Game 17 Preview: Irish vs. Yellow Jackets

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad is back at home and will look to get that ACC monkey off its back in a matchup with Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Jan. 10, inside Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish (8-8, 0-5) will tip off against the Yellow Jackets (8-7, 1-4) at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

ND vs GT

Notre Dame leads the overall series against Georgia Tech, 14-12. However, Coach Brey’s record against the Yellow Jackets sits at 13-6. The Irish have found tremendous success against them at home with a 10-2 record and eight-game win streak inside Purcell that dates back to 1990. 

Last year, the two sides faced off in a home-and-home and the Irish won both – first 72-68 in OT at Georgia Tech, then a dominant 90-56 win in South Bend. Dane Goodwin scored a combined 31 points (14 & 17). 

WINS VS LOSSES

The stats that stick out:

– Points – ND is averaging 75.9 ppg in wins versus a dropoff of  62.8 in losses. Defensively, not much of a difference, allowing 66 in wins vs. 72.6 in losses, proving the emphasis is on the offense. 

– FG% – shooting 49.7 percent in wins vs. 41.8 percent in losses

– 3PT – Interesting to note that teams are shooting better against us from three in games Notre Dame wins vs. loses. In wins, opponents are averaging 6.8 threes per game at a 35.3 percent rate. In losses, 5.6 threes per game at 29.6 percent rate. Offensively, Notre Dame makes the same amount of threes with the same shooting percentage in wins and losses. 

– FT Made – ND is averaging 12.8 makes in wins vs. 6.6 in losses. 

A DIFFERENCE OF A FEW POSSESSIONS

A difference in a few possessions – one in each of the following games in fact (Syracuse, Florida State, Boston College) and the Irish could easily be sitting at 3-1 in ACC play. 

Syracuse – Down five, with under 1:20 to play, Cormac Ryan and Marcus Hammond recorded back-to-back three-point plays to go up 61-60, but the Orange answered with 14 seconds on the clock. Notre Dame couldn’t connect on the buzzer-beater, falling 62-61.

Florida State – With six seconds remaining on the clock down one, Notre Dame ran a great in-bounds play to Wertz but his next pass to an open and sprinting Cormac Ryan was thrown just a tad too high/long as the Seminoles tracked it down and escaped with a 73-72 win. The Irish were on a 6-0 run with two big defensive stands in the final minute before the final play of the game.

Boston College – The Irish led for the first 37:19 of the game but Boston College closed on a 17-4 run to take it 70-63. Notre Dame led 59-53 with 4 minutes remaining. When BC took its first lead at 1:43, 62-61, Notre Dame went 0-3 on its next three possessions.

“The older guys have been through it all on this team. I gave an example of the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers, plus previous teams of mine, teams who have been dead in the water and came back.” – Coach Brey

MILESTONES APPROACHING

Come Tuesday’s Georgia Tech matchup, it’ll mark Coach Brey’s 899th career game as a head coach, spanning his Delaware days as well. 

Cormac Ryan sits at 970 career points, which spans his four year career and freshman year at Stanford. 

Marcus Hammond sits at 1,484 career points and is 16 off from the 1500-point milestone. He accumulated 1422 points in four years at Niagara. 

THREAT FROM THREE

Over the last 10 games, Notre Dame has knocked down 94 three-pointers (9.4 per game) which ranks 2nd amongst Power-Five schools since Nov. 30. 

Overall on the season, they are averaging 8.8 threes per game, which would crack the program’s all-time top-10. The program record is 9.7 set by the 19-20 squad. 

Now, the big reason for that – the squad’s big three. 

Goodwin – .451 

Ryan – .390

Laszewski – .381  

*Hammond – coming along at .429

“So much rides on us making three-point shots. We are making 10 a game and it’s still not enough. We’re probably going to have to make 13-14 threes to win league games. That’s just how we are built offensively right now.” – Coach Brey at media availability ahead of UNC. 

DANE TRENDING

After 4 straight games (Dec. 3 vs Syracuse) in single digits, Goodwin has found his offensive rhythm with 4 straight games in double figures. He’s amassed 52 points in the last 4 games, averaging 13.0 ppg. He is 23-of-45 from the field and 5-of-12 from three. 

JJ FINDING HIMSELF

Starling has recorded double-digit points in 7 of the last 8 games and has produced the most overall double-digit scoring performances on the team this season with 12. 

One of the main reasons for the recent surge — in what was an achilles heel at the beginning of the season is now a strong point as of late – that’s JJ’s three-point shooting. He’s 12-of-27 from beyond the arc over the last 8 games aka 44.4 percent. 

JJ co-led the team in scoring at BC with 16 points. Prior, vs Jacksonville on Dec. 27, JJ scored all 11 of his points in the 2nd half. More impressively, he impacted the game elsewhere, grabbing a season high 8 rebounds.

“JJ is getting better,” Brey said. “And more comfortable, in a good rhythm. He’s improved defensively. He’s moving the ball and playing. I’m excited about where he’s at. He has just been really good. To shake off a tough 1st half and say, ‘I’m going to keep playing.’ When he can square his shoulders and we get some cutters and we move and he can turn a corner, we don’t have anybody like that. He’s the guy.”

JJ almost singlehandedly won the Irish the game at Florida State on Dec. 21 – recording his 2nd 20-point performance of the season. Starling went on a 6-0 run to end the game to pull the Irish within one, giving them an opportunity to win with 6 seconds left.

— ND —