The week ahead in Notre Dame men’s basketball: How two home matchups present differing styles of play
A stark contrast in styles awaits Notre Dame this week.
Wednesday’s opponent, North Carolina State, gets in guards’ grills with ball pressure, hoping to throw an offense off script and make it claustrophobic. Virginia, though, will visit Notre Dame on Saturday with its usual desire to play with the pace of a tortoise race.
The Wolfpack will press about 30 percent of their possessions, per Synergy. They’re pilfering the ball on 11.4 percent of defensive possessions, per KenPom, which ranks 50th nationally. They’re outside the top 200 in tempo, but the aggressiveness and Rick Pitino-style press defense can make it feel faster. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers sit back in their usual pack line defense and try to make the opponent aimlessly dribble and pass for the length of the shot clock.
“That’s really a swing of things,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey said.
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All told, there’s an eight-possession difference in tempo between the next two Notre Dame opponents. North Carolina State averages 66.6 possessions per game, while Virginia is at 58.5. As usual, the Cavaliers are last in the country in that category.
Like most years, Notre Dame prefers to play slow, but lower-possession games are more important this year with the Irish’s rigid seven-man rotation. They’re 304th in tempo, at 65.1 possessions per game, and 301st in average possession length. More importantly, they have largely kept their desired pace. They have played at or below the average tempo of their opponent in all seven ACC games, as well as in the 66-62 win over Kentucky Dec. 11.
“You just try to prepare your guys,” Brey said. “We’ve tried to control tempo with our offense more, and that has helped us. Whoever we’re playing, we’ve kind of wanted to control the tempo that’s more conducive to us. It has worked more often than not in league play.”
Notre Dame’s most recent game — an 82-70 win over Louisville Jan. 22 — is a fitting example. The Cardinals are top 50 in average offensive possession length. Even as they traded baskets with the Irish for the entire first half, Notre Dame kept the tempo under control. It was content to run half-court sets each time and rarely tried to push in transition. The game ended with 60 Irish possessions.
Home sweet home
Notre Dame has climbed toward the top of the ACC largely by stockpiling road wins. The Irish (12-6, 5-2 ACC) have played just two of their seven league games at Purcell Pavilion.
The initial road gauntlet wasn’t supposed to be this stiff. A New Year’s Day home game with Duke originally sat in between a trip to Pittsburgh and a home game with North Carolina. That contest, though, was postponed and rescheduled for Jan. 31. As a result, Notre Dame has four games in an eight-day stretch — a grind only makeup games would invoke.
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“I think everybody was trained from last year that it’s just going to be crazy and we have to get the games in,” Brey said. “It came strong from our commissioner. We must get the games in.”
Nonetheless, the January stretch of three road games in four outings was always planned. Notre Dame went 3-1 in those, and because of it, is even with Duke and just a half-game behind first-place Florida State and Miami. The Irish are home for three in a row, starting with North Carolina State and ending with the Blue Devils’ visit.
“We’re all in adjustment mode given what we went through last year,” Brey said. “I’m just glad we’ve weathered road games.”
Notre Dame upcoming schedule
Wednesday, Jan. 26 at 9 p.m. ET: vs. North Carolina State (10-10, 3-6 ACC)
Saturday, Jan. 29 at 6 p.m. ET: vs. Virginia (11-8, 5-4 ACC)
Monday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. ET: vs. Duke (15-3, 5-2 ACC)
Blake Wesley picks up weekly honor
Notre Dame guard Blake Wesley was named the ACC Freshman of the Week Monday, his third time winning the award this year. He shared it this week with Duke forward Paolo Banchero.
Wesley averaged 17.5 points in Notre Dame’s wins at Howard and Louisville, scoring a game-high 22 in the latter. He broke out for nine second-half points in less than three minutes against the Cardinals, turning a tie game with 9:22 left into a seven-point Irish lead with 6:51 to go. It was his fifth 20-point game this year.
Wesley is averaging 15.0 points per game this season, which ranks 11th among Division I true freshmen, fourth among major-conference freshmen and second among ACC first-years. He has scored in double figures in 15 straight games, which is a program record for a freshman.
Notre Dame in the rankings
Associated Press and Coaches polls: unranked in both
KenPom: 57
NET: 72
ACC Standings
T-1. Miami (13-7, 6-2)
T-1. Florida State (13-7, 6-2)
T-3. Duke (15-3, 5-2)
T-3. Notre Dame (12-6, 5-2)
5. Wake Forest (16-4, 6-3)
6. North Carolina (12-6, 4-3)
T-7. Virginia (11-8, 5-4)
T-7. Louisville (11-8, 5-4)
9. Boston College (8-9, 3-4)
T-10. Clemson (11-8, 3-5)
T-10. Syracuse (9-10, 3-5)
12. North Carolina State (10-10, 3-6)
13. Virginia Tech (10-8, 2-5)
14. Pittsburgh (7-12, 2-6)
15. Georgia Tech (8-10, 1-6)
