No. 12 Notre Dame at No. 14 Notre Dame, 8 p.m. ACC Network
Virginia has won four games in a row, but the opponents have not been that tough: Wake Forest, Clemson, Boston College, and Georgia Tech, all teams that are about middle of the ACC or lower. Tonight, the Cavaliers begin a tough stretch of their schedule, and it begins at Notre Dame. Here's more on the Fighting Irish (abbreviated to get this post out):
Record: 17-3, 6-1 ACC
Leading scorers: Junior forward Bonzie Colson (15.4), senior guard Steve Vasturia (15), senior forward V.J. Beachem (14.7), junior guard Matt Farrell (14.3)
Leading rebounders: Colson (10.9), junior forward Martinas Geben (4.7), Beachem (4.1), Vasturia (3.5)
Assist leaders: Farrell (5.7), Vasturia (3.2)
Notable: There's a big gulf in scoring after the big four above. After them, Temple Gibbs is next in line at 5.3 ppg. Rex Pflueger (4.9), Matt Ryan (4.5), and Geben (4.3) follow. Vasturia, Colson, Farrell, Beachem, and Pflueger all average one steal. Colson averages a block.
Best win: vs. No. 9 Louisville, 77-70
Worst win: vs. Saint Peter's, 63-55, right before ACC play began. The Peacocks are 11-9.
Other wins: Bryant, Seattle, Loyola-Maryland, Colorado, Northwestern, Chicago State, Iowa, North
Carolina A&T, Indiana, IPFW, Colgate, Pittsburgh, Clemson, Miami, Virginia Tech, Syracuse
Best loss: at No. 10 Florida State, 83-80
Worst loss: Every loss has been to a ranked team, so I don't think any of them really qualify.
Other losses: The Fighting Irish lost to both Villanova, 74-66, and Purdue, 86-81, on neutral floors.
What Notre Dame does well: Like normal, the Fighting Irish are strong on offense. They score 81.2 points per game (tied-39th) and shoot 47.1 percent (61st). They also shoot 41 percent on 3-pointers (ninth). They also play well on defense, allowing just 67.4 ppg (70th) and a field goal percentage of 40.7 (53rd).
This is no doubt a tough game, but Notre Dame has been close to a number of other losses. In fact, all of its ACC wins except for Syracuse have been by seven or fewer points. But Virginia is just as hard to figure out, playing well in stretches -- three-quarters of the game at Louisville -- but not great in others -- loss to Pittsburgh defensively and until 10 minutes left in beating Wake Forest. I hope to expand on that in a later post. Tonight, we will get another glimpse into how good Virginia can be. The Fighting Irish have a gaudy record, but are vulnerable. We will see if the Wahoos can take advantage. At this point, I'm not sure they can. Virginia has actually beaten Notre Dame nine times in a row, but I think that will end tonight.
Gut feeling: Notre Dame wins by 5-10 points.
Virginia has won four games in a row, but the opponents have not been that tough: Wake Forest, Clemson, Boston College, and Georgia Tech, all teams that are about middle of the ACC or lower. Tonight, the Cavaliers begin a tough stretch of their schedule, and it begins at Notre Dame. Here's more on the Fighting Irish (abbreviated to get this post out):
Record: 17-3, 6-1 ACC
Leading scorers: Junior forward Bonzie Colson (15.4), senior guard Steve Vasturia (15), senior forward V.J. Beachem (14.7), junior guard Matt Farrell (14.3)
Leading rebounders: Colson (10.9), junior forward Martinas Geben (4.7), Beachem (4.1), Vasturia (3.5)
Assist leaders: Farrell (5.7), Vasturia (3.2)
Notable: There's a big gulf in scoring after the big four above. After them, Temple Gibbs is next in line at 5.3 ppg. Rex Pflueger (4.9), Matt Ryan (4.5), and Geben (4.3) follow. Vasturia, Colson, Farrell, Beachem, and Pflueger all average one steal. Colson averages a block.
Best win: vs. No. 9 Louisville, 77-70
Worst win: vs. Saint Peter's, 63-55, right before ACC play began. The Peacocks are 11-9.
Other wins: Bryant, Seattle, Loyola-Maryland, Colorado, Northwestern, Chicago State, Iowa, North
Best loss: at No. 10 Florida State, 83-80
Worst loss: Every loss has been to a ranked team, so I don't think any of them really qualify.
Other losses: The Fighting Irish lost to both Villanova, 74-66, and Purdue, 86-81, on neutral floors.
What Notre Dame does well: Like normal, the Fighting Irish are strong on offense. They score 81.2 points per game (tied-39th) and shoot 47.1 percent (61st). They also shoot 41 percent on 3-pointers (ninth). They also play well on defense, allowing just 67.4 ppg (70th) and a field goal percentage of 40.7 (53rd).
This is no doubt a tough game, but Notre Dame has been close to a number of other losses. In fact, all of its ACC wins except for Syracuse have been by seven or fewer points. But Virginia is just as hard to figure out, playing well in stretches -- three-quarters of the game at Louisville -- but not great in others -- loss to Pittsburgh defensively and until 10 minutes left in beating Wake Forest. I hope to expand on that in a later post. Tonight, we will get another glimpse into how good Virginia can be. The Fighting Irish have a gaudy record, but are vulnerable. We will see if the Wahoos can take advantage. At this point, I'm not sure they can. Virginia has actually beaten Notre Dame nine times in a row, but I think that will end tonight.
Gut feeling: Notre Dame wins by 5-10 points.
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