What to know about Notre Dame men’s basketball at Virginia
What wouldn’t Notre Dame men’s basketball fans give to go back to Dec. 30?
The Irish welcomed Virginia into their building and stunned the Cavaliers, 76-54. They won an Atlantic Coast Conference game when some, including KenPom, thought they would not do that the entire season. After it was over, longtime Virginia head coach Tony Bennett spoke highly of the group that cracked his uncrackable defense.
“They played with great spirit,” Bennett said. “They run good stuff, they played hard and they’re really trying to get some stuff established. We took a punch early and didn’t respond.”
Since then, everything has gone downhill for Notre Dame. The Irish have lost six of their last seven games, including each of their last four. On the flip side, the Cavaliers are riding a four-game win streak and have climbed back into fringe Associated Press Top 25 consideration. They received three AP poll voting points and would be ranked No. 38 if the rankings extended that far.
At 15-5, Virginia needs this one badly to continue its climb back to the NCAA Tournament bubble. Here’s everything you need to know as Notre Dame looks to snap a four-game losing streak.
Notre Dame at Virginia game information
- Teams: Notre Dame (7-13, 2-7 ACC) at Virginia (15-5, 6-3 ACC)
- Date: Wednesday, Jan. 31
- Location: JPJ Arena in Charlottesville, Va.
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- Television: ESPN2
- Streaming: WatchESPN/ESPN App
- TV announcers: Doug Sherman (play-by-play), Cory Alexander (analyst)
- Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend
- Radio announcer: Tony Simeone
Matchup notables
• Death, taxes and Virginia’s defense being excellent. The Cavaliers allow 57.6 points per game, which ranks third in the nation behind only Houston and St. Mary’s (Calif.).
• As Bennett pointed out after the loss to Notre Dame, Virginia’s rotation leans young. Not as young as the Irish, but young. Three of the Cavaliers’ top four players in minutes per game — guards Isaac McKneely, Andrew Rohde and Ryan Dunn — are sophomores.
• Senior guard Reece Beekman is the team’s veteran leader, as well as its leading scorer at 12.9 pints per game and best passer with 6.2 assists per game. The offense runs through Beekman, which is why it was huge that Notre Dame held him to 5-of-15 shooting, 4 assists and 5 turnovers, which tied a season high that still stands.
• When the Irish beat the Cavaliers a month ago Tuesday, they did it by moving the ball and drilling shots from beyond the arc. Their 14 assists and .478 three-point percentage remain season highs against teams not named Maryland Eastern Shore.
