NC State basketball opponent scouting report: Notre Dame

NC State basketball is seeking to build off arguably its best performance of the season after it rolled to a 77-63 home win over Virginia Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

This week it will play a pair of road games, starting Wednesday evening at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. and the game will be televised on RSN.

The Wolfpack is 10-10 for the season and 3-6 in the ACC.

Here is a rundown of what to expect from Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Overview

Notre Dame’s basketball history pales in comparison to its football counterpart, but it’s still a decent one.

The Irish have been to a Final Four (1978) and six Elite Eights. Their 36 NCAA Tournament appearances are ninth all-time.

In its history, no coach has as many wins as current head coach Mike Brey, who has gone 460-254 (64.4) percent winning percentage) since taking over for Matt Doherty in 2000. Yet, Brey entered this season acknowledging it was an important one for his future in South Bend.

Notre Dame has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017, although it was on the bubble for doing so in 2020 before COVID-19 canceled the event. In two of the last three seasons, the Irish endured losing overall records, and it has not had a winning mark in the ACC since that aforementioned 2017 campaign.

So far, so good in 2021-22. Notre Dame is 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the ACC. After a 4-5 start to the year, the Irish have gone 8-1 in its last nine games, its lone defeat a six-point setback at Virginia Tech Jan. 15.

That said, arguably its best win in that stretch was a home victory over North Carolina. Its lack of quality wins outside a home triumph over Kentucky may explain why ESPN’s Joe Lunardi does not yet have the Irish on his bubble, but CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm has the Irish as one of his first four teams out of the field.

Rankings

NET: Notre Dame is ranked No. 72 (out of 358 teams). NC State basketball is No. 111.

ESPN’s BPI: The Irish check in at No. 67. The Wolfpack is No. 98.

KenPom.com: ND is No. 58. The Pack is No. 98.

Three Notre Dame Players To Watch Against NC State Basketball

Senior forward Paul Atkinson Jr.: The impact transfer from Yale is one of two significant additions to Notre Dame that has helped propel the Irish.

The 6-foot-9, 230-pound Atkinson was also pursued by NC State after he entered the transfer portal. He was the 2020 Ivy League Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

Atkinson has averaged 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Irish thus far in 18 games, including 17 starts. He has scored in double figures 13 times and has a pair of double-doubles while shooting an impressive 60.7 percent from the field and a career-best 77.6 percent at the line.

Atkinson makes 4.55 fields goal per game, below the ACC’s minimum of five per game to qualify for field goal percentage leaders, but his percentage would be tops in the conference.

Senior guard Dane Goodwin: Goodwin has always been a consistent performer for Notre Dame, but he is enjoying a breakout campaign of sorts this winter.

After averaging 10.8 points per game as a sophomore and 11.8 as a junior, he has bumped that scoring total to a team-high 15.2 this season. He is doing so by being a lights out three-point shooter. Goodwin has made 40 of 83 attempts from beyond the arc, or 48.2 percent. That’s a big jump for a player who never shot better than 37.7 percent in a season before.

The 6-foot-6, 200-pounder has scored in double figures in every game, and in his last four contests is shooting 11 of 16 on three pointers. Like Atkinson, Goodwin would lead the ACC in three-point shooting percentage, but the minimum made requirement is 2.5 per game, and Goodwin is at 2.22.

Goodwin is also automatic at the line, 34 of 37 on the season for 91.9 percent.

Freshman guard Blake Wesley: The local product from Riley High in South Bend was considered a borderline top-100 prospect nationally in the 2021 class. The On3 Consensus had Wesley at No. 99 overall.

Yet he’s a lock to the make the All-ACC Freshman Team. He has been a three-time ACC Freshman of the Week honoree and is currently averaging 15.0 points per game, second highest among true freshmen in the league behind Duke star Paolo Banchero.

Wesley’s scoring average is the highest for a freshman at Notre Dame since Chris Thomas in 2002 (15.6 points). He has already set a school record for most consecutive games in double-digits for a rookie with 15, and he has reached 20 points five times, including Saturday when he had 22 at Louisville.

Only two former Notre Dame players, Thomas and Troy Murphy had more points scored through 18 games than Wesley.

Three Things NC State Basketball Should Expect From Notre Dame

1. A dangerous three-point shooting team: Notre Dame is averaging 9.3 three pointers per game and shooting 37.5 percent from beyond the arc. That is 42nd and 32nd nationally, respectively, out of 358 teams.

In conference play, the Irish have stepped it up even more and it making over 10 threes per game and connecting at 41.0 percent. Five different Notre Dame players have made at least 10 threes thus far in league play, and a sixth (senior guard Trey Wertz) is shooting 40.0 percent (6 of 15).

2. Money at the line: Unsurprisingly, considering how well Notre Dame shoots threes, it is very good at the free throw line. The Irish is second in the conference and 43rd nationally at 75.6 percent as a team.

If NC State is trailing late and needs to foul, it is possible that the Irish could have five players on the court that are shooting 73.3 percent or better from the line.

3. A fundamentally sound team: Notre Dame is not going to turn the basketball over much. It is second in the conference and 27th nationally in fewest turnovers. Its assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.29 is 51st in the country.

Also, the Irish will not foul much. Notre Dame has been called for the fewest fouls in the conference and is 35th in the country in that category.

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