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Notre Dame vs. Pittsburgh - Five Things To Know

Feb. 27, 2018

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WHO: Notre Dame (17-12, 7-9 ACC) vs. Pittsburgh (8-22, 0-17 ACC)

WHAT: Senior Night for the class of 2017-18 and final home game of the season.

WHERE: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

WHEN: Wednesday, February 28, 2018, 7 p.m. ET

TICKETS: Limited amount still available at und.com/buytickets

BROADCAST INFORMATION:

ESPNU national broadcast with Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and LaPhonso Ellis (analyst). Also available anywhere the WatchESPN app is accessible.

Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network with Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Zach Hillesland (analyst) with Bob Henning (engineer). Available locally on WSBT AM 960/FM 96.1, worldwide on WatchND.tv and via any network affiliate (listed on Page 8 of the notes package).

Here are Five (or more) Things To Know about the Notre Dame – Pittsburgh game…

IRISH SALUTE SENIOR CLASS IN FINAL HOME GAME OF 2017-18

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team (17-12, 7-9 ACC) honors the winningest senior class in school history on Wednesday evening when the Irish play host to Pittsburgh (8-22, 0-17 ACC) on ESPNU.

As part of Senior Night, Bonzie Colson is expected back in the starting lineup after missing the last eight weeks and 15 games with a broken bone in his left foot. While Colson will start the game, his playing time will be limited as he works his way back into playing shape.

QUICK FACTS

  • Mike Brey is one victory away from reaching 400 wins at Notre Dame. Already the all-time wins leader in men’s basketball at Notre Dame, Brey looks to become the 11th active Division 1 coach to win 400 games at his current school – and fourth active coach in the ACC to claim 400 wins at their current school (Krzyzewski, Boeheim, Williams).
  • T.J. Gibbs has scored in double figures in a career-best 17 consecutive games dating back Dec. 21, 2017.
  • Martinas Geben has scored in double figures in six consecutive games. Over the past five games, Geben has shot .655 from the field (40-61).
  • Matt Farrell hit the game-winning three-point shot at Wake Forest with just 5.8 seconds remaining. Later that evening, Farrell’s grandfather, Robert (Notre Dame class of 1958), passed away but was able to see his grandson connect on the game-winning play. Farrell will return home with his family after the game with Pittsburgh and will join the team for practice Friday at Virginia.

NOTRE DAME – PITTSBURGH SERIES HISTORY

Notre Dame and Pittsburgh will be meeting for the 63rd time on Wednesday evening, with the Irish leading the all-time series 32-30. The Irish and Panthers basketball series is the eighth-most prolific in the history of the Notre Dame program, with meetings dating back to the 1928 season. Pittsburgh also is the most frequent opponent of any ACC foe (the 47 meetings with Syracuse is the next highest).

The ACC series is led 3-1 by the Panthers, who won the first three ACC meetings between the two teams starting in 2013-14. Each of the three victories by Pittsburgh against Notre Dame as ACC opponents were decided by four points, while the first Notre Dame victory over Pittsburgh in the ACC came last season by one point (78-77) in overtime on New Years Eve (Dec. 31, 2016).

WINNINGEST CLASS AT NOTRE DAME

The 2017-18 senior class of Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, Martinas Geben, Matt Gregory and graduate student Austin Torres has set the mark as the all-time winningest senior class at Notre Dame.

The 2016-17 senior class of Steve Vasturia, V.J. Beachem and graduate student Patrick Mazza and the the 2012-13 group of Joey Brooks, Mike Broghammer, Jack Cooley and Scott Martin previously held the school record with 97 wins.

MOST WINS AT NOTRE DAME – FOUR YEAR SPAN:

Year 1

Wins

Year 2

Wins

Year 3

Wins

Year 4

Wins

Total

2014-15

32

2015-16

24

2016-17

26

2017-18

17

99

2013-14

15

2014-15

32

2015-16

24

2016-17

26

97

2009-10

23

2010-11

27

2011-12

22

2012-13

25

97

2007-08

25

2008-09

21

2009-10

23

2010-11

27

96

2012-13

25

2013-14

15

2014-15

32

2015-16

24

96

2011-12

22

2012-13

25

2013-14

15

2014-15

32

94

THREE TOP-RATED OFFENSIVE PLAYERS

Notre Dame’s victory at Wake Forest was keyed by the performance of three players who each scored over 20 points – Martinas Geben (22), Matt Farrell (21) and T.J. Gibbs (20). It was the first time three Irish players had scored 20 points each since Jan. 16, 2016, in a victory at Duke.

Those three players also rank among KenPom.com’s best offensive players, in terms of offensive rating, in the ACC this season. The Irish join Duke as the only team will three players ranked in the top 15 for offensive rating according to KenPom.com (with at least 20% of possessions used).

KENPOM.COM ACC OFFENSIVE RATINGS:

Rank

Player

Rating

6

Martinas Geben

120.6

10

T.J. Gibbs

119.3

13

Matt Farrell

117.0

Bump up to 24% of possessions used and Matt Farrell moves up to fourth in the KenPom.com rating system (117.0), behind Marvin Bagley from Duke, Jerome Robinson from BC and De’Andre Hunter from Virginia.

FARRELL REACHES 1,000 POINTS

Senior guard Matt Farrell, who saw limited minutes in his first two seasons with the Irish, surpassed the 1,000-point career milestone with a top-of-the-key three pointer at Wake Forest on Saturday, February 24. He is the 62nd (and 23rd Mike Brey era) player in school history to reach that notable milestone.

Farrell is averaging 15.7 points per start in his career.

Entering the 2017-18 season, Notre Dame was tied for fifth all-time for the most players to reach 1,000 points in a career –

CAREER 1,000-POINT SCORERS

School

1,000 pt scorers

1.

North Carolina

76

2.

Louisville

67

Duke

67

4.

Villanova

63

5.

NOTRE DAME

62

6.

Syracuse

61

7.

Kentucky

60

8.

Kansas

59


FARRELL CLUTCH PLAYS

Matt Farrell‘s game-winning three pointer at Wake Forest with 5.8 seconds remaining was one of the top clutch plays of the 2017-18 season for the Irish, but was just another big late-game play in a series of moments in the Bridgewater, N.J. native’s career.

Here is an overview of Farrell’s game-deciding plays at Notre Dame –

00:14 – vs. Northwestern – Nov. 22, 2016 – 2016 Legends Classic Championship Game – The Lay Up

Farrell’s driving circus-shot lay up (and four shot) puts the Irish up 68-66. Farrell also corralled the defensive rebound on Northwestern’s final shot attempt, hitting two free throws to seal the game and score the final five points in the game for Notre Dame.

00:02:05 – at Pittsburgh – Dec. 31, 3016 – The Pass

With just seconds remaining in overtime and the Irish trailing by two points, Farrell drives and finds Steve Vasturia open on the wing for the game-winning three point shot.

00:09 – vs. Clemson – Jan. 7, 2017 – The Shot I

Ahead by two points, Farrell helps Notre Dame secure a key victory over Clemson with a deep three point shot with nine seconds remaining, pushing the Irish to a 75-70 victory.

00:47.:02 – at Virginia Tech – Jan. 14, 2017 – The Steal I

Up by one point with 47.2 seconds left, Farrell dives on the ball at midcourt as the Hokies try to roll the ball toward their offensive end to save time. Farrell makes the steal, jumps up without traveling, then drives to the basket to find a wide open T.J. Gibbs for the game-sealing points in a 76-71 victory.

00:14 – vs. Wichita State – Nov. 22, 2017 – 2017 Maui Jim Maui Invitational Championship Game – The Steal II

Trailing by three points, Farrell steals and in bounds pass in the back court and immediately finds Bonzie Colson for a lay up to cut theS Shockers lead to one point. Notre Dame would eventually win the game with two free throws from Martinas Geben with two seconds remaining.

00:05:08 – at Wake Forest, February 24, 2017 – The Shot II

After hitting a top-of-the-key three pointer to give Notre Dame its first lead of the game at 71-69 with 3:19 remaining (which also was his 999th, 1000th and 1001st career points), Farrell drills a deep three pointer in front of the Irish bench to break a 71-71 tie with 5.8 seconds remaining in the eventual 76-71 victory and keep Notre Dame’s post season hopes alive.

NOTRE DAME VS. PITTSBURGH – BY THE NUMBERS

1

Notre Dame leads the ACC in 3FGM per game, both in conference-games only (9.25) and all games (8.79). Since senior guard Matt Farrell returned to the lineup full time vs. NC State on Feb. 12, the Irish are averaging 10.4 3FGM per game.

2

Notre Dame leads the NCAA in two statistical categories – fewest fouls (380) and personal fouls per game (13.1).

3.38

Three-point field goals made per game for Matt Farrell, first in the ACC and 9th in the nation.

8

Full weeks of game action 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, over two steals and over two blocks per game – the only college player to hit those averages in 2017-18 and the only player to reach those averages since Sports Reference started tracking statistics in the 1992-93 season. Colson will return to the starting lineup vs. Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening.

11.3

Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs has improved his scoring by 11.3 points per game this season (4.7 to 16.0), the second-best mark in the ACC.

16

Both T.J. Gibbs and Matt Farrell are on a streak of 16 consecutive games with at least one three-point field goal, which is tied for fifth in the ACC. Farrell’s career-best streak of 31 games ended earlier this season vs. St. Francis Brooklyn. Farrell has hit at least one three pointer in 46 of his last 47 games played.

29

Combined games missed due to injury by Bonzie Colson (14), Matt Farrell (5) freshman forward D.J. Harvey (9) and junior Rex Pflueger (1).

50

ACC victories over the past four years for the 2017-18 senior class of Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, Martinas Geben, Matt Gregory and Austin Torres. The group is 44-26 in regular season ACC play and 6-2 in ACC tournament action.

99

The 2017-18 senior class has set the mark as the all-time winningest four-year class in Notre Dame basketball history and could become the first group to win 100 games in four seasons against Pittsburgh.

120.6

Offensive rating for senior forward Martinas Geben according to KenPom.com, the sixth-best in the league with at least 20% of possessions used.

1005

Career points scored for Matt Farrell who became the 62nd Notre Dame player to reach the 1,000-point milestone.