Syracuse Preview - Five Things To Know

Jan. 20, 2017

ND Game Notes vs. Syracuse

Syracuse Game Notes vs. ND

WHO: No. 15/15 Notre Dame (16-3, 5-1 ACC) vs. Syracuse (11-8, 3-3 ACC)

WHERE: Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center

WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 21, 12:00 p.m. ET

NATIONAL BROADAST: ESPN with Mike Couzens (play-by-play) and Doris Burke (analyst).

RADIO BROADCAST: Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network with Jack Nolan (play-by-play) and Zach Hillesland (analyst). Broadcast also available on Sirius Channel 137 and XM Channel 193.

Here are Five Things To Know about the Notre Dame – Syracuse match up:

NOTRE DAME vs. SYRACUSE SERIES HISTORY:

Notre Dame and Syracuse will be meeting for the 48th time on Saturday afternoon. The team’s first met on Feb. 12, 1914, but then did not meet again until 1931.

The Orange lead the all-time series 28-19 and have won the last four meetings, including all three as members of the ACC. Notre Dame’s last victory over Syracuse came on Jan. 21, 2012, when the Irish defeated No. 1 Syracuse 67-58.

The Irish are 9-12 all-time against Syracuse at home, 5-12 at Purcell Pavilion.

RIVERS NAME TO BE RAISED IN RING OF HONOR:

David Rivers, an All-American guard at Notre Dame, first-round NBA draft selection and Euroleague Championship Most Valuable Player, will be inducted into the Notre Dame Athletics Ring of Honor at halftime of Notre Dame’s contest with Syracuse on January 21, 2017.

The sixth-leading all-time scorer at Notre Dame, Rivers led the Irish to four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 1984-88 while scoring 2,058 points and handing out 586 assists. Rivers’ arrival on campus prompted a move to an up-tempo attack for the Irish during his four seasons, where he dazzled Irish fans with his ability to score in the open floor, shoot from long distance and make behind-the-back passes look routine.

Rivers was selected as the 25th overall selection in the first round of the 1988 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. He played for the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career before moving to Europe and developing into one of the most noteworthy American players to ever compete in the Euroleague. As a member of Olympiacos in Greece, Rivers was named the 1997 Euroleague Final Four MVP when his squad became the first Greek team to win the Euroleague Championship.

Rivers, who served as a team captain during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, will forever be remembered for his amazing recovery from a life-threatening automobile accident before his junior season at Notre Dame. On August 24, 1986, he was thrown from the passenger seat of a van that swerved to avoid a drunk driver and suffered a 15-inch gash across his abdomen. An emergency surgery at Elkhart General Hospital saved his life and Rivers returned to the court just 90 days later to play 34 minutes in Notre Dame’s season-opening game of 1986-87. Rivers would go on to lead the team in minutes played that season and earn honorable mention All-America honors.

Rivers currently runs ‘David Rivers Camps,’ a program designed to encourage higher learning in pursuit of academic excellence through clinics, motivational speaking and camps in Italy, France, Greece and Rivers’ hometown of Jersey City, New Jersey.

The Ring of Honor was established in 2010 by the University of Notre Dame Athletics Department to honor former and present men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball coaches and players who have made distinguished and noteworthy contributions during their careers at the University.

Previous Ring of Honor inductees include Austin Carr, Luke Harangody, Adrian Dantley, Digger Phelps, Tom Hawkins and Troy Murphy for men’s basketball, while Ruth Riley and Skylar Diggins represent the women’s basketball team. The women’s team will add current assistant coaches Niele Ivey and Beth Cunningham to the Ring of Honor this season as well.

RIVERS CAREER STATISTICS

FARRELL STEPPING UP IN THE SECOND HALF:

Junior Matt Farrell has turned in four consecutive impressive second half performances for the Irish. Playing 79 of a possible 80 second half minutes in the past four games, Farrell is averaging 11.0 points and 4.3 assists while shooting .500 from the floor (14-for-28) and .500 from three-point range (7-for-14). In those 79 minutes, Farrell has turned the ball over just twice while taking on the bulk of Notre Dame’s ball handling responsibility.

FARRELL IN THE SECOND HALF – LAST FOUR GAMES

COLSON ACC LEADING REBOUNDER:

Junior forward Bonzie Colson is currently averaging 10.7 rebounds per game, which leads the ACC and is 12th in the country. He has 11 double-doubles in 2016-17, which also leads the ACC is is eighth in the country.

Colson has increased his rebounding from 6.7 per game a year ago to 10.7 – a 4.0 improvement per game – while also increasing his scoring output from 11.1 last season to 15.5 (4.4 improvement) per game in 2016-17.

2017 Infiniti Coaches CHARITY Challenge:

Irish head coach Mike Brey is taking part in the 2017 Coaches Charity Challenge. Voting begins on Monday, Jan. 2 and continues through the completion of the first round on Jan. 22, 2017. After four rounds of voting, the winning coach will receive a 100,000 dollar donation to a charity of his choice, with Coach Brey hoping to send money to Coaches vs. Cancer.

To vote visit www.und.com/brey (fans will need to set up a ESPN.com account to vote) and fans are allowed to vote once per day.

2017 COACHES VS. CANCER THREE POINT CHALLENGE:

The American Cancer Society, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the nation’s premier college basketball programs are teaming up for the Coaches vs Cancer Three-Point Challenge. Teams from coast to coast are squaring off to see who can raise the most money from behind the arc.

You can support the Notre Dame Fighting Irish by pledging for every three-point shot the team makes this February.

Follow the national competition at 3pointchallenge.org and make a pledge at https://pledgeit.org/cvc-notre-dame. The team raising the most from their three pointers will be crowned champion. All proceeds of the 3-Point Challenge will benefit the American Cancer Society and Coaches vs Cancer.