WHO: | Notre Dame vs. St. Norbert College |
WHAT: | Exhibition Game |
WHERE: | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center |
WHEN: | Friday, November 5, 2021 | 7 p.m. ET |
TICKETS: | Available at und.com/buytickets |
LIVE STATS: | Available at und.com/mediastats |
RADIO: | Play-by-Play: Tony Simeone | Live locally on WSBT-AM 960/FM 96.1, worldwide on und.com |
2021-22 FIGHTING IRISH – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team welcomes St. Norbert back to campus for the first time since 1967 in an exhibition contest on Friday night • St. Norbert is located in De Pere, Wisconsin, and competes in NCAA Division III for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference • the Green Knights were selected second in the NACC preseason poll and will be returning to competition after experiencing a total cancellation of their 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic • St. Norbert has made nine NCAA Division III tournament appearances • the Green Knights also claimed 11 conference titles as members of the Midwest Conference from 1984-2019.
BACKCOURT
PRENTISS HUBB – 12 pts, 7 ast in exhibition opener vs. Nazareth • preseason All-ACC Second Team • leads all returning ACC players in career assists (445) • the 445 career assists are the fifth-most for any active NCAA player entering their fourth season of action • led the Irish in scoring (14.6) and three-point field goals made (65) last season • one of five major conference players to reach 100 assists in league play last season.
CORMAC RYAN – led the team with 16 pts while adding 6 reb and 4 ast vs. Nazareth • started 16 of 25 games in his first year with the Irish last season • scored 21 points in the first half in the victory at Duke last year, eventually scoring career-best 28 points • shot .344 from 3FG range last season.
DANE GOODWIN – tied for second on the team with eight rebounds, added 13 pts vs. Nazareth • has seen action in 91 career games, making 30 starts • posted career highs of 11.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg in 2020-21 • one of the best free throw shooters on the team, boasting a .821 career average from the stripe.
TREY WERTZ – Missed exhibition opener with Nazareth due to sprained ankle, fully available against St. Norbert • planned to sit out 2020-21 season after transferring from Santa Clara until all underclassmen transfers were given immediate eligibility in December of 2020 • appeared in 21 games making 14 starts, shooting .429 from three-point range • hit the game-winning 3FG at the buzzer vs. WF in 2021 ACC tournament.
BLAKE WESLEY – Played 21 minutes with 11 pts, 4 reb and a steal in first action in an Irish uniform vs. Nazareth • first South Bend, IN, public school MBB prospect to sign with Notre Dame since 1985 • consensus four-star prospect • athletic backcourt player expected to be an immediate key contributor.
J.R. KONIECZNY – (pronounced Ko-NEZZ-knee) Played 18 minutes with 3 reb and 4 pts vs. Nazareth • all-time leading scorer in St. Joseph County history (1,996) • joins classmate Blake Wesley as the first Northern Indiana Conference players to sign with Notre Dame since 2012 (D. Jackson, A. Torres).
TONY SANDERS JR. – Played five minutes in exhibition opener against Nazareth • athletic wing player who saw action in 14 games during his rookie season.
ROBBY CARMODY – Has suffered season-ending injuries in his first three seasons on the Irish roster • continues to push through rehab with no set date to return to the court • started his first two career games at ND before injuries.
ELIJAH MORGAN – Walk on member of the program has earned the staff’s trust to be inserted into the lineup at any time • has played in 22 career games with one start.
ALEX WADE – Saw first action at ND vs. Nazareth, two minutes with a steal • first-year walk on joined the Irish in the summer of 2021 • four-year varsity captain at Cathedral Catholic.
FRONT COURT
NATE LASZEWSKI – Had 11 pts, 8 reb and 2 blks in 27 minutes against Nazareth • posted 12 games with nine or more rebounds in 2020-21 • improved FG% 19 percent, 3FG% 11% and RPG by 3.1 last season • scored over 20 points four times last season and has five 20-point games in his career.
PAUL ATKINSON, JR. – Saw first action in over 600 days against Nazareth, finished with 15 pts, 10 reb and 2 ast • 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year at Yale • did not participate in 2020-21, as the Ivy League cancelled all intercollegiate athletics • ranked by ESPN+ as the fourth-best transfer prospect in 2020-21 • boasts a .661 career field goal percentage – top for any returning NCAA Division I player this year – and led Ivy League in FG% all three seasons in which he competed.
MATT ZONA – Logged five minutes vs. Nazareth and grabbed three offensive rebounds • saw action in 14 games last season • developing into a key rebounder, screener on the Irish front line.
ELIJAH TAYLOR – Active in first career appearance vs. Nazareth with 7 reb in 10 minutes of action • missed 2020-21 while recovering from ankle surgery • athletic front court player will provide depth on the Irish front line.
IRISH ITEMS – BY THE NUMBERS
1 |
Since 2000-01 (first year of the Mike Brey era), Notre Dame has led the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.44). |
7 |
Notre Dame will confer an NCAA Division I men’s basketball-best seven degrees in the spring of 2022 – undergraduate degrees to R. Carmody, D. Goodwin, P. Hubb, N. Laszewski, C. Ryan and T. Wertz, along with a graduate degree to P. Atkinson Jr. |
30 |
Notre Dame single-game record for rebounds pulled down by Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor legend Bob Whitmore against St. Norbert on Dec. 14, 1967 – a 102-70 Irish victory. |
37 |
Least amount of points given up by Notre Dame in any exhibition game in school history, as the Irish defeated Nazareth College 87-37 last Friday. Notre Dame has played 71 exhibition games since 1975 and 41 during the Mike Brey era. The previous record was a 40-point total by Lewis on Nov. 3, 2005. |
41 |
Notre Dame has won all 41 exhibition games in which they have competed during the Mike Brey era. |
66 |
Or .661 to be precise – graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr.’s career field goal percentage – which leads all returning NCAA Division I players this year. The 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year graduate transferred to Notre Dame during the offseason. Atkinson was 7-for-11 in the first exhibition victory vs. Nazareth. |
73 |
Notre Dame’s free throw percentage during the Mike Brey era, the best in the ACC and third-best of any power conference program. |
255 |
Games won by Notre Dame with Mike Brey and Associate Head Coach Anthony Solomon on the coaching staff. Solomon returns for his third stint with the Irish this season and with him on the sidelines, Mike Brey has won .676 percent of the games he has coached at Notre Dame. |
445 |
Career assists for senior Prentiss Hubb, the most for any returning ACC player and the fifth-most that any active NCAA player has compiled in three season of action. |
448 |
Wins at Notre Dame for Mike Brey, the most in school history and the ninth-most for any NCAA coach at his current school. |
5294 |
The 2021-22 team will be the most experienced, statistical-wise, of the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current), with the most returning GS, MP, FGM, 3FGM, FTM, AST and points (5294). |
HUBB AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS IN CAREER ASSISTS
Prentiss Hubb’s 445 career assists are noteworthy without any qualifiers, but a further look at the numbers shows that the Upper Marlboro, MD, native is among the national leaders. He is sixth among all active Division I players in career assists who have playe three seasons or less (see below) and enters the season tied for 21st in career assists for all active players.
DIVISION I CAREER ASSIST LEADERS – THREE YEARS OR LESS
Player |
Team |
Seasons |
Games |
Assists |
|
1. |
RJ Cole |
UConn |
2017-current |
90 |
517 |
2. |
Andrew Nembhard |
Gonzaga |
2018-current |
99 |
507 |
3. |
Cameron Parker |
Montana |
2018-current |
77 |
486 |
4. |
Marcus Carr |
Texas |
2017-current |
92 |
477 |
5. |
Jalen Pickett |
Penn State |
2018-current |
76 |
463 |
6. |
Prentiss Hubb |
Notre Dame |
2018-current |
91 |
445 |
Camren Wynter |
Drexel |
2018-current |
85 |
445 |
ATKINSON JR. LEADS ALL RETURNING NCAA PLAYERS IN CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. not only brings over 1,000 career points and the 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year trophy to the Notre Dame roster, his amazing career field goal percentage ranks him at the top for all active NCAA players. Atkinson Jr. also is just the second active Division I player and only major conference player to average over .600 career field goal percentage entering the 2021-22 season.
DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE LEADERS
Player |
Team |
Height |
Seasons |
FGM |
FG% |
|
1. |
Paul Atkinson Jr. |
Notre Dame |
6-9 |
2017-current |
422 |
.661 |
2. |
Zachary Simmons |
North Texas |
6-10 |
2017-current |
480 |
.637 |
3. |
Nick Muszynski |
Belmont |
6-11 |
2018-current |
567 |
.596 |
4. |
K.J. Williams |
Murray State |
6-10 |
2018-current |
431 |
.586 |
5. |
Bryce Nze |
Butler |
6-7 |
2016-current |
470 |
.582 |
IRISH WELCOME BACK MOST EXPERIENCED TEAM OF THE BREY ERA
Notre Dame is in an unusual position this season and welcomes back, by far, its most experienced group of players since the Mike Brey era began in 2000-01. With the additions of Trey Wertz (two seasons at Santa Clara) and Cormac Ryan (one season at Stanford) last season, then adding Paul Atkinson Jr. (three seasons at Yale) the Irish boast a veteran group of players who have seen a significant amount of college basketball action.
As shown below, the Irish return the most career starts, minutes played, field goals, field goals attempted, three point field goals, three point field goals attempted, free throws, free throws attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists and points of any team in the Brey era:
Statistic |
GS |
MP |
FG |
FGA |
3FG |
3FGA |
FT |
FTA |
DR |
REB |
AST |
PTS |
2021-22 Returning Team |
350 |
14389 |
1879 |
4186 |
641 |
1885 |
895 |
1225 |
1599 |
2111 |
1157 |
5294 |
Previous Returning High |
257 |
11083 |
1355 |
2953 |
456 |
1351 |
843 |
1139 |
1232 |
1784 |
1011 |
3933 |
Previous Returning High Year |
01-02 |
19-20 |
00-01 |
19-20 |
19-20 |
19-20 |
00-01 |
00-01 |
08-09 |
08-09 |
08-09 |
00-01 |
PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS
Notre Dame has produced 65 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 24 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.
School |
All-Time 1,000 Point Scorers |
1,000 Point Scorers since 2000-01 |
North Carolina |
77 |
20 |
Louisville |
69 |
18 |
Duke |
67 |
20 |
Villanova |
67 |
28 |
NOTRE DAME |
65 |
24 |
Syracuse |
63 |
20 |
Kansas |
62 |
20 |
BREY-ERA TENETS SHOW THROUGH IN STATISTICAL RANKINGS
In his 22 years on the Notre Dame bench, Mike Brey’s teams have developed certain tenets they can be counted on to display – take care of the ball, defend without fouling, shot making and free throw percentage excellence. Those traits are reflected in Notre Dame’s statistical rankings, compared to all NCAA teams and the ACC, since the Brey era began in 2000-01.
NCAA Statistical Ranking Since 2000-01 |
ACC Rank |
Statistic |
Notre Dame Number |
1 |
1 |
Assist/Turnover Ratio |
1.44 |
1 |
1 |
Least Amount Of Fouls Per Game |
15.0 |
2 |
1 |
Opponent FT Attempts Per Game |
15.4 |
4 |
1 |
Least Amount Of Turnovers Per Game |
11.0 |
7 |
2 |
Total Assists |
10,988 |
9 |
1 |
Free Throw Percentage |
.733 |
9 |
1 |
Three Point Field Goals Made Per Game |
8.1 |
10 |
1 |
Assists Per Field Goals Made |
.605 |
19 |
5 |
Points Scored |
51,940 |
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 12 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 and the Irish finished the 2020-21 season second in the NCAA.
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 |
12.8 |
2 |
2 |