| WHO: | Notre Dame (7-5, 1-1) vs. North Carolina (10-3, 2-0) |
| WHAT: | First ACC home game of 2021-22 |
| WHERE: | Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center | Notre Dame, IN |
| WHEN: | Wednesday, January 5, 2022 | 9:00 p.m. ET |
| TICKETS: | Available at und.com/buytickets |
| LIVE STATS: | Available at und.com/mediastats |
| TV: | ESPN2 | Play-by-Play: Anish Shroff | Analyst: Jordan Cornette (’05) |
| 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 (7-5, 1-1) looks to remain unbeaten at home this season on Wednesday night against North Carolina (10-3, 2-0) on the ACC Network (9 p.m. ET). The Irish have not taken the court since the last-second victory at Pittsburgh on December 28th, as the scheduled ACC home opener with Duke was postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Blue Devil program.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP
#23 DANE GOODWIN | Senior | 6-4 | 202 | Upper Arlington, OH
14.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, .485 FG%, .492 3FG%, .923 FT%
Has stepped up his game at all levels and on both ends of the court this season • reached double figure scoring in all 12 games this sesason (a career-best streak) • ranked in ACC Top-15 in 3FG% (.492), FG% 12th (.485) and scoring 13th (14.9) • ACC Co-Player of the Week (12/27/21) • reached 1,000 points in a career vs. Western Michigan • one of the best free throw shooters on the team, boasting a .834 career average from the stripe (24-26 this season).
#20 | PAUL ATKINSON JR. | Graduate Student | 6-9 | 230 | West Palm Beach, FL
12.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, .582 FG%, .769 FT%
A tone setter for the Irish in the post, has hit double-digit scoring in last five games • 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 .652 career field goal percentage and led Ivy League in FG% all three seasons in which he competed.
#0 BLAKE WESLEY | Freshman | 6-5 | 185 | South Bend, IN
13.3 ppg, .446 FG%, .344 3FG%
One of the most dynamic playmaking freshmen in the ACC • has 13 assists in last three games, including nine vs. TAMU CC • has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of 12 career games, including the last eight straight • ACC Rookie of the Week (12/13/21) • in first career start at home in Purcell Pavilion, hit the game-winning jumper with :12 seconds remaining to upset No. 10/12 Kentucky • third in the ACC in freshman scoring (13.3 ppg) and eighth among all major conference true freshmen in ppg • exploded for 24 points, 18 in the second half at Illinois in the first true road game of his career • first Mike Brey freshman to score 20 points in a career debut (vs. CSUN) since Chris Thomas in 2001 • first South Bend, IN, public school MBB prospect to sign with Notre Dame since 1985.
#3 PRENTISS HUBB | Senior | 6-3 | 176 | Upper Marlboro, MD
7.8 ppg, 3.0 apg
Connected on the game-winning jumper with five seconds remaining at Pittsburgh (12/28/21), capping a 13-point second half where he finished 3-3 from three-point range • edging closer to becoming the ninth Notre Dame player to post 500 career assists (481) • preseason All-ACC Second Team • led the team with 15 points against Boston College, coming off the bench for the first time since the victory at Miami last season • 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.
#14 NATE LASZEWSKI | Senior | 6-10 | 235 | Jupiter, FL
7.6 ppg, 7.2 rpg, .391 3FG%
(pronounced La-SHEH-skee) • 11th in the ACC in rebounding (7.3 per game) • scored eight points with six rebounds against Western Michigan • 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.
OFF THE BENCH
#5 CORMAC RYAN | Senior | 6-5 | 195 | New York, NY
8.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, .818 FT%
Has embraced new role off the bench in last three games • one of the team’s better on-ball defenders • filled up the stat line against No. 10/12 Kentucky with seven points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal • 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.
#2 TREY WERTZ | Senior | 6-5 | 192 | Charlotte, NC
5.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.9 apg
Returned to lineup at Pittsburgh after missing TAMU CC game with sprained right ankle, played 20 minutes with four points, four rebounds and three assists • hit double figures for the first time this season in the victory over No. 10/12 Kentucky with 12 points • 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 last season • hit the game-winning 3FG at the buzzer vs. WF in 2021 ACC tournament.
IRISH ITEMS – BY THE NUMBERS
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5 |
Seconds remaining when senior Prentiss Hubb connected on a fade-away jumper at Pittsburgh to provide the game-winning 68-67 margin for the Irish. |
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6 |
Notre Dame has won six straight games in Purcell Pavilion dating back to last season. In those six victories are wins over No. 11/11 Florida State last March and a 66-62 win over No. 10/12 Kentucky on December 11. |
|
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. |
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12 |
Career-best streak of double-digit scoring games for senior Dane Goodwin – all 12 games this season – who leads the Irish at 14.9 ppg. |
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13 |
Assists in the last three games for freshman Blake Wesley. He posted a career-best nine against TAMU CC and he found Prentiss Hubb twice in the last four minutes of the game at Pittsburgh for two open three pointers that allowed the Irish to erase the an eight-point deficit in the comeback victory. |
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13.3 |
Points-per-game average for Blake Wesley, which is the third-best average in the ACC and eighth-best among major conference true freshman (see page 4 for more details). |
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15.6 |
Points-per-game average in the last three games, all victories, for graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. while also averaging 6.3 rpg. |
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16.6 |
Points-per-game average for Dane Goodwin in Purcell Pavilion this season (five games). Goodwin is shooting .529 from the field, .586 from 3FG range, .857 from the line while pulling down 6.4 rebounds per game at home this season. |
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77.8 |
Team free throw percentage for the Irish this season, tops in the ACC and tied for 15th in the nation. |
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49.2 |
Three-point field goal percentage for Dane Goodwin, which leads the team and is second in the ACC. That is tied for seventh among all major conference players this season. |
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66 |
Dane Goodwin became the 66th Notre Dame player – and 25th student-athlete recruited by Mike Brey – to reach 1,000 points in their Irish career with 18 points against Western Michigan on Dec. 20. |
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978 |
Career points for senior Trey Wertz, who scored 747 points at Santa Clara from 2018-20. |