GAME 2 PREVIEW: PENGUINS VS IRISH

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The (RV) Notre Dame men’s basketball squad (1-0) is back at it inside Purcell Pavilion on Sunday, when they look to make it a perfect opening week with Youngtown State (2-0) coming to town. Tip is set for 4 p.m. ET, on RSN. To check what channel the game is on in your area, click here.

VETS DELIVER IN THRILLING HOME OPENER

Notre Dame moved to 21-2 all-time in season openers during under Mike Brey with a thrilling 79-76 victory over Radford on Nov. 10.

First off – Nate Laszewski showed up and showed out with a huge 28-point, 12-rebound, double-double – the 10th of his career. The 28 points tied his career high. He was clutch down the stretch, scoring 10 of the team’s final 15 points.

Then with 9.5 seconds left on the clock, it was Cormac Ryan who delivered the driving layup for the go-ahead basket and game-winner.

VETS DELIVER PART II

Trey Wertz jumped into the starting lineup in replace of the injured Marcus Hammond in the opener and offensively he delivered. Wertz notched his second highest scoring output in an Irish uniform with 18 points. Not to mention Wertz connected on three treys in a row from 8:22-6:51 in the second half.

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. See the table above for the numbers. 

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. 

FRESHMEN READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT

All the talk about the vets but there’s a freshmen class that was ranked in the top-15 in the country that’s 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. 

Notre Dame Men’s Basketball McDonald’s All-Americans

J.J. Starling, 2022

Demetrius Jackson, 2017

Luke Zeller, 2005

Torin Francis, 2002

Chris Thomas, 2001

Danny Miller, 1998 (transferred from Maryland)

Ryan Humphrey, 1997 (transferred from Oklahoma)

LaPhonso Ellis, 1988

Keith Robinson, 1986

Mark Stevenson, 1985 (transferred to Duquesne)

Matt Beeuwsaert, 1984 (transferred to California)

Ken Barlow, 1982

Tim Kempton, 1982

Joe Kleine, 1980 (transferred to Arkansas)

Tom Sluby, 1980

Barry Spencer, 1980

Tim Andree, 1979

John Paxson, 1979

Tracy Jackson, 1977

SCOREMAC RYAN

Since joining the Irish starting lineup on Feb. 9, 2022, Cormac Ryan turned into Scoremac, averaging 12.8 ppg (carrying over into this season). 

Over the final 12-game run last season he shot an impressive 56.1 percent from the field and 50.9 percent from three. He started game one this year with a double-digit scoring effort of 10 points and the game-winning basket. 

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. 

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. 

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

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). 

— ND —