Notre Dame at No. 5 Virginia, 5 p.m. ESPN2
After being down one at halftime against Oakland, Virginia dominated the Golden Grizzlies in the second half to win Wednesday, 71-58, at John Paul Jones Arena. UVa finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 11-1 record. Conference play begins today for the Wahoos when they host Notre Dame. Here's more info on this year's Fighting Irish:
Record: 9-3
Scorers in double figures: Junior guard Demetrius Jackson (16.3), senior forward Zach Auguste (14.3), junior forward V.J. Beachem (12.6), junior guard Steve Vasturia (12.1), sophomore forward Bonzie Colson (10.5)
Leading rebounders: Auguste (10.4), Colson (7.3), Beachem (4.7), Jackson (3.8)
Assist leaders: Jackson (4.8), Vasturia (3)
Notable: As you can see, Notre Dame revolves around five guys and isn't very deep. The Fighting Irish's sixth-leading scorer is Matt Ryan at 5.8 ppg. Matt Farrell is at 3.3 ppg. Both get 15.9 minutes per game.
Best win: 68-62 Nov. 27 over Iowa at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Hawkeyes are 10-3, with all losses by single digits and they just knocked off No. 1 Michigan State on Tuesday.
Worst win: Youngstown State, 87-78, at home Dec. 21. The Penguins are 5-8.
Other wins: St. Francis (Pa.), Milwaukee, UMass-Lowell, Illinois, Stony Brook, Loyola Chicago, Liberty
Best loss: 80-73 on a neutral floor to Indiana on Dec. 19. The Hoosiers are 11-3.
Worst loss: 70-68 to Monmouth on Nov. 26 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Hawks are 9-4, but it should be noted they do hold victories this season over UCLA, USC, Georgetown, and Rutgers.
Other loss: Alabama by one point Nov. 29 in Florida.
What Notre Dame does well: The Irish always seem to be in the top 100 in scoring, and this year is no exception, as they sit 77th at 79.1 ppg. They shoot well at 49.6 percent (19th). They also shoot 3s well at 39.1 percent (41st). They move the ball pretty well, sitting at 15.7 assists per game (tied for 69th). They are also pretty good rebounds, ranking 45th in rebounding margin (+6.3 per game).
What Notre Dame does poorly: Despite the solid shooting from the field, the Irish are only 190th in free throw shooting at 68.3 percent. They are sloppy with the ball, too, with only a +.2 turnover margin per game, which ranks 180th.
The Fighting Irish do not own the collection of solid victories Virginia does, but the Iowa win could look better and better if the Hawkeyes continue trending upward after upsetting Michigan State. The Monmouth loss sounds bad, until you look at the Hawks' resume -- not too shabby. I would be fairly surprised if Virginia wins this game by double digits. Ever since mostly controlling the game against Villanova, the Cavs have struggled a bit, barely beating Cal at home and then falling behind vs. Oakland at home. These teams have played tight games in recent years. Last year at Notre Dame, UVa moved to 15-0 with a hard-fought 62-56 victory over the Irish. In the last meeting in JPJ two years ago, the Cavs won, 70-49, but I remember it being a tight game until around 10 minutes to go. After that, Virginia went on a patented "Cavalanche" run. Last year's Irish team, led by Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, got hot at the end of the year, winning the ACC tournament after going 26-5 in the regular season. The Irish advanced all the way to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight before falling, 68-66, to then-undefeated Kentucky. With those two gone, this year's team has lost a bit of an edge. Still, this should be a close game.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
After being down one at halftime against Oakland, Virginia dominated the Golden Grizzlies in the second half to win Wednesday, 71-58, at John Paul Jones Arena. UVa finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with an 11-1 record. Conference play begins today for the Wahoos when they host Notre Dame. Here's more info on this year's Fighting Irish:
Record: 9-3
Scorers in double figures: Junior guard Demetrius Jackson (16.3), senior forward Zach Auguste (14.3), junior forward V.J. Beachem (12.6), junior guard Steve Vasturia (12.1), sophomore forward Bonzie Colson (10.5)
Leading rebounders: Auguste (10.4), Colson (7.3), Beachem (4.7), Jackson (3.8)
Assist leaders: Jackson (4.8), Vasturia (3)
Notable: As you can see, Notre Dame revolves around five guys and isn't very deep. The Fighting Irish's sixth-leading scorer is Matt Ryan at 5.8 ppg. Matt Farrell is at 3.3 ppg. Both get 15.9 minutes per game.
Best win: 68-62 Nov. 27 over Iowa at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Hawkeyes are 10-3, with all losses by single digits and they just knocked off No. 1 Michigan State on Tuesday.
Worst win: Youngstown State, 87-78, at home Dec. 21. The Penguins are 5-8.
Other wins: St. Francis (Pa.), Milwaukee, UMass-Lowell, Illinois, Stony Brook, Loyola Chicago, Liberty
Worst loss: 70-68 to Monmouth on Nov. 26 in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The Hawks are 9-4, but it should be noted they do hold victories this season over UCLA, USC, Georgetown, and Rutgers.
Other loss: Alabama by one point Nov. 29 in Florida.
What Notre Dame does well: The Irish always seem to be in the top 100 in scoring, and this year is no exception, as they sit 77th at 79.1 ppg. They shoot well at 49.6 percent (19th). They also shoot 3s well at 39.1 percent (41st). They move the ball pretty well, sitting at 15.7 assists per game (tied for 69th). They are also pretty good rebounds, ranking 45th in rebounding margin (+6.3 per game).
What Notre Dame does poorly: Despite the solid shooting from the field, the Irish are only 190th in free throw shooting at 68.3 percent. They are sloppy with the ball, too, with only a +.2 turnover margin per game, which ranks 180th.
The Fighting Irish do not own the collection of solid victories Virginia does, but the Iowa win could look better and better if the Hawkeyes continue trending upward after upsetting Michigan State. The Monmouth loss sounds bad, until you look at the Hawks' resume -- not too shabby. I would be fairly surprised if Virginia wins this game by double digits. Ever since mostly controlling the game against Villanova, the Cavs have struggled a bit, barely beating Cal at home and then falling behind vs. Oakland at home. These teams have played tight games in recent years. Last year at Notre Dame, UVa moved to 15-0 with a hard-fought 62-56 victory over the Irish. In the last meeting in JPJ two years ago, the Cavs won, 70-49, but I remember it being a tight game until around 10 minutes to go. After that, Virginia went on a patented "Cavalanche" run. Last year's Irish team, led by Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, got hot at the end of the year, winning the ACC tournament after going 26-5 in the regular season. The Irish advanced all the way to the NCAA tournament's Elite Eight before falling, 68-66, to then-undefeated Kentucky. With those two gone, this year's team has lost a bit of an edge. Still, this should be a close game.
Gut feeling: Virginia wins by 5-10 points.
Comments
Post a Comment