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Game 1 Preview: Irish Open with Radford on Thursday

ND vs Radford | Nov. 10, 8 pm ET | ACC Network | Purcell Pavilion

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball season starts anew on Thursday and the Fighting Irish are looking to build off a momentous end to last season. They’ll return the most experienced squad in Mike Brey’s tenure, plus add a freshmen class that ranked in the top-15 upon signing last fall. The Irish will open the 2022-23 campaign with Radford inside Purcell Pavilion at 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

BREY’S MOST VETERAN TEAM

No other Power-Five program this year can say that they have six players earning their Master’s Degree (Goodwin, Carmody, Ryan, Laszewski, Wertz, Hammond). Then you dive deeper and the stats show that this is Coach Brey’s most experienced team to date to start a season, even topping last year’s team. New highs in minutes, made field goals, three-pointers, free throws, rebounds and points.

In terms of ACC players entering the 2022-23 season with 100 or more games played, Dane Goodwin ranks 2nd with 126, two behind Kihei Clark of Virginia. Of course, Nate Laszewski follows suit in third with 125. 

SEASON/HOME OPENERS

Notre Dame is 20-2 all-time in season openers during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 to present). Historically, the Irish are 98-21 (.824) in their season openers. 

 Home-opener wise Notre Dame is 22-0 in the Mike Brey era. Historically, the program is 108-11 (.908) in home openers. Random facts: 

Under Brey, the Irish have began the season on the road just three times. In 2017-18, the Irish helped DePaul dedicate WinTrust Arena on Nov. 11, earning a 72-58 victory. Plus, No. 9/11 North Carolina in 2019-20 and No. 13/12 Michigan State in 2020-21.  

Notre Dame won 26 consecutive home openers from 1922-23 through 1947-48. 

BREY ERA – STILL TOPS IN A/TO RATIO

Since 2000-01 (first year of the Mike Brey era), Notre Dame has led the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.44). 

In his now 23 years patrolling the sidelines, Coach Brey’s teams have developed certain tenets they can be counted on to display – take care of the ball, defend without fouling, shot making and free throw percentage. Those traits are reflected in Notre Dame’s statistical rankings, compared to all NCAA teams and the ACC, since the Brey era began. See the table below. 

NCAA Statistical Ranking Since 2000-01

ACC Rank

Statistic

ND Number

1

1

Assist/Turnover Ratio

1.44

1

1

Least Amount Of Fouls Per Game

14.9

3

1

Least Amount Of Turnovers Per Game

10.9

6

2

Assists Per Game

15.7

9

1

Free Throw Percentage

.733

9

2

Assists Per Field Goals Made

.602

10

1

Three Point Field Goals Made Per Game

8.2

EXPERIENCE IN THE BACKCOURT

Most Productive Backcourts in NCAA – Scholarship Guards only edition (courtesy of Matt Plizga from Pitt). Below is a list of backcourts with:

1) career totals of 4,000+ points and 500+ 3FG at the Division I level

2) three or more 1,000-point scorers in the backcourt

Rank

Player

3FG

Points

1.

UAB

578

5,170

Ledarrius Brewer

Tavin Lovan

Jordan Walker

Tyler Bertram

Eric Gaines

Tony Toney

Jon Coleman

238

12

189

100

25

12

2

1,667

1,280

1,260

462

379

108

14

2.

Missouri

524

5,069

Isiaih Mosley

Tre Gormillion

DeAndre Gholston

D’Moi Hodge

Nick Honor

Sean East

133

29

102

102

110

48

1,434

864

832

751

684

504

3.

Notre Dame

700

4,694

Marcus Hammond

Dane Goodwin

Trey Wertz

Cormac Ryan

Robby Carmody

Tony Sanders Jr

J.R. Konieczny

213

184

148

149

1

4

1

1,422

1,341

1,058

780

71

21

11

4.

Pitt

516

4,329

Nike Sibande

Nelly Cummings

Jamarius Burton

Greg Elliott

203

149

70

94

1,570

1,112

1,003

644

NEW COURT, SAME HOME ADVANTAGE

Notre Dame’s court may have gotten a facelift this offseason and sport a new look, but the same home court advantage still applies. 

Last season, the Irish went 14-1 inside Purcell Pavilion, as their .931 winning percentage at home ranked ninth in the nation. 

Furthermore, only dropping one loss at home or fewer hadn’t been done since the 2011-12 season. 

Now let’s add in the women’s team for an overall basketball picture. Combined the men and women went 27-2 inside Purcell for a .967 winning percentage. That ranked third last season behind Arizona (29-1, .967) and Tennessee (30-2, .938). 

IRISH CLIMBING 1,000-POINT SCORERS LIST

With the additions of Dane Goodwin and Nate Laszewski to Notre Dame’s 1,000-point scorers club, the Irish program total bumped to 67. Notre Dame is now in a three-way tie alongside Duke and Villanova for producing the most 1000-point scorers of any program. Louisville sits in second with 69 and UNC the top spot with 79. 

Of those 67, 26 of those players having been recruited by Mike Brey and exhausted their eligibility (or turned professional early). 

Also fun to note: if Notre Dame were to play 35 games again in 2022-23, Ryan would have to average 12.2 ppg to reach the 1,000-point ND milestone.

School

All-Time 1,000 Point Scorers

North Carolina

79

Louisville

69

NOTRE DAME

67

Duke

67

Villanova

67

Syracuse

65

Kansas

65

Kentucky

60

Ohio St

60

DEFENSIVE IDENTITY EMBRACED

At one point last season, Notre Dame held seven consecutive opponents to 65 or less points in ACC play and finished the year with 10 such games against league fose and 19 against all opponents. 

The 2021-22 Irish ended up matching the 2014-15 team for the most game sholding an oppponent to 65 points or less in the ACC era (2013-14 – current). 

Season

Total Games Opp. 65<=

ACC Games Opp. 65<=

ACC Tournament Opp. 65<=

2021-22

19

10

0

2014-15

19

7

2

2017-18

15

4

2

2015-16

15

6

0

2018-19

13

6

0

FRESHMEN READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT

Let’s first start with JJ Starling who was ranked 18th by ESPN and was the highest-ranked ND recruit since at least 2007 (when ESPN recruiting database began). That spot wwas previously held by Demetrius Jackson, who was ranked No. 24 in 2013. 

JJ is also the first McDonald’s All-American at Notre Dame since Demetrius Jackson arrived in 2013 and could be the first to start in game one since Torin Francis in 2002. He’s the fifth McDonald’s All-American recruited under Brey’s tenure and the eighth to suit up for the Irish under Brey. 

Next, there’s the athletic 6-8 forward Ven-Allen Lubin, who was ranked 69th by ESPN and the ninth best at his position. The class is rounded out by another big, 6-8 Dom Campbell. 

SCOREMAC RYAN

After joining the starting lineup on Feb. 9, 2022, Cormac turned into Scoremac, averaging 13.4 ppg over the final 12-game run. He shot an impressive 56.1 percent from the field and 50.9 percent from three. He also pulled down 5.1 rpg.  

Ryan had the best game of his career against Alabama in the first round of the NCAA tournament, scoring a Brey-era NCAA single game record 29 points and setting the Notre Dame NCAA record with a career-best seven three pointers. 

DANGEROUS FROM DEEP

Notre Dame ranked 11th in the country in three-point field goal percentage last season, converting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc. That number also ranked 2nd in the ACC. 

Next, the Irish ranked 19th in total three-point field goals made with 318 – which was 3rd best in the ACC. In addition, they ranked 32nd in three-point field goals made per game with 9.1 – good for 2nd in ACC. 

Goodwin led the team in made treys (70) and percentage (.458), as the latter ranked fifth all-time for a single season. Goodwin’s 45.8 percent mark from three ranked 13th in the country and second among all major conference players. 

Laszewski (.456 – ranked 7th for a single season) & Ryan (.407) also shot over .400 on the year. Laszewski ranked 14th in the country in 3PT FG% and was one of just four players to shoot over .450 from beyond the arc and also pull down over 200 rebounds. 

CAREER RECORDS ABOUT TO BE SET

Dane Goodwin is set to claim the Notre Dame Ironman award by midway through the season. The graduate sits at 126 career games played, which is 15 games shy of the program record of 141 set by Rex Pflueger. Also important to note that Nate Laszewski is one behind Goodwin at 125. In addition, Goodwin could claim the minutes played record as well. 

Speaking of Goodwin, he could crack the program top-10 all-time three-pointers made list. He currently sits in 14th with 184. Prentiss Hubb is in the 10-slot at 236. 

BY THE NUMBERS

5849

combined career points on the 2022-23 squad – most ever in Brey Era to start a season

4694

combined points from ND’s backcourt (guards only) — 1-of-4 DI teams with over 4,000 points + 500 3PT FG

338

combined starts and 633 combined games played – Coach Brey’s most veteran team in his time at the helm

70

made treys for Goodwin last year – ranked 5th all-time for a single season

45.8%

Goodwin finished 13th in the country in 3FG% at .458, second among all major conference players. 

29

Career-high points scored by Cormac Ryan in the NCAA first round victory over Alabama. It is the most for a Mike Brey-era Notre Dame player in an NCAA game. 

27

Total conference championships

24-11

Record last season

22

Notre Dame is 22-0 in home openers during the Mike Brey era. The program is 108-11 all-time in home openers. 

19

games in which they held its opposition to 65 or less points – most in ACC Era. 10 of those games came in ACC play. 

18th

Freshman ranking for JJ Starling – highest ranked Notre Dame recruit since at least 2007 (when ESPN recruiting database began)

15

NCAA  Tournament victories for Coach Brey – Ties Digger Phelps for the most at ND

14-1

at home last season. It’s .933 home winning percentage ranked in the top-10 last season

13.4

Points-per-game average for senior Cormac Ryan since joining the starting lineup on Feb. 9, 2022 (12 games).

13

NCAA Tournament appearances in the Brey Era

11th

ND ranked 11th in the country in three-point field goal percentage last season, converting 38.1 percent from beyond the arc – ranked 2nd in the ACC

7

Goodwin 1-of-7 players in the nation to average 13.0 ppg and shooting .500 from the field and .450 from three point range

6

graduate students on the roster – most of any Power-5 team

4

Laszewski 1-of-4 players to shoot over .450 from behind the arc and pull down over 200 rebounds last season

4th

Tied for 4th for most 1,000-point scorers amongst Division-I programs

3rd

Team All-ACC honors for Goodwin last season