Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Back Home To Battle Yellow Jackets

NOTRE DAMEGAME DAY INFORMATION
DateWednesday, January 6, 2021
Time7:00 p.m. ET
Site: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
• Notre Dame, IN
TV:Regional Sports Networks
• Evan Lepler (play-by-play)
• Brian Oliver (analyst)

Radio:Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network
• Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Available worldwide on und.com.

Notre Dame Notes vs. Georgia Tech

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH vs. YELLOW JACKETS

.804

Junior forward Nate Laszewski’s NCAA-leading effective field goal percentage in 2020-21.

The statistic accounts for the fact that a three-point field goal is more worth more than a two-point field goal – the formula is (FGM + 0.5 * 3PM) / FGA

.658

Nate Laszewski’s field goal percentage in 2020-21, which leads the ACC, is third among major conference players and 10th in the NCAA (min 5 FGM/G, 5 GP).

.590

Nate Laszewski’s three-point field goal percentage in 2020-21, which leads the ACC, is third among major conference players and 6th in the NCAA (min 1.5 3PM/G, 5 GP).

5

The Irish are up to five games lost this season to COVID-19 safety protocols that affected the opposing team’s ability to play the scheduled game. The program has been able to adapt to the games missed, adding Detroit Mercy (to replace three different scheduled home openers), Bellarmine (to replace a planned trip to Syracuse) and North Carolina (to replace at planned trip to Pittsburgh).

7

Three-point field goals by Nate Laszewski at North Carolina last Saturday. A career-high for the Jupiter, FL, native as he becomes just the third major conference player this season to hit seven three-point field goals on an opponent’s home court.

12.4

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. Notre Dame’s 12.6 leads the country for teams who have played at least five games and puts the Irish on pace to lead the country in least amount of fouls committed for the fifth consecutive season.

13

The Irish are seventh in the country in free throw percentage at .793. Trim that national list to teams that have played at least eight games and Notre Dame is seventh in the country. The Irish are ahead of Virginia (.784) for the ACC lead in free throw percentage.

23

A recent project by CBSSports.com ranked the ‘Greatest College Basketball Programs Ever’ with Notre Dame placing 23rd on the list and sixth in the ACC. Notre Dame will face eight of the teams ranked above them this year a total of nine times: No. 19 NC State, No. 14 Michigan State (0-1), No. 12 Ohio State (0-1), No. 11 Syracuse, No. 6 Louisville, No. 3 Duke (0-1, twice), No. 2 North Carolina, No. 1 Kentucky (1-0).

24

Notre Dame and Georgia Tech will be meeting for the 24th time on Wednesday evening, with the Irish leading the all-time series 12-11 and 9-2 at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish have won four straight in the series and are looking to earn a program-best fifth consecutive win over the Yellow Jackets.

53

Points scored over the past two games for Nate Laszewski, who hit a career-high 28 points against Virginia (12/30/20) and followed up with 25 points at North Carolina (1/2/21) – becoming the first Irish player to post back-to-back 20-point games since Bonzie Colson had three straight in February of 2017.

1907

Total victories in the history of Notre Dame men’s basketball, as the Irish became the eighth program to reach 1,900 victories in 2019-20 (Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Temple, Syracuse and UCLA have all reached that plateau). The Irish were 12th all-time in college basketball victories when Mike Brey took over the program in 2000-01 –  they have since passed Oregon State, Pennsylvania, St. John’s and Indiana on the all-time wins list into eighth place.

1993

Notre Dame Associate Head Coach Rod Balanis is a 1993 graduate of Georgia Tech and played for legendary Yellow Jacket head coach Bobby Cremins. Balanis was a part of teams that made four trips to the NCAA Championship tournament while earning two Sweet 16 berths and a trip to the 1990 Final Four in Denver, Colorado.

CHARTING LASZEWSKI’S HOT SHOOTING START

Junior Nate Laszewski has started out the 2020-21 season as one of the nation’s best shooters.

A look at where Laszewski ranks among the NCAA, major conference and ACC leaders:

Statistic

Number

National Ranking

Major Conference Ranking

ACC Ranking

Notes

FG%

.658

10th

3rd

1st

min 5 FGM per game, 5 GP

3FG%

.590

14th

3rd

1st

min 1.5 3FGM per game, 5 GP

EFG%

.804

1st

1st

1st

min 5 FGM per game, 5 GP

IRISH BOAST SOLID RECORD FOR ANNUAL HOME-AND-HOME ACC SERIES

Since joining the ACC for the 2013-14 season, Boston College and Georgia Tech have been designated as the ‘traditional’ yearly rivals for Notre Dame in the league. Each season, the Irish have met the Eagles and Yellow Jackets for home-and-home series. Notre Dame boasts the best record in the league against its designated repeat opponents since 2013-14 (records below are regular-season meetings only, entering 2020-21):

RECORD VS. ACC ANNUAL HOME-AND-HOME OPPONENTS SINCE 2013-14

Team

Opponent

Opponent

Record

NOTRE DAME

Boston College

Georgia Tech

22-6

Duke

North Carolina

Wake Forest

20-8

Florida State

Miami

Clemson

18-10

Syracuse

Boston College

Pittsburgh

20-8

North Carolina

Duke

NC State

18-10

Virginia

Virginia Tech

Louisville

19-9*

* – Virginia repeated with Maryland in 2013-14

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.

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

12.4

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.