Notre Dame (5-9, 2-6) at Pittsburgh (8-4, 4-3)
📍 Petersen Events Center, Pittsburgh, PA
📅 Saturday, January 30, 2021
🕕 8:00 p.m. ET
📺 ACC Network with Mike Monaco and Dan Bonner
📻 Notre Dame Radio Network with Jack Nolan
IRISH AT PANTHERS – BY THE NUMBERS
|
.765 |
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 |
|
.551 |
Nate Laszewski’s NCAA-leading three-point field goal percentage in 2020-21 (min 1.5 3PM/G, 8 GP). |
|
.650 |
Nate Laszewski’s field goal percentage in 2020-21, which leads the ACC, is third among major conference players and sixth in the NCAA (min 5 FGM/G, 5 GP). |
|
.559 |
Notre Dame career field goal percentage for graduate forward Juwan Durham, which would rank him fifth on the Irish career charts since 1996-97 for a player with at least 200 FGM. See page 4 for more. |
|
2 |
Saturday night’s game matches the two best point guards in the ACC in terms of assists per game. Pitt’s Xavier Johnson is first at 6.3, followed by junior guard Prentiss Hubb at 5.1 – the only players in the league to average over five assists per game this season. |
|
3 |
The opposing head coaches will be meeting for the third time on Saturday night, but Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey and Jeff Capel go back to their days at Duke. Brey was on the Blue Devil staff that recruited Capel, then coached him during the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons before taking the Delaware head coaching position. |
|
5 |
So far this season, Notre Dame has lost five scheduled games to COVID-19 safety guidelines, while two other games (this Saturday at Pittsburgh, Feb. 20 at Syracuse) are rescheduled contests that were also lost to COVID-19 issues. |
|
12.1 |
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. The Irish are ahead of Appalachian State (13.0) and Virginia (13.3) for the national lead. |
|
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 (0-1), No. 1 Kentucky (1-0). |
|
66 |
Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will be meeting for the 66th time Saturday night, with the Irish holding a 34-31 advantage in the competitive all-time series. The Irish and Panthers were frequent opponents before they became BIG EAST (1995-96) then ACC (2013-14) conference members and the 65 previous meetings are the most for Notre Dame against any ACC opponent (followed by Syracuse with 52 and Louisville with 40). The series dates back to February of 1927, when the Irish earned a 33-17 victory over the visiting Panthers at The Fieldhouse. |
|
154 |
Career blocked shots for Juwan Durham, the sixth Notre Dame player to compile over 150 blocks in a career. Durham is one of just three Irish players to average over 2.0 blocks per game in a career (LaPhonso Ellis, current Irish assistant coach Ryan Humphrey). |
|
365 |
Career assists for Prentiss Hubb, becoming the 17th Irish player to reach 360 career assists. Hubb’s 4.64 career assists per game average would place him in 10th place on the Notre Dame career list – and is in the top 15 for all active NCAA players (currently 13th). |
|
442 |
School-record men’s basketball victories at Notre Dame for Mike Brey, the 10th most for any active NCAA Division coach at his current institution. |
CHARTING LASZEWSKI’S HOT SHOOTING
Junior Nate Laszewski has established himself as one of the best and most efficient shooters in college basketball this season.
A look at where Laszewski ranks among the NCAA, major conference and ACC leaders:
|
Statistic |
Number |
National Ranking |
Major Conference Ranking |
ACC Ranking |
Notes |
|
EFG% |
.767 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
min 5 FGM per game, 8 GP |
|
3FG% |
.551 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
min 1.5 3FGM per game, 8 GP |
|
FG% |
.650 |
6 |
3 |
1 |
min 5 FGM per game, 8 GP |
LASZEWSKI FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE ON PACE FOR A SPOT ON SINGLE-SEASON CHARTS
Junior Nate Laszewski is currently shooting 65% from the field (.650) – a mark that would rank tied for second all-time and first in the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). With 117 attempts this season, Laszewski is on pace to reach 150 attempts to qualify for the single-season lists.
NOTRE DAME SINGLE-SEASON FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
|
Player |
Season |
FGM |
FGA |
FG% |
|
Bruce Flowers |
1978-79 |
100 |
166 |
.656 |
|
NATE LASZEWSKI |
2020-21 |
76 |
117 |
.650 |
|
Orlando Woolridge |
1980-81 |
156 |
240 |
.650 |
|
Keith Robinson |
1987-88 |
123 |
190 |
.647 |
|
LaPhonso Ellis |
1991-92 |
227 |
360 |
.631 |
|
John Shumate |
1973-74 |
281 |
449 |
.627 |
Behind the three-point line, Laszewski is at .551 – which would rank first on the Irish single-season charts.
NOTRE DAME SINGLE SEASON THREE POINT PERCENTAGE
|
Player |
FGM |
FGA |
FG% |
|
|
NATE LASZEWSKI |
2020-21 |
27 |
49 |
.551 |
|
Joe Fredrick |
1988-89 |
37 |
71 |
.521 |
|
Joe Fredrick |
1989-90 |
34 |
72 |
.472 |
|
Keith Friel |
1997-98 |
45 |
97 |
.464 |
|
Martin Ingelsby |
2000-01 |
51 |
110 |
.464 |
|
David Graves |
1999-2000 |
83 |
182 |
.456 |
|
Chris Quinn |
2004-05 |
66 |
145 |
.455 |
DURHAM CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE HIGH ON IRISH CAREER CHARTS
Graduate forward Juwan Durham boasts a .560 career field goal percentage at Notre Dame, a mark that would rank him fifth among Irish players with 200 or more FGM since 1996-97:
|
Player |
Seasons |
FGM |
GP |
FG% |
|
Martinas Geben |
2014-18 |
216 |
108 |
.608 |
|
Jack Cooley |
2009-13 |
394 |
123 |
.601 |
|
Harold Swanagan |
1998-2002 |
301 |
127 |
.569 |
|
Zach Auguste |
2012-16 |
507 |
128 |
.567 |
|
JUWAN DURHAM |
2018-21 |
204 |
72 |
.560 |
|
Bonzie Colson |
2014-18 |
609 |
125 |
.528 |
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 is tied for first in the league against its designated repeat opponents since 2013-14 (records include post season matchups – as of Jan. 28, 2021.):
RECORD VS. ACC ANNUAL HOME-AND-HOME OPPONENTS SINCE 2013-14
|
Team |
Opponent |
Opponent |
Record |
|
NOTRE DAME |
Boston College |
Georgia Tech |
25-6 |
|
Virginia |
Virginia Tech |
Louisville |
25-6* |
|
Duke |
North Carolina |
Wake Forest |
23-9 |
|
Syracuse |
Boston College |
Pittsburgh |
22-11 |
|
Florida State |
Miami |
Clemson |
21-11 |
|
North Carolina |
Duke |
NC State |
20-13 |
* – 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 |
12.1 |
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.