Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Official Athletics Website

Irish Welcome Wake Forest Tuesday Afternoon

Notre Dame (6-9, 3-6) vs. Wake Forest (5-7, 2-7) 

📍     Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center, Notre Dame, IN

📅     Tuesday, February 2, 2021

🕕     5:00 p.m. ET

📺     ACC Network with Dave O’Brien and Corey Alexander

📻     Notre Dame Radio Network with Jack Nolan

🗒. Notre Dame Game Notes vs. Wake Forest | Wake Forest Game Notes at Notre Dame

BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH vs. DEMON DEACONS

.500

In its eighth season in the ACC, Notre Dame has failed to finish .500 or above in the month of February just once (2018-19) – including 6-2 last season – and the second month of the year as keyed some memorable rises in the league standings. See page 4 for more details.

.561

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.

3

Statistical categories in which junior Nate Laszewski is among the top 11 in the country – EFG% (.746, 2nd); FG% (.637, 11th) and 3FG% (.519, 6th).

5

So far this season, Notre Dame has lost five scheduled games to COVID-19 safety guidelines, while two other games (last Saturday at Pittsburgh, Feb. 20 at Syracuse) are rescheduled contests that were also lost to COVID-19 issues. Notre Dame’s Jan. 6 meeting with Georgia Tech has yet to be rescheduled.

12

Notre Dame and Wake Forest will be meeting for the 12th time on Tuesday afternoon, with the Irish leading the all-time series 6-5. Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey and WF head coach Steve Forbes will be meeting as head coaches for the first time Tuesday afternoon as well.

21

Assists handed out by junior guard Prentiss Hubb over the past three games. He also has shot .488 from the field, .590 from 3FG and averaged 19.3 points in the last three games for the Irish.

26

Point differential in the victory at Pittsburgh on Saturday, the third-best for the Irish since they joined the ACC in 2013-14 (30 pts. vs. NC State on 1/3/18; 27 pts. vs. BC on 1/13/16).

29

Rebounds pulled down in the last three games by Nate Laszewski, who has bolstered his rebounds-per-game average from 4.6 last season to 8.1 in 2020-21 – a mark that ranks third in the ACC entering this week’s action.

11.9

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 Virginia (12.7) and Wright State (13.1) 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).

56

Assists in ACC play for Prentiss Hubb this season, which is seventh in the country entering this week’s action among major conference players. His assist-per-game average of 6.2 would rank fifth among major conference players.

59.6

Average points scored by Notre Dame’s last three opponents, the best three-game stretch of ACC defense since the 2017-18 season when the Irish held their first three league opponents to 59-58-49 (55.3).

156

Career blocked shots for Juwan Durham, who passed Bonzie Colson (155) for fifth-place on the Notre Dame career list against Pittsburgh. 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).

234

Career assists in ACC play for Prentiss Hubb – the most of any active ACC player (Xavier Johnson, Pitt, is second with 212) and sixth among all active major conference players. Hubb is the first Irish player to record 200 assists in ACC play.

443

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.

FEBRUARY = ACC SURGES FOR IRISH HOOPS

In three of the last four seasons, Notre Dame has entered the month of February on a downward trend, only to utlize the second month of the year as a springboard up the league standings.

  • 2016-17 – Notre Dame finished January 0-3, then dropped the first game of February before finishing the month with five straight victories. The Irish finished the season 12-6 in the ACC and advanced to the ACC Championship game and the second round of the NCAA tournament.
  • 2017-18 – Knocked back by injuries, the Irish limped into February with six consecutive losses and again lost their first game of the month. Notre Dame persevered to finish 5-3 in February, win two games in the ACC tournament and were widely recognized as the final team left out of the NCAA tournament.
  • 2019-20 – Losing four of six games entering February and saddled by a 2-6 conference record, Notre Dame finished 6-2 through an eight-game February ACC slate to eventually finish 10-10 in the league and win its first game in the ACC tournament before the post season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

The Irish are 26-20 in February as a member of the ACC. Remove the outlier February in 2018-19 (2-5) and Notre Dame is 24-15 in February (.615) and has failed to win at least four games only once (the aforementioned 2018-19 season).

HUBB’S ASSISTS/THREE POINT SHOOTING AMONG THE BEST IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Prentiss Hubb’s 234 career assists are the most of any active ACC player. The Upper Marlboro, MD, native is up to 374 career assists as well (see sidebar, this page).

  • Hubb also has connected at 157 career three-point field goals, giving him over 350+ assists and 150+ 3FGM.
  • He joins Wisconsin’s D’Mitrick Trice and Iowa’s Jordan Bohannon – both of whom are in their fifth season of action – as the only major conference players with 350+ assists and 150+ 3FGM.
  • Among all Division I players, Hubb is among 18 who have posted 350+ assists and 150+ 3FGM. He and UConn’s R.J. Cole are the only players to reach those marks in their third season of action (all 16 others are either in their fourth or fifth season of eligibility).

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%

.746

2

1

1

min 5 FGM per game, 8 GP

3FG%

.519

6

2

1

min 1.5 3FGM per game, 8 GP

FG%

.637

11

6

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 64% from the field (.637) – a mark that would rank fourth all-time and first in the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). With 124 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

Orlando Woolridge

1980-81

156

240

.650

Keith Robinson

1987-88

123

190

.647

NATE LASZEWSKI

2020-21

79

124

.637

LaPhonso Ellis

1991-92

227

360

.631

John Shumate

1973-74

281

449

.627

Behind the three-point line, Laszewski is at .519 – which would rank second on the Irish single-season charts.

NOTRE DAME SINGLE SEASON THREE POINT PERCENTAGE

Player

3FGM

3FGA

3FG%

Joe Fredrick

1988-89

37

71

.521

NATE LASZEWSKI

2020-21

27

52

.519

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 .561 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

212

74

.561

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

11.9

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.