Notre Dame (8-10, 5-7) vs. Miami (7-11, 3-10)
📍 Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN
📅 Sunday, February 14, 2021
🕕 6:00 p.m. ET
📺 ACC Network with Wes Durham and Paul Biancardi
📻 Notre Dame Radio Network with Jack Nolan
🗒. Notre Dame Game Notes vs. Miami | Miami Game Notes at Notre Dame
BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH vs. HURRICANES
|
.500 |
In its eighth season in the ACC, Notre Dame has failed to finish .500 or above in the month of February just once (2018-19) – including 6-2 last season – and the second month of the year as keyed some memorable rises in the league standings. See page 4 for more details. |
|
.580 |
Notre Dame career field goal percentage for graduate forward Juwan Durham, which would rank him third on the Irish career charts since 1996-97 for a player with at least 200 FGM. See page 5 for more. |
|
.707 |
Field goal percentage over the past seven games for Juwan Durham, who is in the midst of his most consistent stretch of play for the Irish in his fifth season. Over those past seven games Durham is averaging 13.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. |
|
2 |
Notre Dame is the only team in the nation with two players shooting over .600 from the field with at least 125 field goal attempt this season – Nate Laszewski (.646) and Juwan Durham (.603). |
|
3 |
Statistical categories in which Nate Laszewski is among the top nine in the country – EFG% (.755, 1st); FG% (.646, ninth) and 3FG% (.533, third). Laszewski is the only player in the country shooting over .600 from the field, .500 from three-point range and averaging over 7.5 rebounds per game. |
|
5 |
So far this season, Notre Dame has lost five scheduled games to COVID-19 safety guidelines, while two other games (last Saturday at Pittsburgh, Feb. 20 at Syracuse) are rescheduled contests that were also lost to COVID-19 issues. Notre Dame’s Jan. 6 home game with Georgia Tech has yet to be rescheduled. |
|
7.8 |
You would be hard-pressed to find a more improved player in the country than Nate Laszewski, in addition to increasing his scoring average by close to eight points per game entering Sunday’s contest, he has increased his FG% from .410 a season ago to .646 and his three-point percentage fro .310 to .533. |
|
11.8 |
Notre Dame’s NCAA-leading fouls per game number, as the Irish continue their tradition of not fouling the opponent to allow easy points late in a contest. The Irish are ahead of Virginia (12.6) and Wright State (12.8) for the national lead. |
|
12 |
Adjusted offensive efficiency rank (116.0) for the Irish from KenPom.com – the highest for the team since they finished the 2016 season ranked ninth. Notre Dame is 58th in the latest KenPom overall ranking which ranks the 2020-21 Irish schedule as the 10th-toughest in the country. |
|
15 |
Three players scored over 15 points in the first meeting with Miami this season, led by Prentiss Hubb’s 19. Juwan Durham and Nate Laszewski both scored 16 points and the three players combined to shoot 20-32 (.625) from the field with five three pointers. |
|
59 |
Assists handed out by junior guard Prentiss Hubb in the past seven games, including back-to-back 10 assists performances against Wake Forest (2/2/21) and at Georgia Tech (2/6/21). Dating back to the start of the seven-game run (Jan. 15), Hubb is tied for third in the country in total assists – behind Oakland’s Jalen Moore (81) and Auburn’s Sharife Cooper (66). |
|
164 |
Career blocked shots for Juwan Durham, who has passed Torin Francis (157) to move into fourth on the Notre Dame career list. Durham is one of just three Irish players to average over 2.0 blocks per game in a career (LaPhonso Ellis, current Irish assistant coach Ryan Humphrey). See the full list on page 8. Durham needs three more blocks to pass Humphrey into third place all-time at Notre Dame. |
|
394 |
Career assists for Prentiss Hubb, who is one of just two major conference players to have over 400 assists and 160 three point field goals in a career, joining Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon who is in his fifth year of competition. Hubb is the 13th Notre Dame player to reach 400 assists and already owns the school record for assists in ACC play with 264. |
FEBRUARY REBOUNDS FOR IRISH HOOPS
In three of the last four seasons, Notre Dame has entered the month of February on a downward trend, only to utlize the second month of the year as a springboard up the league standings. The Irish are 2-1 in February so far this season.
|
2016-17 |
5-4 |
5-1 |
ACC Championship game • NCAA Tournament second round |
|
2017-18 |
2-6 |
5-3 |
Last team out of NCAA Tournament field • two ACC tournament game victories |
|
2019-20 |
3-4 |
6-2 |
Finished 10-10 in ACC • won only ACC tournament game before season called off due to COVID-19 |
The Irish are 30-21 in February as a member of the ACC. Remove the outlier February in 2018-19 (2-5) and Notre Dame is 28-16 in February (.636) and has failed to win at least four games only once (the aforementioned 2018-19 season).
HUBB’S ASSISTS/THREE POINT SHOOTING AMONG THE BEST IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Prentiss Hubb’s 254 career assists in league play are the most of any active ACC player. The Upper Marlboro, MD, native is up to 394 career assists as well (see sidebar, page 6).
Hubb also has connected at 161 career three-point field goals, giving him over 390+ assists and 160+ 3FGM.
He joins Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon – in his fifth season of action – as the only major conference players with 400+ assists and 160+ 3FGM.
Among all Division I players, Hubb is among 14 players who have posted 400+ assists and 160+ 3FGM. He and UConn’s R.J. Cole are the only players to reach those marks in their third season of action (all 12 others are either in their fourth or fifth season of eligibility).
CHARTING LASZEWSKI’S HOT SHOOTING
Junior Nate Laszewski has established himself as one of the best and most efficient shooters in college basketball this season.
A look at where Laszewski ranks among the NCAA, major conference and ACC leaders:
|
Statistic |
Number |
National Ranking |
Major Conference Ranking |
ACC Ranking |
Notes |
|
EFG% |
.755 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
min 5 FGM per game, 8 GP |
|
3FG% |
.533 |
3 |
t-1 |
t-1 |
min 1.5 3FGM per game, 8 GP |
|
FG% |
.646 |
9 |
3 |
1 |
min 5 FGM per game, 8 GP |
LASZEWSKI FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE ON PACE FOR A SPOT ON SINGLE-SEASON CHARTS
Junior Nate Laszewski is currently shooting 65% from the field (.646) – a mark that would rank fourth all-time and first in the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). With 147 attempts this season, Laszewski is on pace to reach 150 attempts to qualify for the single-season lists.
NOTRE DAME SINGLE-SEASON FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
|
Player |
Season |
FGM |
FGA |
FG% |
|
Bruce Flowers |
1978-79 |
100 |
166 |
.656 |
|
Orlando Woolridge |
1980-81 |
156 |
240 |
.650 |
|
Keith Robinson |
1987-88 |
123 |
190 |
.647 |
|
NATE LASZEWSKI |
2020-21 |
95 |
147 |
.646 |
|
LaPhonso Ellis |
1991-92 |
227 |
360 |
.631 |
|
John Shumate |
1973-74 |
281 |
449 |
.627 |
Behind the three-point line, Laszewski is at .533 – which would rank first on the Irish single-season charts.
NOTRE DAME SINGLE SEASON THREE POINT PERCENTAGE
|
Player |
3FGM |
3FGA |
3FG% |
|
|
NATE LASZEWSKI |
2020-21 |
32 |
60 |
.533 |
|
Joe Fredrick |
1988-89 |
37 |
71 |
.521 |
|
Joe Fredrick |
1989-90 |
34 |
72 |
.472 |
|
Keith Friel |
1997-98 |
45 |
97 |
.464 |
|
Martin Ingelsby |
2000-01 |
51 |
110 |
.464 |
|
David Graves |
1999-2000 |
83 |
182 |
.456 |
|
Chris Quinn |
2004-05 |
66 |
145 |
.455 |
DURHAM CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE HIGH ON IRISH CAREER CHARTS
Graduate forward Juwan Durham boasts a .580 career field goal percentage at Notre Dame, a mark that would rank him third among Irish players with 200 or more FGM since 1996-97:
|
Player |
Seasons |
FGM |
GP |
FG% |
|
Martinas Geben |
2014-18 |
216 |
108 |
.608 |
|
Jack Cooley |
2009-13 |
394 |
123 |
.601 |
|
JUWAN DURHAM |
2018-21 |
233 |
77 |
.580 |
|
Harold Swanagan |
1998-2002 |
301 |
127 |
.569 |
|
Zach Auguste |
2012-16 |
507 |
128 |
.567 |
|
Bonzie Colson |
2014-18 |
609 |
125 |
.528 |
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS
Notre Dame has produced 64 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 23 of those players reaching that statistical milestone during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). Of the 85 players who have suited up for Notre Dame under Mike Brey, 36 of them were recruited by the staff and exhausted their eligibility with the Irish – 20 of those players have scored more than 1,000 points in a career.
Since 2000-01, Notre Dame leads all ACC teams in 1,000 point scorers (23) and is second in the country over that time frame to Villanova. On the Irish roster currently, junior Prentiss Hubb is closing in on 1,000 points with 917 as of February 9, 2021.
|
School |
All-Time 1,000 Point Scorers |
1,000 Point Scorers since 2000-01 |
|
North Carolina |
77 |
20 |
|
Louisville |
69 |
18 |
|
Duke |
67 |
20 |
|
NOTRE DAME |
64 |
23 |
|
Villanova |
64 |
24 |
|
Syracuse |
62 |
19 |
|
Kansas |
61 |
19 |
A DECADE OF ‘NO FOUL’ CONTINUES
One of the mantras of Notre Dame basketball under Mike Brey has been to keep the amount of opponent foul shots down. Defend without fouling is a way of life for Irish basketball and the statistics bear out that trend.
In the last 11 years, Notre Dame has failed to finish among the top 10 in least amount of personal fouls committed just twice. They have also led the country in least amount of personal fouls three times.
The NCAA has been tracking the least amount of fouls committed in a season since 1993. Notre Dame is the only team since 1993 to lead the country in least amount of fouls more than twice (four times) and could be on pace to make it six times this season.
NOTRE DAME FOULS PER GAME NATIONAL/CONFERENCE FINAL RANKING
|
Year |
Fouls Per Game |
NCAA Raking |
Conference Ranking |
|
2009-10 |
15.1 |
10 |
2 |
|
2010-11 |
15.2 |
11 |
1 |
|
2011-12 |
13.8 |
1 |
1 |
|
2012-13 |
14.1 |
8 |
1 |
|
2013-14 |
16.2 |
15 |
5 |
|
2014-15 |
15.1 |
6 |
1 |
|
2015-16 |
15.1 |
1 |
1 |
|
2016-17 |
14.9 |
4 |
1 |
|
2017-18 |
13.1 |
1 |
1 |
|
2018-19 |
13.8 |
1 |
1 |
|
2019-20 |
12.4 |
1 |
1 |
|
2020-21 |
11.8 |
1 |
1 |
FOUR VETERANS NAMED TEAM CAPTAINS FOR 2020-21
Glenn and Stacey Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey has announced four student-athletes to serve as team captains for the University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team.
Graduate students Nikola Djogo and Juwan Durham, along with juniors Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan, will make up a four-player group of captains in 2020-21.
All four Irish players will be serving as team captains for the first time in their careers.
IRISH RECEIVE COMMITMENTS FROM TWO AREA PROSPECTS
Rising high school seniors J.R. Konieczny (Ko-nez-nee) and Blake Wesley, both from South Bend, Indiana, have signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at the University of Notre Dame.
Rated among the top 150 high school players in the 2020-21 class, Konieczy (Kah-nez-nee) is a four-star recruit according to ESPN.com and earned third-team all-state honors as a junior in 2019-20. He averaged over 24 points a game last season, including a 42-point outburst in the 2020 sectional semifinal – a performance that earned him the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Player of the Week honors.
A consensus four-star recruit, Wesley is ranked 96th nationally by Rivals and 113th by 247Sports. An honorable mention all-state selection as a junior in 2019-20, Wesley led all local area players with a 26.0 points-per-game average last season.
2019-20 IVY LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR PAUL ATKINSON JR. TO JOIN IRISH IN 2021-22
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball program has announced the addition of Paul Atkinson Jr. as a graduate transfer from Yale who will join the Fighting Irish roster for the 2021-22 season. The 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year, Atkinson Jr. was unable to play his senior season at Yale due to the Ivy League’s shut down throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am excited to join the Notre Dame family and get to play alongside a group of really talented guys as well as being able to learn under a great coaching staff that will help me further my game,” Atkinson Jr. said.
Owning a career field goal percentage of .661 and 16 20-point scoring performances, Atkinson Jr. will step into a front court in transition next season due to the departure of fifth-year seniors Juwan Durham and Nikola Djogo at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. In a February 3, 2021, ranking from ESPN+, Atkinson Jr. was selected as the fourth-ranked transfer prospect in college basketball.
“Paul brings a great combination of academic and athletic ability to our basketball program and he will work toward an accelerated graduate degree next year,” Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey said.
“The timing with his arrival and our roster turnover for next season works out and we are excited to add his skill set and experience to our team.”