Irish Welcome Bruins For 50th Edition Of Legendary Rivalry

NOTRE DAME vs. UCLA

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (7-3) hosts legendary rival UCLA (7-3) in Purcell Pavilion on Saturday afternoon (3 p.m. ET, ABC).

• The Irish and Bruins will be meeting for the 50th time, with UCLA leading the all-time series 29-20. Notre Dame is 12-11 against UCLA at home.
• The game will be broadcast nationally on ABC, with Dave Pasch, UCLA legendary player Bill Walton and former Irish head coach Digger Phelps on the call.
• Saturday’s game marks the culmination of a home-and-home series between Notre Dame and UCLA. The Bruins earned a 65-62 last-second victory in Pauley Pavilion last season. While the series will most likely be resumed at some point in the future, this is the last scheduled meeting between Notre Dame and UCLA.
• Saturday’s game marks the 10th meeting between Mike Brey and UCLA head coach Mick Cronin, who is in his first season with the Bruins. Brey holds a 7-3 advantage in the series between the two coaches.
• This will mark just the 12th time in the 50 meetings between the two teams that at least one of the schools does not appear in the national rankings.

Notre Dame MBB Game Notes vs. UCLA (PDF)

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH VS. BRUINS

BREY VS. CRONIN

Glen and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey and UCLA head coach Mick Cronin have a strong coaching relationship dating back to the years both teams competed in the BIG EAST Conference. Brey is 7-3 all-time against Cronin – with all 10 previous meetings taking place between Notre Dame and Cincinnati.

& BIG EAST Tournament. * BIG EAST Game

NOTRE DAME VS. UCLA – THE SERIES HISTORY – A CLOSER LOOK

Just how did the Notre Dame – UCLA series become one of the most memorable in college basketball history? Timing and television are the short answers, as the Irish and Bruins battled thorugh 17 meetings throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s with both teams ranked among the nation’s elite. All of those games were televised nationally, many of which started on TVS – a syndicated national sports network that was started in the mid-1960s by Eddie Einhorn.

While the 1974 meeting between the two teams is the most memorable with the Irish ending UCLA’s 88-game win streak, that is just one of several memorable battles that the Irish and Bruins went through.

• December 20, 1952 – East Lansing, Michigan (Michigan State Classic), Notre Dame 68, UCLA 60

Dick Rosenthal scores 20 points as the Irish take down UCLA in East Lansing in the first meeting between the two teams.

• December 16, 1960 – Los Angeles, California (Men’s Gym), UCLA 85, Notre Dame 54

Let The Scholastic, Notre Dame’s weekly campus newspaper at the time, describe this contest – Notre Dame’s first trip to UCLA: “That night in Los Angeles, a swift UCLA group bided its time while Notre Dame’s starters chalked up numerous fouls, and then hurried to a 85-54 triumph after the exit of many of Notre Dame’s key operatives. Jon Dearie, with 13 points, led the somewhat curtailed Irish attack.”

• December 7, 1968 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Athletic and Convocation Center) UCLA 88, Notre Dame 75

In front of over 101 credentialed media members, Notre Dame’s Bob Whitmore beat Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the tip and hit the game’s first shot to give the home team a lead they would not surrender for 18 minutes. Austin Carr (26 points), Sid Catlett (who drew the task of defending Abdul-Jabbar) and Bob Whitmore (27 points) were not enough for the Irish who fell 88-75. Note that Notre Dame’s Bob Arnzen was unable to play to his level in this game with an Achilles tendon injury.

• January 3, 1971 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Athletic and Convocation Center) Notre Dame 89, UCLA 82

Possibly the greatest victory of the Austin Carr era at Notre Dame, the Irish All-American poured in 46 points as UCLA would suffer their last loss for 88 games – a streak that would end in the same building three years later. Carr scored 15 of Notre Dame’s final 17 points in the game and his 46 points ended up as the most any one player scored against a John Wooden-coached team. Also of note, Notre Dame’s John Pleick – passed over by UCLA and hailing from Southern California – was a key fixture on the backboards for Notre Dame in this game.

• January 19, 1974 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Athletic and Convocation Center) Notre Dame 71, UCLA 70

The legendary streak breaking game featured an incomprehensible comeback, as Notre Dame trailed by 11 points with 3:32 remaining. A furious rally, keyed by a full court press brought Notre Dame within one before Dwight Clay’s baseline jumper with :29 left proved to be the game winner. The loss was the first for Bill Walton as a basketball player in high school and at UCLA in 143 games.

• January 26, 1974 – Los Angeles, California (Pauley Pavilion) UCLA 94, Notre Dame 75

Throughout the 1970s the Irish and Bruins played twice a season and UCLA did not have to wait long to seek revenge against the Irish. Freshman Marques Johnson scored 16 points, while Bill Walton poured in 32 in the Bruin victory.

• January 25, 1975 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Athletic and Convocation Center) Notre Dame 84, UCLA 78

If some pundits thought the victory in 1974 was a fluke, this victory over John Wooden’s final UCLA team proved that the Irish had staying power. John Shumate poured in 32 points while Bill Paterno sealed the game with four late free throws.

• February 5, 1994 – Notre Dame, Indiana (Joyce Center) Notre Dame 79, No. 4/2 UCLA 63

Led by 28 points from Monty Williams and 19 off the bench from Keith Kurowski, Notre Dame upsets the Bruins bolstered by 57.1% shooting from the floor (UCLA could just manage a 31.7% mark).

• February 28, 2004 – Los Angeles, California (Pauley Pavilion) Notre Dame 75, UCLA 60

Mike Brey’s first trip to UCLA as head coach at Notre Dame saw Chris Thomas, Tom Timmermans and Chris Quinn all score at least 20 points for the program’s first win at UCLA since 1989.

A NOTEWORTHY VICTORY

Notre Dame’s 110-71 victory over Detroit Mercy on Tuesday, December 10, saw the Irish post several program-bests and individual career highs. Here is a glimpse at some of the superlatives Notre Dame logged against the Titans:

TEAM SUPERLATIVES

Assists – 33 – tied school record set at Manhattan in 1986, best of Brey era

Three Point Field Goals – 20 – tied school record set vs. Villanova in 2008

Field Goals Made – 41 – tied for second-most of Brey era

Points In Regulation – 110 – most in Brey era (Irish scored 116 points in 4OT vs. Georgetown in 2002)

INDIVIDUAL SUPERALTIVES

Points – 27 – Sophomore Dane Goodwin – also second-most off the bench in the Brey era (Bonzie Colson had 31 vs. Duke in 2016)

Points – 16 – (career-high matching) Senior Juwan Durham

Three-Point Field Goals – 6 – (career-high matching) Senior T.J. Gibbs

Three-Point Field Goals – 5 – Sophomore Dane Goodwin

Assists – 11 – Sophomore Prentiss Hubb

Assists – 8 – Senior T.J. Gibbs

Rebounds – 7 – (career-high matching) Sophomore Dane Goodwin

MOONEY LEADS THE COUNTRY IN REBOUNDING

Senior forward John Mooney is currently leading the nation in rebounds per game with a 13.2 average. Mooney is one of just three major conference players to average over 10.0 rebounds per game.

NATIONAL REBOUNDING LEADERS:

MOONEY CLIMBING THE CAREER REBOUND CHART

Passing 600 career rebounds against Fairleigh Dickinson, John Mooney became the eighth Mike Brey-era (2000-01- current) player to surpass 600 career rebounds. The Notre Dame career top 25 rebounding chart begins at 715.

BREY ERA REBOUNDING TOTALS

MOONEY POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN SEVEN OF FIRST NINE GAMES

Senior forward John Mooney, who led all major conference players in rebounds per game in league action last season and was one of seven major conference players to average a double-double, is off to an even better pace in 2019-20.

The Orlando, Florida, native has posted seven double-doubles in nine games played this season. He paced the ACC with 20 in 33 games played last year (and 13 in conference play – the most since Tim Duncan in 1996-97) and is up to 28 total in his career (good for 17th on the all-time Notre Dame double-double list).

Mooney missed the Presbyterian game with an illness.

MOONEY DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN 2019-20

PFLUEGER MAKES WINNING PLAYS

Graduate student Rex Pflueger, who missed the final 23 games of the 2018-19 season with a torn ACL in his left leg, returned to the lineup in the season opener this season and has quickly returned to form. Dating back to his freshman season when his last-second tip in in the second round of the NCAA tournament against Stephen F. Austin pushed Notre Dame to the Sweet 16, Pflueger has been making winning plays for the Irish – with the come-from-behind victory over Toledo the latest example.

A breakdown of Pflueger’s big plays over the final three minutes and overtime of the win over the Rockets:

PFLUEGER JOINS 300-200-100 CLUB

Graduate student Rex Pflueger is one of just 10 players since 1996-97 (the year Notre Dame joined a conference) to compile 300 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals in a career.

The list of players who have reached the 300-200-100 plateau: Chris Thomas, Tory Jackson, David Graves, Jerian Grant, Chris Quinn, Eric Atkins, Steve Vasturia, Matt Carroll, Demetrius Jackson, T.J. Gibbs and Pflueger.

IRISH CLAIM MABC HONORS

The University of Notre Dame capped off a clean run through the 2019 Men Against Breast Cancer Invitational with a 64-62 overtime victory against Toledo on Thursday, November 21. Combined with a victory in the 2018 Gotham Classic Showcase Game, Notre Dame has won 15 of its last 16 in-season tournament contests – a run that includes the 2016 Legends Classic Championship and the 2017 Maui Inviational title.

John Mooney added to his personal trophy case by garnering MABC MVP honors (as voted on by media members attending each contest). Mooney follows up on his MVP honors in the Gotham Classic Showcase game from last season. Graduate student Rex Pfleuger and sophomore Dane Goodwin were named to the MABC All-Tournament Team as well.

A look at Mooney, Pfleuger and Goodwin’s statistics during the four game MABC Invitational:

DURHAM POSTS TWO NOTEWORTHY DOUBLE-DOUBLES

Senior Juwan Durham responded to the loss of John Mooney (illness) on the front line against Presbyterian with 11 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots to record his second career double-double. He followed up with 12 points, 11 rebounds and four more blocks against Fairleigh Dickinson. It was just the seventh and eighth time a Mike Brey era player has recorded 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and 4+ blocks – and the first time since John Mooney did it at North Carolina last season.

Others who have accomplished such a double-double include current Irish assistant coach Ryan Humphrey (2001), Torin Francis twice (2003, 2004), Luke Harangody (2008) and Bonzie Colson (2017).

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 the game boxscore for the 1985-86 season. With that in mind, it is still noteworthy that senior Juwan Durham (who still retains a year of eligiblity after 2019-20) has already established himself as one of the top shot blockers in Notre Dame history.

In his first full season at Notre Dame in 2018-19, Durham swatted 63 shots which ranks fifth on the Notre Dame single-season blocked shots list.

With five more blocks against Detroit Mercy, Durham pushed his career blocked-shot average to 2.5 and is one of just three Notre Dame players to average over 2.0 blocks per game:

Durham’s 91 total blocks at Notre Dame currently rank him 12th all-time (see sidebar, page 5). Jordan Cornette is the Notre Dame blocked shots record holder with 201 from 2001-05.

FOUR MORE FIRST-TIME OPPONENTS IN 2019-20

The 2019-20 schedule welcomes four first-time opponents to Notre Dame’s men’s basketball schedule (Robert Morris (W, 92-57), Howard (W, 79-50), Presbyterian (W, 63-53) and Alabama A&M) matching the same number from last season (UIC, Radford, Oklahoma and Jacksonville).

Under Mike Brey, the Irish are 48-5 (.906) in games featuring first-time program meetings.

GIBBS JOINS 1,000-300-200-100 CLUB

Senior T.J. Gibbs, who reached the 1,000-point career mark last season, has joined another exclusive club. With 304 assists, Gibbs has now recorded 1,000 points, 300 assists, 200 rebounds and 100 steals in his time at Notre Dame.

Only Chris Thomas, Jerian Grant, Chris Quinn, Eric Atkins, Steve Vasturia, Tory Jackson and Demetrius Jackson all reached those milestones under Mike Brey at Notre Dame.

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

Notre Dame finished third in the NCAA last season in turnovers per game – posting the fifth consecutive season of ranking in the nation’s top-10 for least amount of turnovers in a game.

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

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 10 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. So far, in 2019-20, the Irish are tied with Virginia for the NCAA lead in least amount of fouls per game (11.9).

NOTRE DAME FOULS PER GAME NATIONAL/CONFERENCE FINAL RANKING