Irish And Rockets Meet On Thursday Night

NOTRE DAME vs. TOLEDO

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (4-1) will conclude the 2019 Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational against Toledo (3-1) in Purcell Pavilion on Thursday evening (ACC Network, 8:30 p.m. ET).

• The Irish and Rockets will be meeting for the sixth time, with Notre Dame leading the all-time series 4-1.
• Thursday night marks the first meeting between Notre Dame and Toledo since March 16, 1979, when the Irish defeated Toledo 79-71 in the NCAA Regional Semifinals at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
• Notre Dame is 1-0 at home against Toledo and Thursday marks the Rockets’ first visit to Purcell Pavilion. The last time Toledo visited Notre Dame the two teams played in The Fieldhouse (Jan. 23, 1965) when the Irish recorded a 113-65 victory. Ron Reed led the Irish with 27 points and 20 rebounds in that 1965 contest.
• A member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), Toledo finished 25-8 in 2018-19 and first in the MAC West, eventually falling in the quarterfinals of the MAC tournament to NIU. The Rockets advanced to the NIT, ending the year with a loss to Xavier.

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH vs. ROCKETS

MOONEY REBOUNDING AT AN HISTORIC RATE

Senior John Mooney dominated on the front line during Notre Dame’s two victories over Howard and Marshall last week, posting 18 points and 16 rebounds against the Bison, then following up with a career-high 28 points and 16 more rebounds against the Thundering Herd.

Coupled with his 16-rebound and 19-rebound efforts in back-to-back games last season against UNC (19 on 1/15/19) and  NC State (16 on 1/19/19), Mooney becomes the first ACC player to post 16-or-more rebounds in back-to-back games multiple times in a career since Tim Duncan did it for Wake Forest in 1996-97 (Duncan did it three times that season).

Some other superlatives for Mooney’s back-to-back 16 rebound performances –

First Notre Dame player to do it since Jack Cooley in 2012-13 (16 vs. Villanova on 1/30/13; 16 at DePaul on 2/2/13).

First ACC player to do it since Tyler Hansbrough in 2007-08 (21 vs. Florida State on 2/3/2008; 18 vs. Duke on 2/6/08).

DURHAM POSTS NOTEWORTHY DOUBLE-DOUBLE

Senior Juwan Durham responded to the loss of John Mooney (illness) on the front line against Presbyterian with 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots to record his second career double-double. It was just the seventh time a Mike Brey era player has recorded 10+ points, 15+ rebounds and 4+ blocks – and the first time since John Mooney did it at North Carolina last season.

Others who have accomplished such a double-double include current Irish assistant coach Ryan Humphrey (2001), Torin Francis twice (2003, 2004), Luke Harangody (2008) and Bonzie Colson (2017).

DURHAM ALREADY AMONG TOP SHOT BLOCKERS IN NOTRE DAME HISTORY

Blocked shots are one of the youngest official NCAA official statistics, only becoming a part of the game boxscore for the 1985-86 season. With that in mind, it is still noteworthy that senior Juwan Durham (who still retains a year of eligibility after 2019-20) has already established himself as one of the top shot blockers in Notre Dame history.

In his first full season at Notre Dame in 2018-19, Durham swatted 63 shots which ranks fifth on the Notre Dame single-season blocked shots list.

With four more blocks against Presbyterian on Monday night, Durham pushed his career blocked-shot percentage to 2.28 and is one of just three Notre Dame players to average over 2.0 blocks per game:

Durham’s 73 total blocks at Notre Dame currently rank him 16th all-time. Jordan Cornette, the analyst for the ACC Network broadcast on Thursday night, is the Notre Dame blocked shots record holder with 201 from 2001-05.

FOUR MORE FIRST-TIME OPPONENTS IN 2019-20

The 2019-20 schedule welcomes four first-time opponents to Notre Dame’s men’s basketball schedule (Robert Morris (W, 92-57), Howard (W, 79-50), Presbyterian (W, 63-53) and Alabama A&M) matching the same number from last season (UIC, Radford, Oklahoma and Jacksonville).

Under Mike Brey, the Irish are 48-5 (.906) in games featuring first-time program meetings.

MOONEY POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN THREE OF FIRST FOUR GAMES

Senior forward John Mooney, who led all major conference players in rebounds per game in league action last season and was one of seven major conference players to average a double-double, is off to an even better pace in 2019-20.

The Orlando, Florida, native has posted three double-doubles in four games played this season. He paced the ACC with 20 in 33 games played last year (and 13 in conference play – the most since Tim Duncan in 1996-97) and is up to 24 total in his career (good for 19th on the all-time Notre Dame double-double list).

Mooney missed the Presbyterian game with an illness.

MOONEY DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN 2019-20

PFLUEGER JOINS 300-200-100 CLUB

Graduate student Rex Pflueger is one of just 10 players since 1996-97 (the year Notre Dame joined a conference) to compile 300 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals in a career.

The list of players who have reached the 300-200-100 plateau: Chris Thomas, Tory Jackson, David Graves, Jerian Grant, Chris Quinn, Eric Atkins, Steve Vasturia, Matt Carroll, Demetrius Jackson and Pflueger.

GIBBS CLOSING IN ON 1,000-300-200-100 CLUB

Senior T.J. Gibbs, who reached the 1,000-point career mark last season, is poised to join an exclusive club later this year. With 296 assists, Gibbs is going to reach at least 300 assists in his career which will push him above 1,000 points, 300 assists, 200 rebounds and 100 steals in his time at Notre Dame.

Only Chris Thomas, Jerian Grant, Chris Quinn, Eric Atkins, Steve Vasturia, Tory Jackson and Demetrius Jackson all reached those milestones under Mike Brey at Notre Dame.

LASZEWSKI WORKING HARD ON THE BACKBOARD

Off to a slow shooting start, sophomore Nate Laszewski has not let it affect the development of the rest of his game. As a rookie, Laszewski connected on 44 three pointers (the sixth-best for a freshman in school history) and averaged 3.9 rebounds per contest. This year, the Jupiter, Florida, native has grabbed at least four rebounds in each game and is currently third on the team in rebounding with a 6.2 average.

IRISH TRADITIONALLY AMONG BEST IN THE COUNTRY AT TAKING CARE OF THE BALL

Notre Dame finished third in the NCAA last season in turnovers per game – posting the fifth consecutive season of ranking in the nation’s top-10 for least amount of turnovers in a game.

The Irish have not averaged over 10.0 turnovers per game since a 10.3 mark in 2013-14 (which was still good enough for 26th nationally).

NOTRE DAME TURNOVERS PER GAME, LAST FIVE SEASONS

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 10 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. So far, in 2019-20, the Irish are tied for third in the NCAA in least amount of fouls committed (11.0).

NOTRE DAME FOULS PER GAME NATIONAL/CONFERENCE FINAL RANKING

MOST ACTIVE FRESHMAN CLASS SINCE 1972-73 NOW SOPHOMORES

The five-person freshman class of Robby Carmody, Chris Doherty, Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb and Nate Laszewski combined to play 2,680 minutes in 2018-19 – the most of the Mike Brey era and since freshman became eligible at Notre Dame in 1972-73.

FRESHMAN PLAYING TIME – SINCE 1972-73

* – three scholarship players