Gibbs 11/20/18

Irish And Blue Demons Rivalry Continues Saturday

Game 6: Notre Dame (4-1) vs. DePaul (3-0)
Date Saturday, November 24, 2018 | 12 p.m. ET
Location Notre Dame, IN | Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
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IRISH FACE HISTORICAL RIVAL DePAUL ON THANKSGIVING WEEKEND

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (4-1) play host to former BIG EAST rival DePaul (3-0) at Purcell Pavilion on Saturday afternoon. The Irish and Blue Demons boast one of the most noteworthy historical rivalries in college basketball with Saturday’s meeting marking the 106th between the two teams.  

DePAUL QUICK FACTS

  • Located in Chicago, Illinois, DePaul is a member of the BIG EAST Conference.    
  • Head coach Dave Leitao is in his second stint with the Blue Demons, coaching DePaul from 2002-05 and from 2015 to the current season. 
  • DePaul welcomes back two starters from the team Notre Dame defeated in the 2017-18 season opener – Eli Cain and reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week Max Strus. 
  • The Blue Demons finished 11-20 and 4-14 in the BIG EAST in 2017-18. 

NOTRE DAME vs. DePAUL

  • The Irish and Blue Demons will be meeting for the 106th time on Saturday afternoon. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 61-44 and 37-13 at home. 
  • Notre Dame enters Saturday’s game with a 10-game win streak in the series, dating back to February 20, 2007 and through the 72-58 win at DePaul in the Dedication Game of Wintrust Arena that began the 2017-18 season for the Fighting Irish.
  • T.J. Gibbs led the Irish with 21 points on seven-of-11 shooting with four three-point field goals in the Notre Dame victory last season. D.J. Harvey came off the bench to score seven points with three rebounds in his first career game with the Irish. 
  • With 105 total meetings, the Notre Dame – DePaul series trails just the Notre Dame – Marquette series (118) for the most prolific in school history. 
  • Notre Dame’s victory in the Wintrust Arena Dedication Game last season marks the team’s second-straight win in the state of Illinois during a dedication game. The Irish defeated Illinois 84-79 on December 2, 2015, in the State Farm Center dedication game. Illinois is the next opponent on the Irish schedule this year in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tueday, November 27. 
  • See page seven of the notes package for a complete list of the Notre Dame – DePaul series. 

NOTRE DAME vs. DePAUL – BY THE NUMBERS
 

1

Junior John Mooney leads the ACC in double-doubles (3) and Notre Dame in points per game (14.0) and rebounds per game (9.0). He enters the DePaul game with a string of three consecutive double-double performances.  

2

Returning starters for the Irish in 2017-18 (Rex Pflueger, T.J. Gibbs), matching the 2002-03 and 2009-10 seasons for the lowest in the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – present). 

3

Notre Dame finished the UIC game (11/6/18) 36-38 at the free throw line. It was the third-best free throw shooting performance for a team with 35 FTA or more since 1996-97. See page 2 of this notes package for more details. 

4

The Irish committed just four turnovers against Radford marking the 13th time a Notre Dame Mike Brey team has committed less than five turnovers in a game. It was the least amount of team turnovers since the Irish gave it away three times against Pittsburgh on Jan. 9, 2016. 

5

Notre Dame’s next five games will take place against five teams from college basketball’s ‘power’ conferences – the BIG EAST (DePaul), the Big Ten (Illinois and Purdue), the Big 12 (Oklahoma) and the Pac-12 (UCLA). 

7

Notre Dame begins the 2018-19 season with a seven-game homestand – the longest to begin a season since 1986. It is the second-longest of the Mike Brey era, as the Irish played six straight at home to begin the 2013-14 season. 

10

Notre Dame enters the game with DePaul on Saturday afternoon with a 10-game win streak against the Blue Demons, the longest win streak by either team in the historical series (105 meetings).  

11

With six three pointers against Radford, John Mooney became the 11th player of the Mike Brey era to connect on six three-point field goals in more than one career game. Mooney also is the tallest player on the list at 6-9, ahead of current Irish assistant Ryan Ayers (6-8, 3 games with six or more 3FGs) and V.J. Beachem (6-8, 4). 

13

The game-deciding run in the victory over Duquesne ended up 13-0 with eight consecutive stops by the Irish defense to flip a one-point deficit into an 12-point lead with 1:19 remaining in the game. 

14

Mike Brey is 14-3 against DePaul at Notre Dame and 3-1 against Blue Demon head coach Dave Leitao. 

30

Atlantic Coast Conference teams combined to win their first 30 games of the 2018-19 season, marking the best non-conference start in conference history (29-0 in 2003-04). 

106

Notre Dame and DePaul will be meeting for the 106th time on Saturday afternoon in the second-most prolific series in Irish hoops history. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 61-44. 

506

With 506 career wins, Mike Brey is the 11th active coach to reach that career milestone coaching at just one or two institutions. 

2002

Or to be more precise, the 2002-03 season. Robby Carmody became the first Notre Dame true freshman to start the first game of the season since Torin Francis against Belmont on Nov. 17, 2002.