SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Eight full days of non-competition. Over a week to self-evaluate, get better and learn from a recent tough stretch. On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the wait is over and Notre Dame men’s basketball returns to the court, hosting Miami at 7 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion. When the Fighting Irish (7-11, 2-5) clash with the Hurricanes (12-6, 3-4) on Wednesday on ESPN2, it’ll be the annual Irish Wear Green game. That means green jerseys, green shorts and all Notre Dame fans in attendance wearing green.
FIRST ACC RETURN MATCH
This week in South Bend, the Fighting Irish will have an opportunity to get back two road losses by welcoming Miami (Wednesday) and Boston College (Saturday) to Purcell Pavilion. This Wednesday marks the first time Notre Dame will challenge a repeat opponent in league play.
The first time around, Miami escaped with a 62-49 victory. While the Irish struggled to convert on the offensive end at times, Notre Dame’s defensive efforts limited the Hurricanes to a season-low in points. The Irish forced 13 Miami turnovers and dominated the offensive boards, 15-6. Where Miami got the best of ND – they scored 16 points in transition. The Irish had good looks, but just couldn’t capitalize offensively as they finished the day shooting 18-63 (.286) from the floor and 6-32 (.188) from beyond the arc.
Miami enters the game ranked 10th in the country in three-point percentage (.393), 26th in offense (82.4), 16th in effective field goal percentage (.567) and 24th in free-throw percentage (.767).
FIRST YEAR STAMP ON THE PROGRAM – DEFENSE
The year one Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program has been the vast improvement defensively from this young Irish squad. The Irish have held all seven of its ACC opponents to under their season averages, with Miami and Duke being held to season lows then.
Furthermore, an Irish opponent has not recorded 70 points or more since Georgetown on Dec. 16 (eight-game streak). With that said, Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 65.1 ranks 2nd in the ACC and 38th in the country. According to KenPom, Notre Dame’s defensive efficiency ranks 43rd nationally.
In ACC play only, Notre Dame leads the league in defense (62.1) and ranks second in both field goal percentage defense (.373) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.302).
Lastly, how does this year’s defense match up historically? According to Stats Inc which goes back to the 1996-97 season, ND’s 65.1 ranks 4th.
HITTING THE MARK