NOTRE DAME vs. BOSTON COLLEGE
The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (6-2, 0-1) returns to Purcell Pavilion to face Atlantic Coast Conference foe Boston College (4-5, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. ET, ESPNU). The 2019-20 #IrishWearGreen game for men’s basketball, all Notre Dame fans will receive a free ‘rally towel’ and the Irish will wear their green jerseys for the first time this season.
- Notre Dame and Boston College will be meeting for the 32nd time, with the Irish leading the all-time series 21-10. Notre Dame is 12-0 against BC since joining the ACC for the 2013-14 season.
- Boston College is one of two ACC opponents (Georgia Tech the other) designated as permanent home-and-home series with Notre Dame. The Irish are 19-5 against the Eagles and Yellow Jackets since 2013-14.
- The Eagles are 4-5 in 2019-20 and 1-0 in ACC play, defeating Wake Forest in their home opener 77-70.
- Mike Brey is 15-1 against Boston College at Notre Dame.
| NOTRE DAME | GAME DAY INFORMATION |
|---|---|
| Date | Saturday, December 7, 2019 |
| Time | 2:00 p.m. ET |
| Site: | Purcell Pavilion • Notre Dame, IN • Capacity 9,149 |
| TV: | ESPNU • Jordan Bernfield (play-by-play) • Dalen Cuff (analyst) |
| Radio: | Notre Dame Radio Network • Jack Nolan (play-by-play) • Zach Hillesland (analyst) Available locally on WSBT AM/FM and worldwide on und.com. |
| Tickets: | Tickets are still available at und.com/buytickets |
Notre Dame MBB Notes vs. Boston College (PDF)
BY THE NUMBERS: IRISH VS. EAGLES
|
1 |
Notre Dame leads the country in assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.72. The Irish are ahead of Virginia Tech (1.64), Dayton (1.58) and Michigan State (1.58). |
|
2 |
Senior John Mooney, one of eight major conference players in the country to average a double-double, joins Colorado’s Tyler Bey as the only Division I players averaging 14.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. |
|
3 |
Saturday’s game will feature the top three active career ACC rebounders in action. John Mooney (62), Nik Popovic (571) and Steffon Mitchell (568) all rank first, second and third, respectively, on the career active rebounding charts among ACC players. |
|
4 |
The Irish are 4-0 all-time in conference games played in December during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current) with a 3-0 record at Purcell Pavilion. The program has not lost a December conference game since December 29, 1998 against Syracuse. |
|
7 |
December 7 will mark the earliest that the Irish have ever played a home ACC contest, besting the only December ACC game the Irish have played since joining the league in 2013-14. On December 13, 2014, Notre Dame defeated Florida State 83-63. |
|
8 |
Notre Dame ranks eighth all-time in Division I college basketball victories with 1,886. Over the next two weeks the Irish will face No. 7 (UCLA) and No. 10 (Indiana) from the NCAA the all-time wins list. |
|
9.5 |
Notre Dame is averaging 9.5 turnovers per game, a mark ranked second-best in the nation as of December 5. The Irish are behind Washington State (9.0) and just ahead of Butler (9.5). |
|
12.0 |
The Irish continue their tradition of ‘defend without fouling’ in 2019-20 – currently ranked second in the country in personal fouls per game (12.0 – behind Virginia’s 11.1). In the last decade, Notre Dame has finished out of the top 10 in least amount of personal fouls per game just twice (11th in 2010-11, 15th in 2013-14) and led the country in the category in 2011-12, 2015-16 and 2018-19. See page 3 for more details. |
|
12.9 |
Rebounds-per-game average for John Mooney, a mark that ranks him second in the country (behind Bethune-Cookman’s Cletrell Pope at 13.0) and first in the ACC. |
|
13 |
Notre Dame owns a 13-game win streak over Boston College, dating back to the last meeting between the two teams as BIG EAST Conference opponents on February 8, 2005. The Irish also have won 18 of the last 20 games against the Eagles. |
|
14 |
Sophomore guard Dane Goodwin is just off the average needed to make the list of national leaders in free throw percentage (Goodwin averages 2.0 attempts per game, the minimum is 2.5 per game) but his .938 percentage this season would slot him tied for 14th in Division I. |
|
46 |
John Mooney is one of 46 players named to the initial United States Basketball Writers Association Oscar Robertson Trophy, presented to the national player of the year, as announced on December 5, 2019. |
|
797 |
Glenn and Stacey Murphy Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Brey is approaching another milestone in his career. When the Irish face traditional rival UCLA on December 14, Coach Brey will take the sidelines for his 800th career game. Creighton’s Greg McDermott is scheduled to reach the 800 game mark on the same day as Brey and they will become the 24th and 25th active coaches to reach 800 career games. |
|
1234 |
Career points scored by T.J. Gibbs, the most for any active ACC player. Gibbs ranks ahead of Brandon Childress (1,083) and BC’s Nik Popovic (1,037). |
IRISH CONTROLLING ANNUAL HOME-AND-HOME SERIES IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Notre Dame faced its traditional ACC rivals – Boston College and Georgia Tech – five times last season. The Irish swept the Eagles, split a home-and-home with Tech and then defeated the Yellow Jackets in the ACC tournament, improving the record against Boston College and Georgia Tech to 19-5 in league play since joining the ACC in 2013-14. That mark is the best in the conference against a team’s dedicated home-and-home opponents.
RECORD VS. ACC ANNUAL HOME-AND-HOME OPPONENTS
|
Team |
Opponent |
Opponent |
Record |
|
NOTRE DAME |
Boston College |
Georgia Tech |
19-5 |
|
Duke |
North Carolina |
Wake Forest |
17-7 |
|
North Carolina |
Duke |
NC State |
16-8 |
|
Syracuse |
Boston College |
Pittsburgh |
16-8 |
|
Virginia |
Virginia Tech |
Louisville |
16-8* |
* – Virginia repeated with Maryland in 2013-14
Each season since 2013-14, ACC teams have faced their designated home-and-home opponents each year, two other league opponents on a rotating home-and-home basis, five opponents on the road only and five opponents at home only.
WIN STREAK RESEARCH
Notre Dame’s 13-game run against the Eagles is tied for the fifth-longest against current Division I opponents in school history.
- The 13-game streak matches the 13-game run vs. St. Francis (Pennsylvania) as the longest active in the program.
- The 13- game win streak is the longest for the Irish against a conference opponent, besting the 11-game run against BIG EAST Conference foe West Virginia from February 21, 1999 through January 19, 2005.
NOTRE DAME WIN STREAKS (12 games or longer) VS. CURRENT DIVISION I TEAMS
|
Wins |
School |
Start Date |
End Date |
|
29 |
Valparaiso |
1/31/1934 |
12/19/1987 |
|
24 |
Detroit Mercy |
2/8/1912 |
12/10/1953 |
|
14 |
Penn |
1/7/1928 |
12/20/1948 |
|
14 |
Loyola Chicago |
1/12/1924 |
12/7/1955 |
|
13 |
Boston College |
2/8/2005 |
current |
|
13 |
St. Francis (PA) |
1/16/1960 |
current |
|
13 |
Northwestern |
1/28/1950 |
1/16/1956 |
|
12 |
Butler |
2/9/1966 |
2/4/1977 |
|
12 |
Butler |
3/1/1933 |
1/7/1939 |
|
12 |
Marquette |
2/4/1927 |
3/4/1932 |
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.
|
Player |
Seasons |
Rebounds |
|
Luke Harangody |
2006-10 |
1,222 |
|
Torin Francis |
2002-06 |
969 |
|
Bonzie Colson |
2014-18 |
900 |
|
Pat Connaughton |
2011-15 |
823 |
|
Zach Auguste |
2012-16 |
822 |
|
Jack Cooley |
2009-13 |
792 |
|
Rob Kurz |
2004-08 |
650 |
|
JOHN MOONEY |
2015-20 |
620 |
MOONEY POSTS DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN FIVE OF FIRST SEVEN 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 five double-doubles in seven 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 26 total in his career (good for 18th on the all-time Notre Dame double-double list).
Mooney missed the Presbyterian game with an illness.
MOONEY DOUBLE-DOUBLES IN 2019-20
|
Opponent |
Rebounds |
Points |
|
Robert Morris |
10 |
10 |
|
Howard |
18 |
16 |
|
Marshall |
28 |
16 |
|
Fairleigh Dickinson |
13 |
13 |
|
at Maryland |
12 |
17 |