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Notre Dame at Clemson - Five Things To Know

Jan. 18, 2018

NDMBB at Clemson Notes Get Acrobat Reader

WHO: Notre Dame (13-6, 3-3 ACC) at Clemson (15-3, 4-2 ACC)

WHAT: Third ACC road game of the season for Notre Dame and first trip to refurbished Littlejohn Coliseum.

WHERE: Littlejohn Coliseum (10,325)

WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 2018, 4:00 p.m. ET

TICKETS: Limited amounts remain, utilize Vivid’s Notre Dame Ticket Exchange.

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

ESPN national broadcast with Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) and Dick Vitale (analyst). Also available on the ESPN app.

Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network with Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Zach Hillesland (analyst). Available locally on WSBT-AM 960/FM 96.1, via network affiliates (available on page 8 of the notes package) and worldwide on WatchND.tv.

Here are Five Things To Know about the Notre Dame – Clemson game…

BY THE NUMBERS: NOTRE DAME vs. CLEMSON

1

Notre Dame leads the country in least amount of personal fouls committed per game with a 13.0 average. The Irish are also third in the NCAA in terms of total fouls committed (247).

4

Mike Brey is the fourth-longest tenured head coach among power five conference teams – now in his 18th season at Notre Dame. Jim Boeheim (42), Mike Krzyzewski (38) and Tom Izzo (23) are the only other power five conference head coaches with a longer tenure at their current institution.

5

There are only five players in the ACC avearging a double-double in league play, including senior forward Martinas Geben. Geben is averaging 13.0 ppg and 11.2 rpg in six ACC games, joining Marving Bagley III and Wendell Carter (Duke), Luke Maye (UNC) and Ben Lammers (Georgia Tech) as the four ACC players to average a double-double in league competition.

5

Notre Dame is 5-0 all-time against Clemson, with all five victories coming as ACC opponents. The Irish are 1-0 all-time at Littlejohn Coliseum and will be making their first visit since the arena was refurbished for the 2016-17 season.

6

Notre Dame will play its sixth consecutive game on Saturday at Clemson without two key members of the lineup. Freshman D.J. Harvey, who has started the last five games, will be sidelined with a bone bruised in his left knee (see page 3 of this notes package for more details).

7

More weeks of game action expected to be missed by senior Bonzie Colson after fracturing a bone in his foot on Friday, December 29. Colson was averaging 21.4 points, 10.4 rebounds and over two steals and two blocks per game – the only college player to hit those averages this year and the only player to reach those averages since Sports Reference started tracking statistics in the 1992-93 season.

48

Notre Dame’s 48 team rebounds against Louisville on Tuesday marked a program-high in ACC play (besting the 44 against Duke in the 2016 ACC tournament).

95

The senior class of Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, Martinas Geben, Matt Gregory and Austin Torres (graduate student) is three wins away from becoming the all-time winningest senior class in Notre Dame basketball history. The 2016-17 and 2012-13 senior classes currently hold the record with 97 wins over a four-year span. See page 3 of this notes package for more details.

301

Rebounds over the past seven games for the Irish, the best seven-game total since the 2010-11 season. Notre Dame has collected over 40 team rebounds six of its last seven games, including an ACC-era best 48 vs. Louisville.

QUICK FACTS

  • Senior Matt Farrell returned to the lineup against Louisville, after missing three full games (and half of the NC State game) with a sprained left ankle. Farrell provided a spark to the Irish offense, scoring 23 points (his third 20-point game of the season) with eight assists and four three-point field goals.
  • The Irish have collected 254 team rebounds in six conference games, the best stretch of conference game rebounding since the 2007-08 season, when the team posted 280 over a six-game stretch from Feb. 2 – Feb. 21, 2008.
  • Sophomore Nikola Djogo (who did not play as a freshman) has set career-highs for minutes played in each of Notre Dame’s last three games, peaking at 29 minutes against Louisville. In those three games, Djogo has averaged 8.0 ppg and 3.6 rpg.
  • Sophomore John Mooney has increased his production the past three games, averaging 8.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg, shooting .500 from the floor (9-18) with three three-point field goals.
  • Sophomore T.J. Gibbs is one of just three players to average over 40 minutes of playing time in ACC play this season. Gibbs, who played 48 minutes against Louisville, is avearging 40.17 mpg. Syracuse’s Tyus Battle is first in the league at 40.50, while the Orange’s Oshae Brissett is tied with Gibbs at 40.17.
  • Senior Martinas Geben joins Duke’s Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. as the only ACC players to rank in the top 10 in the league in offensive and defensive rebounds per game. Geben leads the ACC with 5.17 offensive boards per contest and is 10th in defensive rebounds (6.00).

ON THIS DATE

  • Jan. 20, 1990 – The Irish take on No. 13/12 LSU in the Louisiana Super Dome, in front of a record-breaking crowd of 68,122. The Tigers, led by future NBA stars Shaquille O’Neal and Stanley Roberts defeat Notre Dame 87-64. The crowd, at the time, set the NCAA mark for a regular-season contest that was eventually bested by Kentucky-Michigan State (78,129) at Ford Field on Dec. 13, 2003.
  • Jan. 20, 1945 – Notre Dame defeats Great Lakes 55-51 at Chicago Stadium.
  • Jan. 20, 1941 – The Irish go on the road to Syracuse, New York, and Archbold Gymnasium to defeat Syracuse 54-49 in overtime, the sixth in a seven-game win streak for Notre Dame over the Orange.
  • Jan. 20, 1926 – Notre Dame ends a seven-game losing streak to Wabash College with a 41-29 victory at Chadwick Court. The win would be just the third in 21 games against the Little Giants from 1915 through 1926. Notre Dame would move on to claim 15 victories in the final 16 meetings of the series after 1926. The two teams have not met since 1951.

NOTRE DAME – CLEMSON SERIES HISTORY

Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Clemson 5-0, with all five meetings as ACC members since the Irish joined the conference for the 2013-14 season.

Saturday will mark Notre Dame’s second trip to Littlejohn Coliseum, but third road game to South Carolina. The Irish defeated Clemson 89-83 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena during the 2015-16 season while Littlejohn Coliseum was under restoration.

IRISH FACE SIXTH-STRAIGHT GAME WITHOUT TWO STARTERS

Notre Dame has been tasked to take on the daunting ACC schedule without its full roster and will travel to Clemson down two starters for the sixth-consecutive game.

All-American Bonzie Colson has been sidelined since the NC State game (Jan. 3) and will miss at least the next seven weeks.

Senior captain and Wooden Award Watch List selection Matt Farrell sprained his left ankle in the team’s first game without Colson (NC State) with five minutes remaining in the first half and missed the next three games – returning to the starting lineup against Louisville on Jan. 16.

With Farrell back, the Irish then lost freshman D.J. Harvey with 8:25 remaining in the first half against Louisville with a bone bruise in his left knee – meaning that once Farrell returned to the lineup, the Irish were down just one starter for only 11 minutes, 35 seconds.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING HISTORY

Notre Dame’s double-overtime battle with Louisville saw the Irish post historical offensive rebounding numbers. Notre Dame crashed the board for 26 offensive rebounds, 11 of which were collected by senior forward Martinas Geben. Both those numbers are school records – the best since offensive rebounds were separated from total rebounds in game boxscores for the 1986-87 season.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS – TOP FIVE TEAM PERFORMANCES

Reb

Opponent

Date

Notes

26

Louisville

1/16/2018

2 OT

25

at Duke

2/4/1990

25

vs. Kentucky

12/3/1988

at Indianapolis

24

vs Georgetown

3/9/2007

BIG EAST Tournament

24

Seton Hall

2/18/2001

24

at Seton Hall

1/8/2001

NOTRE DAME OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS – TOP FIVE INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

11

17

Geben, Martinas

Louisville

1/16/18

10

17

Cooley, Jack

Delaware State

11/18/11

10

14

Harangody, Luke

DePaul

2/2/2008

9

14

Cooley, Jack

St. Joseph’s

11/16/12

8

14

Cornett, Rick

at Providence

2/19/2005

8

20

Murphy, Troy

at Seton Hall

1/8/2001

8

12

Swanagan, Harold

Rider

12/22/1999

8

15

Swanagan, Harold

at Villanova

1/16/1999

8

11

Hickey, Phil

Citadel

11/17/1997

8

17

Williams, Monty

at Detroit Mercy

1/3/1993

8

12

Robinson, Keith

Valparaiso

12/21/1989

8

10

Robinson, Keith

vs. Kentucky

12/3/1988

8

16

Robinson, Keith

at Dayton

2/21/1989