Steve Vasturia has scored in double figures in all five games for the Irish this season.

Notre Dame Meets Alabama In Final Game Of 2015 AdvoCare Invitational

Nov. 28, 2015

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No. 17/18 Notre Dame (3-1, 0-0) vs. Iowa (3-1, 0-0)Date: Friday, Nov. 27, 2015

Site: HP Fieldhouse at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex

Game Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV/Internet: ESPNU/ESPN3

Talent: Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play); Miles Simon (analyst)

Radio: Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network; WatchND

Talent: Jack Nolan (Play-By-Play); Jordan Cornette (Analyst)

NOTRE DAME AND ALABAMA MEET IN ADVOCARE INVITATIONAL FIFTH-PLACE GAME

  • The No. 17/18 Notre Dame Fighting Irish meets Alabama in the fifth-place game at 7:00 p.m. (ET) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida at the HP Fieldhouse at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Notre Dame rebounded from its opening-round loss to Monmouth (70-68) to post a 68-62 victory over Iowa. With the victory, Notre Dame improved to 4-1 on the season. Alabama enters the game with 3-2 record. The Crimson Tide lost to Xavier 64-45 in its first game of the tournament and then held on for a 64-60 victory over Wichita State in its second game.
  • The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Rich Hollenberg (play-by-play) and Miles Simon (analyst) calling the action.
  • A free audio broadcast will be available courtesy of WatchND. Jack Nolan will handle play-by-play duties, while Jordan Cornette will serve as analyst. The matchup is also available on ESPN Radio Channel 80 on both Sirius and XM.

THE MATCHUP

  • Sunday night’s matchup with Alabama will be the fifth meeting between the two schools and the third on a neurtal site. Notre Dame leads the series 3-1.
  • The Irish have won each of the last two games played between the two schools. The last matchup took place on Dec. 7, 2006 at Notre Dame with the Irish coming away with a 99-85 victory. Alabama entered the contests ranked fourth in the Associated Press poll.
  • The first meeting between the two school took place on Dec. 29, 1955 in New Orleans, Louisiana — an 86-80 Irish victory.
  • The next time the two teams met was on Dec.27, 2001 in New Orleans with Alabama earning a 79-76 win.
  • Notre Dame’s other win in the series was in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as Notre Dame earned a 78-71 win.
  • The Crimson Tide opened the 2015-16 campaign with a 77-64 victory over Kennesaw State and then suffered an 80-48 setback to Dayton in its second game. Alabama posted a 105-93 win over Louisiana-Lafayette to earn its second win of the season before coming to Orlando.
  • Junior forward Shannon Hale leads two Crimson Tide players in double figures as he is averaging 12.6 points per game.
  • Alabama is averaging 67.8 ppg. and allowing 72.2 ppg.

ANOTHER NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER

  • Notre Dame improved to 60-1 at home in the month of November under head coach Mike Brey following Saturday’s 83-57 win over UMass Lowell.
  • The only loss during that stretch was an 83-70 setback to Indiana State on Nov. 17, 2013.

NOTING THE IOWA GAME

  • The win over Iowa on Friday night was Notre Dame’s first over the Hawkeyes since November 1990 .
  • The Irish improved to 267-232-1 against teams from the Big Ten.

Notre Dame scored 68 points for the second consecutive game.

  • For the second consecutive game and third time this season, the Irish placed five players in double figures.
  • Notre Dame’s bench outscored Iowa 14-3 after getting outscored 19-0 the previous contest.
  • The Irish were outrebounded for the first time this season as the Hawkeyes owned a 40-36 rebounding advantage on the glass.
  • Junior V.J. Beachem led the Irish in scoring with 16 points, while Demetrius Jackson finished with 12 points. Sophomore Bonzie Colson added 11 points and eight rebounds, while junior Steve Vasturia and freshman Matt Ryan each added 11 points. Ryan’s 11 points marked a personal best for the Irish rookie.
  • Notre Dame turned the ball over just seven times in the contest and shot 45.5 percent from the field.

CONFERENCE CALL

  • This year’s AdvoCare Invitational is represented by teams from the following conferences — Alabama (SEC), Xavier (BIG EAST), Monmouth (Metro Atlantic Athletic), Wichita State (Missouri Valley), USC (Pac-12), Dayton (A-10) and Iowa (Big Ten).
  • Here’s a look at how Notre Dame has stacked up against the teams that currently comprise those conferences: SEC (46-71), BIG EAST (338-208), MAAC (49-8), Missouri Valley (47-20), Pac-12 (39-42), A-10 (86-32) and Big Ten (267-232-1).

DOUBLE THE PLEASURE

  • Senior forward Zach Auguste has scored in double figures in all four of five games this season and registered a double-double in three of Notre Dame’s first five games. His 11 boards against Iowa marked the fourth time this season that he has grabbed 10-plus rebounds in a game.
  • Auguste netted 15 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds in the season opener versus St. Francis (Pa.), tallied 17 points and six boards against Milwaukee, scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win over UMass Lowell and finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds against Monmouth.
  • He has scored in double figures on 43 occasions during his career, grabbed 10-plus rebounds 10 times and registered seven double-doubles in eight contests.

JACKSON DOUBLING IT UP

  • Junior guard Demetrius Jackson leads the Irish with a career-best 18.8 points per game scoring average after his 12-point scoring effort against Iowa.
  • Jackson has scored in double figures in all five games. He began the season by scoring 20-plus points in each of Notre Dame’s first two contests. Jackson scored a career-high 27 points in the season opener against St. Francis (Pa.) as he connected on 10-14 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range. He followed that up with a 20-point effort versus Milwaukee that marked the first time in his career that he netted 20-plus points in back-to-back contests.
  • He finished 20 points in the loss to Monmouth on Thursday night for the seventh 20-plus point effort of his career.
  • In last Saturday’s win over UMass Lowell, he finished with 15 points.
  • In all, Jackson has scored 20-plus points in seven games over the course of his collegiate career and netted double figures in 42 contests.

BEACHEM ON THE BOARDS

  • Junior foward V.J. Beachem is averaging career bests of 12.4 points and 6.8 rebounds.
  • He registered double figures for the second time this season with his 14-point effort against Monmouth and followed that up with a 16-point effort against Iowa.

Beachem grabbed a career-high nine boards in loss to Monmouth.

Beachem has netted double figures 14 times during his career.

CALL HIM MR. CONSISTENT

  • Junior guard Steve Vasturia has scored in double figures in all five games this season as he is averaging 11.6 points per game.
  • Vasturia ended the 2014-15 campaign by netting double figures in each of Notre Dame’s last three games. His current eight-game double-figure scoring streak is the longest of his career and the longest active streak for any member of the Irish squad.
  • Vasturia has netted double figures in 30 career outings

ROOKIE STEPPING UP

  • Freshman forward Matt Ryan tallied a career high 11 points off the bench for the Irish in the victory over Iowa. It marked the first double-figure scoring efoort of his career. Ryan connected on 3-5 field goals and was 2-4 from three-point range.
  • He is averaging 6.2 ppg. in 17.0 minutes per game off the bench.

NOTRE DAME ONE WIN FROM 1800

  • A win tonight against Alabama would give the Notre Dame men’s basketball program its 1800th career win as the Irish would become just the eighth Division I school to reach that milestone, joining Kentucky, Kansas, North Carolina, Duke, Temple, Syracuse and UCLA.