| ACC Tournament: | #12 NOTRE DAME (12-19, 7-13) |
|---|---|
| ACC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: | CLICK HERE |
| WHERE: | WASHINGTON D.C. | CAPITAL ONE ARENA |
| TICKETS: | PURCHASE ONLINE |
| LISTEN: | NOTRE DAME RADIO NETWORK | CLICK HERE |
| SOCIAL: | @NDMBB | #GOIRISH |
| 1ST ROUND: | #13 GEORGIA TECH | TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2 PM ET | ACCN |
| 2ND ROUND: | #5 WAKE FOREST | WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2:30 PM ET | ESPN |
| QUARTERFINALS: | #4 PITT | THURSDAY, MARCH 14 , 2:30 PM ET | ESPN/2 |
| SEMIFINALS: | #1 NORTH CAROLINA/TBD | FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 7 PM ET | ESPN/2 |
| FINALS: | TBD | SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 8:30 PM ET | ESPN |
Notre Dame Notes | Virginia Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The road tour rolls on and it’ll be a tall task ahead for the Notre Dame men’s basketball team. The Fighting Irish (10-16, 2-13) will look to topple a top-10 foe in No. 7/6 Virginia (20-4, 12-3) on Saturday, Feb. 18, inside JPJ Arena – a place where they have come close but have yet to win in. Tip is set for Noon ET on ESPN2.
ND VS UVA
Notre Dame is still searching for its first road win of the season and if they accomplish it this weekend, it’ll also mark their first one ever in Charlottesville. The Irish are 3-16 all-time against the Cavaliers and are 0-7 inside JPJ Arena.
The Irish have come close on many occasions over the years:
L 50-49 in OT on 2/11/20
L 60-54 on 2/16/19
L 62-57 on 3/318
The Irish won the encounter between the two last season, taking it 69-65 in South Bend. Dane Goodwin and Nate Laszewski co-led the team in scoring with 16 points each.
TAKEAWAYS FROM DUKE
Trailing by 10 in the 2nd half, the Irish rallied and made it a one-point game at 62-63 with 36 seconds left. The comeback was fueled by Dane Goodwin, who scored 17 straight points from 12:35-4:29. Goodwin finished with a season high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
The Irish outscored the Blue Devils 41-37 in the 2nd half. ND thought they would have a chance for at least the tie at the end if it wasn’t for the heroics of Duke’s Mark Mitchell, who had one field goal at that point in the game. He then hit a corner three with 12.0 seconds left. Down 66-62 now, Notre Dame attacked the basket quickly and got a put-back from Lubin. Off the Duke in-bounds, Ryan thought he had a tie-up jumpball but the referees ruled it a foul instead, sending Duke to the line where they put the game away.
TAKEAWAYS FROM VT GAME
Can’t deny that the offense was clicking due to a combined 50-point effort from Laszewski and Ryan. In fact, the 87 points were the second most points the Irish have scored all season, second to their 88 points against Youngstown State.
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. The 33 points also land him in a tie for 15th place in Brey-Era single-game point totals.
Nate entered the year with six 20-point scoring games and he now has 6 on the season.
With that said, the problem continues to be defensive lapses in the second half. Virginia Tech recorded a stretch in which they made 14-of-16 from the field, pounding the ball down low. They finished with 42 points in the paint.
3 STARTS – 3 GAMES IN DOUBLE FIGURES
Freshman Ven-Allen Lubin has made 3 consecutive starts and has rewarded the Irish for it with 3 games in double figures. He scored a career high 13 points at Georgia Tech, then followed that up with 11 points vs Virginia Tech and 10 points at Duke. He’s totaled 34 points on a combined 15-for-22 shooting. He’s also grabbed a total of 18 rebounds.
One could argue that Lubin could have had even larger numbers against Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech if it weren’t for limited minutes due to foul trouble in both.
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 2nd in the ACC in made three-pointers per game and 32nd in the country, converting 9.0 per game. They also rank 2nd in three-point shooting percentage (.367). Their 9.0 threes per game would rank 6th all-time in program history – the program record is 9.7 set by the 19-20 squad.
23 IN ‘23
In 2023 (12 games), Goodwin is averaging 12.9 ppg (155 points) – which ranks 2nd on the team behind Laszewski for that time span. He’s also been more active on the glass in 2023 grabbing 77 boards aka 6.4 rpg – that number leads the team.
FEBRUARY GROOVE
Speaking of Goodwin, the man thrives in the month of February. Starting in 2021 (so over last 3 seasons), Goodwin is averaging 12.8 ppg in the month of February. He scored 112 points over 8 games in 2021. Then 81 points in 7 games in 2022. He has 50 through 4 games in 2023.
COMPETING, NOW JUST CLOSE
4 of Notre Dame’s last 5 losses have been oh so close – no larger than six points – for a combined deficit of 15 for those 4 games.
68-64 to Duke
93-87 to Virginia Tech
70-68 to Georgia Tech
85-82 to NC State
In fact, 8 of Notre Dame’s 13 ACC losses have been by single digits. They have been competitive and in just about every game this conference season.
— ND —