Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Face No. 21/23 Duke In 2020-21 ACC Opener

NOTRE DAMEGAME DAY INFORMATION
DateWednesday, December 16, 2020
Time9:00 p.m. ET
Site: Purcell Pavilion
• Notre Dame, IN
TV:ESPN National Broadcast
• Bob Wischusen (play-by-play)
• Dick Vitale (analyst)


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

ND Game Notes vs. Duke

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH vs. BLUE DEVILS

1

The ACC opener for both Notre Dame and Duke, the Blue Devils make their first trip to Purcell Pavilion in the month of December. On January 14, 2014, the Irish and Duke met in Purcell Pavilion for the first ACC game ever – a 79-77 victory for the home team. 

3.75

Junior guard Prentiss Hubb is 14th in the country (as of Dec. 14) in 3FGM per game at 3.75 and in second in the ACC (Jonah Antonio, WF, 4.0).

9

Junior forward Nate Laszewski has pulled down at least nine rebounds in each of Notre Dame’s first four games this season. After averaging 7.4 ppg and 4.6 rpg last season, Laszewski has increased those averages to 16.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg in 2020-21. That 9.5 rpg average is third in the ACC (as of Dec. 14).

18.3

Points-per-game average over the past two seasons for Prentiss Hubb against ranked opponents (eight games). In those contests, Hubb is shooting .423 from three-point range with 4.6 assists per contest.

20

At 41.6%, Notre Dame is 20th in the country in 3FG% (as of Dec. 14) and second in the ACC (NC State has a 44.9% average).

21

In his 21st season at Notre Dame (the longest tenure of any ND men’s basketball coach), Mike Brey also has the ninth-longest tenure of any Division I head coach. Brey will face three of the coaches with longer tenures than himself this season (Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Tom Izzo). Greg Kampe, Bob McKillop, Fran O’Hanlon, Mark Few, Mike McConathy and James Jones make up the other coaches who have been at their current school longer than Mike Brey.

22

The lead at halftime for the Irish at Kentucky on Saturday, December 12. Bolstered by a 19-0 run, Notre Dame ended up with the largest halftime lead of any Kentucky opponent in the program’s history.

21.3

Points-per-game average for Prentiss Hubb, which is tied with GT’s Moses Wright for the lead among ACC players. Hubb has recorded two of his career 10 20-point games so far this season. All 10 of Hubb’s 20-point career games have come vs. power conference opponents with five of those games against ranked foes.

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 (twice), No. 2 North Carolina, No. 1 Kentucky (1-0).

55

It was just under 55 years ago, in late December of 1965, when Notre Dame last faced Kentucky and Duke in back-to-back games. The Irish lost to No. 5 Kentucky 103-69 in Louisville, then just two days later suffered a 95-73 setback to No. 1 Duke in Greensboro, NC. 

178

Career assists in ACC regular-season games for Prentiss Hubb, the most among any returning ACC player and 10th all-time on the career conference-game charts at Notre Dame.

1906

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.

HUBB POSTS 10 CAREER 20-POINT GAMES AGAINST POWER CONFERENCE TEAMS

Junior Prentiss Hubb has logged a team-high 10 20-point games in his career, all of which have come against ‘Power Conference’ opponents. 

Hubb’s career 20-point games:

Date

Opponent

FG

3FG

FT

TR

AST

TO

STL

PTS

11/6/19

at No. 9/11 North Carolina

8-17

5-9

1-2

2

6

1

1

22

12/14/19

UCLA

6-12

5-10

3-5

0

6

1

0

20

1/4/20

at Syracuse

7-16

6-12

2-2

2

9

4

1

22

1/8/20

at NC State

9-14

4-7

2-2

3

2

3

2

24

1/15/20

at Georgia Tech

8-16

3-8

6-8

4

3

2

2

25

1/25/20

at No. 5/6 Florida State

7-16

5-11

5-5

4

1

3

2

24

2/17/20

North Carolina

7-17

2-9

4-5

1

8

3

0

20

3/4/20

No. 7/8 Florida State

8-13

5-9

3-3

1

6

4

1

24

11/28/20

at No. 13/12 Michigan State

7-22

4-11

5-7

6

2

5

0

23

12/8/20

No. 22/20 Ohio State

8-17

5-9

5-5

6

6

3

2

26

Also, as noted on the front page, against ranked opponents over the past two seasons, Hubb is averaging 18.3 ppg, 4.6 apg and shooting .423 from three point range (30-71).

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 138 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 MAKING THEIR MARK

Notre Dame’s junior class (Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb, Nate Laszewski) is poised to build upon the program’s tradition of a sharp increase in productivity during a student-athlete’s third year in the program. A history of the ‘junior year leap’ is broken down on page 6 of this notes package, but Goodwin, Hubb and Laszewski have seen an increase in points per game, rebounds per game and minutes played through Notre Dame’s first three games of the season:

Player

19-20 ppg

20-21 ppg

+

19-20 rpg

20-21 rpg

+

19-20 mpg

20-21 mpg

+

Dane Goodwin

10.8

13.0

2.2

3.8

6.0

2.2

26.2

38.8

12.6

Prentiss Hubb

12.1

21.3

9.2

2.4

4.0

1.6

35.2

37.5

2.3

Nate Laszewski

7.4

16.5

9.1

4.6

9.5

5.1

21.0

36.3

15.3

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%

Cormac Ryan

Stanford

2018-19

685

209

Notre Dame

2020-21

151

46

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).

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

CROSSROADS CLASSIC HISTORY

The Crossroads Classic will be held in Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 19, 2020, for the 10th consecutive season featuring Notre Dame, Butler, Indiana and Purdue. The Irish and Bulldogs rotate between facing the Hoosier and Boilermakers each season. 

Butler and Indiana are 6-3 in the event, followed by Notre Dame (4-5) and Purdue (2-7). Notre Dame will face Purdue at 2:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, December 19, 2020 on ESPN2.

Date

Opponent

City

Site

ND Rank

Opp Rank

W/L

ND

Opp

12/17/2011

vs. Indiana

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

18 / 20

L

58

69

12/15/2012

vs. Purdue

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

22 / 24

W

81

68

12/14/2013

vs. Indiana

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

W

79

72

12/20/2014

vs. Purdue

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

21 / 21

W

94

63

12/19/2015

vs. Indiana

Indianapolis, IN

Banker sLife Fieldhouse

L

73

80

12/17/2016

vs. Purdue

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

21 / 21

15 / 16

L

81

86

12/16/2017

vs. Indiana

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

18 / 18

L OT

77

80

12/15/2018

vs. Purdue

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

W

88

80

12/21/2019

vs. Indiana

Indianapolis, IN

Bankers Life Fieldhouse

L

60

62

ACC/BIG TEN CHALLENGE HISTORY

Notre Dame is in its eighth season as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and is 4-4 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. For the Irish, the event has featured three home-and-home series with Iowa, Michigan State and Illinois.

Date

Opponent

City

Site

ND Rank

Opp Rank

W/L

ND

Opp

12/3/2013

at Iowa

Iowa City, IA

Carver-Hawkeye Arena

23 / 24

L

93

98

12/3/2014

vs. Michigan State

Notre Dame, IN

Purcell Pavilion

19/ 18

W (OT)

79

78

12/2/2015

at Illinois

Champaign, IL

State Farm Center

W

84

79

11/29/2016

vs. Iowa

Notre Dame, IN

Purcell Pavilion

W

92

78

11/30/2017

at Michigan State

East Lansing, MI

Breslin Center

5 / 5

3 / 3

L

63

81

11/27/2018

vs. Illinois

Notre Dame, IN

Purcell Pavilion

W

76

74

12/4/2019

at Maryland

College Park, MD

XFINITY Center

3/4

L

51

72

12/8/2020

Ohio State

Notre Dame, IN

Purcell Pavilion

22/20

L

85

90

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.