Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Begin 2020-21 At No. 13/12 Michigan State

NOTRE DAMEGAME DAY INFORMATION
DateSaturday, November 28, 2020
Time8:00 p.m. ET
Site: Breslin Center
• East Lansing, MI
TV:Big Ten Network
• Lisa Byington (play-by-play)
• Stephen Bardo (analyst)


Radio:Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network
• Jack Nolan (play-by-play)
Available locally on WSBT AM/FM and worldwide on und.com.

Notre Dame at Michigan State Full Game Notes (PDF)

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH AT SPARTANS

1

Notre Dame led the country in three statistical categories last season: assist/turnover ratio (1.68), least amount of personal fouls committed per game (12.4) and fewest total fouls committed (397).

2

Notre Dame finished second in the country in turnovers per game in 2019-20 (9.8) behind Liberty’s 9.4 average. That marks the sixth consecutive the Irish have ranked in the NCAA top 10 in least amount of turnovers per game. 

3

Only three active power conference players have amassed more than Prentiss Hubb’s 293 career assists – Pittsburgh’s Xavier Johnson (312) and Florida’s Tyree Appleby (297).

5

While it is safe to assume that the Associate Press preseason rankings will change, but at the start of the season, Notre Dame is set to face five AP ranked teams before the first of the year – No. 13 Michigan State, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 10 Kentucky, No. 9 Duke and No. 4 Virginia. Should the five teams remained ranked, it will be the most ranked teams Notre Dame will face in a season, before January, in program history. The Irish faced four such teams before January 1 in 1974-75, 1976-77, 1990-91 and 1999-2000.

19

Notre Dame is 19-1 in season openers in the Mike Brey era, which enters its 21st season in 2020-21. The one set back came last season on the road at No. 9/11 North Carolina 76-65.

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. The opponent on Saturday night, Michigan State, was selected 14th.

27

You have to go back 27 years in the Irish record books to find a season start as late as November 28th. The 1993-94 Irish, under third-year coach John MacLeod, defeated Valparaiso 95-74 at Purcell Pavilion. In terms of a season start away from campus later than Nov. 28, the year before (1992-93) the Irish opened up in the Rosemont Horizon against Loyola Chicago. Finally, looking for the most recent latest start for Notre Dame on the road on an opponent’s home court – 1987-88 when the Irish fell to No. 5/3 Indiana in Bloomington 76-59.

97

Notre Dame and Michigan State will be meeting for the 97th time on Saturday, with the series dating all the way back to 1908. The two teams met quite often from 1910-1979, including several seasons of home-and-home matchups. Since 1979, the two teams have met just twice, splitting a pair of home ACC/Big Ten Challenge games in 2014-15 and 2017-18.

178

Career assists in ACC regular-season games for junior Prentiss Hubb, the most among any returning ACC player and 10th all-time on the career conference-game charts at Notre Dame. Hubb’s 293 career assists in all games rank just behind Pittsburgh’s Xavier Johnson with 312.

200

Only two Notre Dame players have blocked 200 shots during their time in an Irish uniform. Jordan Cornette (2001-05, 201) and LaPhonso Ellis (1988-92). While the truncated 2020-21 season doesn’t help graduate student Juwan Durham, he could become the third player to reach 200 blocks. With a 2.2 bpg average in his career, Durham is on pace to add 60 blocks to his career total – putting him above 180. An increase in his average per game could put the school blocked shot record in reach.

437

With 437 wins at Notre Dame, Mike Brey is 10th in the country for the most coaching wins of all active coaches at their current school. He is 22nd of all active coaches in career wins with 536.

1904

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.

SEASON OPENERS

  • Notre Dame is 19-1 all-time in season openers during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 to present).
  • Historically, the Irish are 97-20 (.829) in season openers.
  • Under Mike Brey, the Irish have began the season on the road just twice. In 2017-18, the Irish helped DePaul dedicate WinTrust Arena on Nov. 11, earning a 72-58 victory. Last season, the Irish started the season at No. 9/11 North Carolina, falling 76-65.

HUBB AMONG ACC LEADERS IN CAREER ASSISTS

Junior Prentiss Hubb is one of just five returning players in the ACC with over 250 career assists and is second among active ACC players in career assists with 293.

Player

Class

Team

Career Assists

Career Conf. Game Only Assists

Xavier Johnson

Junior

Pittsburgh

312

166

Prentiss Hubb

Junior

Notre Dame

293

178

Wabissa Bede

Graduate

Virginia Tech

282

159

Jose Alvarado

Senior

Georgia Tech

278

175

Kihei Clark

Junior

at Georgia Tech

273

156

Braxston Beverly

Senior

NC State

246

132

HUBB POSTS EIGHT 20-POINT GAMES IN 2019-20

Junior Prentiss Hubb has logged a team-high eight 20-point games in 2019-20 for the Irish. His eight 20-point performances are the tied for the fourth-most for a sophomore during the Mike Brey era behind Luke Harangody (18), Chris Thomas (15), T.J. Gibbs (9) and Tim Abromaitis (8).

Seven of Hubb’s eight 20-point games occurred against ACC opponents. Of the 14 players with multiple 20-point games against the ACC, Hubb ranks fifth behind T.J. Gibbs (11), Bonzie Colson (10), V.J. Beachem (8) and John Mooney (8).

It marked the most for a single ND player against ACC competition (regular season) since Bonzie Colson and V.J. Beachem both post seven 20-point games in ACC play during the 2016-17 season.

Hubb’s 20-point games in 2019-20:

Date

Opponent

FG

3FG

FT

TR

AST

TO

STL

PTS

11/6

at North Carolina

8-17

5-9

1-2

2

6

1

1

22

12/14

UCLA

6-12

5-10

3-5

0

6

1

0

20

1/4

at Syracuse

7-16

6-12

2-2

2

9

4

1

22

1/8

at NC State

9-14

4-7

2-2

3

2

3

2

24

1/15

at Georgia Tech

8-16

3-8

6-8

4

3

2

2

25

1/25

at Florida State

7-16

5-11

5-5

4

1

3

2

24

2/17

North Carolina

7-17

2-9

4-5

1

8

3

0

20

3/4

Florida State

8-13

5-9

3-3

1

6

4

1

24

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 a game boxscore for the 1985-86 season. With that in mind, it is still noteworthy that graduate student Juwan Durham has already established himself as one of the top shot blockers in Notre Dame history.

In 2018-19, Durham swatted 63 shots which ranks fifth on the Notre Dame single-season blocked shots list, he followed up with 66 as a senior last season.

Durham has pushed his career blocked-shot average to 2.2 and is one of just three Notre Dame players to average over 2.0 blocks per game in their career:

Player

Seasons

Blocks Per Game

Ryan Humphrey

2000-02

2.8

JUWAN DURHAM

2018-current

2.2

LaPhonso Ellis

1988-92

2.1

Durham’s 129 total blocks at Notre Dame currently rank him sixth all-time (see sidebar, page 4). Jordan Cornette is the Notre Dame blocked shots record holder with 201 from 2001-05.

JUNIOR CLASS READY TO MAKE THEIR MARK

Notre Dame’s four member junior class is ready to show their mettle this season after two years of development. Robby Carmody, Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb and Nate Laszewski are all poised to make the ‘Junior Year Leap’ at Notre Dame (see page xx for more).

As freshman, members of the group (Goodwin, Hubb, Lasewski) were the first true freshman trio to start a game in the Mike Brey era in the victory over Boston College (1/12/19) and the first such trio to post a victory since January 19, 1989.

Even as Robby Carmody was lost just nine games into the 2018-19 season with a shoulder injury, the group set the school record for most minutes played by a freshman class with 2,634, besting the 1999-2000 rookie class of Matt Carroll, Jere Macura, Ivan Kartelo and Mike Monserez.

The group combined to set Brey-era freshman class records for minutes played (2,634), FG (250), FGA (702), 3FG (112), 3FGA (375), rebounds (351) and points (740).

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

Notre Dame finished second in the NCAA last season in turnovers per game – posting the sixth consecutive season of ranking in the nation’s top-10 for least amount of turnovers in a game. The Irish are also perennially one of the top teams in the country in assist to turnover ratio.

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

Season

Turnovers/Game

National Rank

Conf. Rank

Ast/Turnover

National Rank

Conf. Rank

2014-15

9.4

5

2

1.61

4

2

2015-16

10

10

3

1.34

43

5

2016-17

9.5

2

1

1.66

2

1

2017-18

9.9

7

2

1.46

14

3

2018-19

9.3

3

2

1.38

18

3

2019-20

9.8

2

1

1.68

1

1

RYAN HOPES TO BUILD OFF NOTRE DAME TRADITION OF TRANSFER IMPROVEMENT

Transfers have become a normal part of college basketball over the past couple of decades and the Notre Dame basketball program, under Mike Brey, has brought in seven student-athletes prior to Cormac Ryan (eligible this year) and Trey Wertz (eligible in 2021-22).

Those seven players ended up improving across the board in their first season in an Irish uniform, compared to their final season at their previous school.

Name

Prev School

Year

MP

Pts

Year

MP

Pts

MP+

Pts+

Ryan Humphrey

Oklahoma

1998-99

831

343

Notre Dame

2000-01

863

410

3.8%

19.5%

Dan Miller

Maryland

2000-01

676

174

Notre Dame

2002-03

1195

473

76.6%

171.8%

Dennis Latimore

Arizona

2002-03

277

74

Notre Dame

2004-05

596

203

115.1%

174.3%

Ben Hansbrough

Miss. State

2006-07

1005

314

Notre Dame

2009-10

1241

419

23.4%

33.4%

Scott Martin

Purdue

2007-08

700

272

Notre Dame

2010-11

1008

319

44.0%

17.2%

Garrick Sherman

Mich. State

2010-11

410

107

Notre Dame

2012-13

467

211

13.9%

97.2%

Juwan Durham

UConn

2016-17

232

45

Notre Dame

2018-19

413

154

78.2%

242.2%

Average Improvement

50.7%

107.9%

Among these previous transfers are the 2011 BIG EAST Player of the Year (Hansbrough), three team MVPs (Humphrey, 2002, Hansbrough, 2011, Martin, 2012).

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 are on pace to make it five 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

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):

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

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.