

BREY IN ACC TOURNEY – GREENSBORO GREATEST MEMORY

Coach Brey and the Fighting Irish are 11-7 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 5-2 inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Speaking of, they’ll return to Greensboro this week which played home to Brey’s favorite ACC memory – the 2015 ACC Title run. In just their 2nd year in the league, Notre Dame had come to Tobacco Road, beaten two of its bluebloods and walked away with the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. The Irish defeated Duke (74-64) in the semis and North Carolina (90-82) in the title game. 

Though a smaller sample size, but holds true nonetheless, Notre Dame’s .611 winning percentage in ACC Tournament games ranks third in the league behind Duke (.699) and North Carolina (.677).

SCOREMAC IN MARCH

When the calendar turns to March, the best players step up and embrace the Madness. Case in point, Cormac Ryan, who is averaging 14.3 ppg in the month of March during his ND career – best of anyone on the team. 

Irish fans won’t forget the memorable March Ryan had a season ago. He posted the game of his career in the NCAA first round victory over Alabama (3/18/22) leading the Irish with 29 points on 10-for-13 shooting 7-for-9 from three point range while adding six rebounds. The career high 29 points was a Mike Brey-era high for a player in the NCAA tournament, while the seven three pointers set the school record for an NCAA tournament game.

RYAN PEAKING

Going off the aforementioned about Ryan, he’s peaking again down the final stretch. He’s recorded 10 double-digit scoring games over the last 12 contests. 

He just earned his 3rd 20-point game of the season in ND’s upset win over #25 Pitt (6th of his career). A few days later he was one point shy of his first career consecutive 20-point games. 

He’s averaging 16.3 ppg over the last 4 games. 

ND VS VIRGINIA TECH

The overall series between the two is deadlocked at 9-apiece, yet the Hokies own all the momentum. Virginia Tech has won five in a row and eight of the last 10. 

The last 3 games have all been decided by single digits. Last year, the Irish lost 79-73 in Blacksburg then lost 87-80 in the ACC Tournament. 

On Feb. 11 of this season, the Irish offense had one of its best games but still fell in another close one, 93-87. Nate Laszewski and Cormac Ryan combined for 50 points. Laszewski went off for a career high 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including a 6-for-9 mark from three-point range. He also grabbed a team best eight rebounds. It marked the first Irish 30-point performance since Matt Farrell dropped 37 points at Boston College on Feb. 17, 2018. Ryan connected on 5-of-9 from deep to total 17 points. The turning point of the game – from 15:56 to 3:49, Virginia Tech made 14 of their next 16 shots. Basile scored 23 of his 33 points in this stretch, as Tech pounded the ball down low. 

A LITTLE IRISH MAGIC LEFT

It was Senior Day for both Notre Dame’s six graduates and Head Coach Mike Brey. And that group of resilient Irish made sure to go out on a high note in their last game inside Purcell Pavilion, knocking off No. 25 Pitt, 88-81, tying their season high in points scored. ND controlled most of the game, jumping out to a 14-point lead at halftime and a lead as large as 20 points in the second half. Pitt made it a little interesting, cutting the lead to five, but the Irish held on as Cormac Ryan put the exclamation point on the game with a slam dunk with 14 seconds left. 

And what a moment it was for a senior group that’s had its ups and downs. Ryan and Marcus Hammond co-led the team in scoring with 20 points each, as it marked a season high for the latter. All-in-all, 5 grads finished in double figures and even Robby Carmody provided solid minutes down the stretch. 

“We wanted it bad, for a variety of reasons,” Ryan said. “At no point, have we ever given up. I think there was starting to be a little bit of a narrative like, the guys don’t want to win. People are ready for spring break. Nobody wanted it more than the guys in that locker room. To send Coach out with a win means everything to us.”

“Call me crazy, but I feel the same way about this group as I did when I was talking to you guys in June,” said Ryan. “I feel the same exact way. It hasn’t gone our way. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t want to play us in Greensboro.”

THREAT FROM THREE

Notre Dame’s offense may struggle from time to time, but you can’t argue with the team’s three-point shooting ability. The Irish rank 3rd in the ACC in made three-pointers per game and 41st in the country, converting 8.8 per game. Their 8.8 threes per game would crack the program’s all-time top-10 list- the program record is 9.7 set by the 19-20 squad. 

Career Three-Pointers Made

Goodwin – 228

Laszewski – 233

Ryan – 210

Hammond – 251

Trey Wertz – 193

Between those 5 players, a whopping 1,115 career three-pointers made. 

HAMMOND FROM DEEP

Speaking of three-point shooting, ND’s most dependable from beyond the arc as of late – none other than Marcus Hammond. He’s 8 for his last 14 from three over the past 3 games played. He’s now shooting a team best 41.3 percent from deep.

WERTZ WATCHER

Trey Wertz is 7 threes away from 200 in his career and 13 assists away from 500 — If he can get to both, he’d become just the 3rd Irish player to achieve 200 made threes + 500 career assists since 1996. The other two: Chris Thomas and Prentiss Hubb.

*Note that not all of Trey’s threes and assists happened at Notre Dame

Trey is finishing the season strong. Three of his last 4 games were in double figures. He’s produced at least five assists in three of the last five games – 22 assists total in that span. 

— ND —