2021-22 ND MBB Non-Conference Schedule
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team has announced its 2021-22 non-conference schedule. Highlights of the non-conference slate include Notre Dame’s defense of its 2017 Maui Invitational Championship, a visit from Kentucky in early December and a trip to Howard for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January of 2022.
The Irish will begin the season with two exhibition contests (Oct. 29, Nov. 5) followed by the official season opener against Cal State Northridge on Saturday, November 13. Notre Dame will then face High Point before heading to Maui to take on St. Mary’s (CA) in the first of three games on the island.
A quick turnaround after the long trip back from Maui looms, as the Irish will go back on the road at Illinois for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Monday, November 29. Kentucky will visit Purcell Pavilion on Dec. 11 in the second of a three-game series between the Irish and Wildcats followed by a trip to Indianapolis and the Crossroads Classic showdown with Indiana.
The Irish also expect an ACC game to be scheduled during this stretch of games, providing the team a challenge of four consecutive power conference games before the year ends.
The team caps off the year with home games with Western Michigan (Dec. 20) and Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Dec. 22) and anticipates an ACC conference matchup in late December or around the first of the year.
In January, Notre Dame will make its trip to Howard for the highly anticipated national television broadcast on Martin Luther King. Jr. Day.
Single game tickets and game day health and safety protocols will be announced at a future date. The full season schedule is expected to be released within the next two weeks.
SCHEDULE NOTES:
- The home opener with Cal State Northridge marks the second meeting between the two schools and first since a 76-58 Notre Dame victory on January 31, 1994.
- The Irish will be meeting High Point and Texas A&M Corpus Christi for the first time.
- Notre Dame’s first game in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational with St. Mary’s (CA) is the third meeting between the two schools and the first since 1981.
- Notre Dame will play either Chaminade or Oregon in its second game in Maui on Nov. 23.
- The trip to Illinois will mark the second visit to Champaign for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the Irish. In 2015, Notre Dame defeated the Illini 84-79 in the dedication game of State Farm Arena.
- Notre Dame boasts a three-game win streak over Illinois, including a 2018 home game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the aforementioned 2015 victory and a 68-60 victory in the second round of the 2003 NCAA tournament.
- The Irish will be looking for their third straight win in Purcell Pavilion against Kentucky on Dec. 11, following up the 2009 postseason NIT meeting and a victory in the 2012 BIG EAST/SEC Challenge.
- Western Michigan will be meeting the Irish for the 28th time, with Notre Dame leading the all-time series 19-8, including 17-3 at home and earning a win in the past nine meetings with the Broncos.
- The Howard game has been anticipated for two years, as COVID-19 health and safety protocols forced the cancellation of last season’s contest. Notre Dame will be making its first road trip to a historically black college or university on Monday, January 17, 2021 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day.