University of North Carolina Athletics
Know Your Opponent: Notre Dame
January 15, 2019 | Men's Basketball
By Bobby Hundley
Notre Dame (UND.com)
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Rankings: No. 80 KenPom, NR AP
NET/SOS: No. 79 NET, No. 148 SOS
Record: 11-5, 1-2 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 23-7 (UNC 83, Notre Dame 66, Feb. 12, 2018, Smith Center)
Notre Dame's injury-depleted roster reached a nadir over the weekend when Mike Brey had just six scholarship players - and three freshmen - available for the home contest against Boston College. But despite briefly falling behind in the final minute, the Irish gutted out a 69-66 win over the Eagles for their first league victory of 2019.
While senior stalwart Rex Pflueger and freshman Robby Carmody are both out for the season, ND could get both junior T.J. Gibbs (illness) and sophomore Juwan Durham (ankle) back as soon as Tuesday night. Gibbs is an ironman who had not missed a game at Notre Dame prior to his sudden sickness prior to the BC game, while Durham has emerged as an elite shot-blocker after transferring from UConn.
In their absence, junior John Mooney had a monster outing against the Eagles, finishing with a game-high 27 points to go with 12 rebounds. A stretch-4/5 who has gone from the end of the bench to a starring role since arriving in South Bend, Mooney is both a clinical shooter (47 percent from 3, 56 percent from 2, 79 percent at the line) and one of the top rebounders in the ACC.
Gibbs is the team's volume shooter (37 percent on 108 3-point attempts in 15 games) as well as a steady ball-handler. He and freshman point guard Prentiss Hubb both rank in the top 10 in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio, and Gibbs is also among the top 50 in the country in turnover rate according to KenPom.
Sophomore forward D.J. Harvey joins Gibbs and Mooney as a double-digit scorer, though he has struggled from the outside (31 percent on 61 attempts). Freshmen Dane Goodwin and Nate Laszewski round out a rotation that goes a solid seven deep at this point when everyone is available.
As has become Brey's calling card, the Irish do two things as well as anyone in college basketball - protect the ball and defend without fouling. Notre Dame turns the ball over on just 13.8 percent of its possessions (third-best in the country) and opponents get to the line just 19 percent of the time (No. 1 in the nation). A brutal month that culminates with home games against Virginia and Duke in the span of three days will surely test the depth of a talented but limited roster.
Notre Dame (UND.com)
Location: South Bend, Ind.
Rankings: No. 80 KenPom, NR AP
NET/SOS: No. 79 NET, No. 148 SOS
Record: 11-5, 1-2 ACC
Carolina Series History (Last Meeting): UNC leads 23-7 (UNC 83, Notre Dame 66, Feb. 12, 2018, Smith Center)
Notre Dame's injury-depleted roster reached a nadir over the weekend when Mike Brey had just six scholarship players - and three freshmen - available for the home contest against Boston College. But despite briefly falling behind in the final minute, the Irish gutted out a 69-66 win over the Eagles for their first league victory of 2019.
While senior stalwart Rex Pflueger and freshman Robby Carmody are both out for the season, ND could get both junior T.J. Gibbs (illness) and sophomore Juwan Durham (ankle) back as soon as Tuesday night. Gibbs is an ironman who had not missed a game at Notre Dame prior to his sudden sickness prior to the BC game, while Durham has emerged as an elite shot-blocker after transferring from UConn.
In their absence, junior John Mooney had a monster outing against the Eagles, finishing with a game-high 27 points to go with 12 rebounds. A stretch-4/5 who has gone from the end of the bench to a starring role since arriving in South Bend, Mooney is both a clinical shooter (47 percent from 3, 56 percent from 2, 79 percent at the line) and one of the top rebounders in the ACC.
Gibbs is the team's volume shooter (37 percent on 108 3-point attempts in 15 games) as well as a steady ball-handler. He and freshman point guard Prentiss Hubb both rank in the top 10 in the ACC in assist-turnover ratio, and Gibbs is also among the top 50 in the country in turnover rate according to KenPom.
Sophomore forward D.J. Harvey joins Gibbs and Mooney as a double-digit scorer, though he has struggled from the outside (31 percent on 61 attempts). Freshmen Dane Goodwin and Nate Laszewski round out a rotation that goes a solid seven deep at this point when everyone is available.
As has become Brey's calling card, the Irish do two things as well as anyone in college basketball - protect the ball and defend without fouling. Notre Dame turns the ball over on just 13.8 percent of its possessions (third-best in the country) and opponents get to the line just 19 percent of the time (No. 1 in the nation). A brutal month that culminates with home games against Virginia and Duke in the span of three days will surely test the depth of a talented but limited roster.
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