HOOPS Preview: Notre Dame Vs. Pittsburgh

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NOTRE DAME (18-13, 8-10 ACC) VS. PITTSBUGH (8-23, 0-18 ACC)

Where: Barclays Center (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

Rankings: Both teams are unranked.

Time/TV: 2 p.m. ET/ESPN2

Last Meeting: Notre Dame 73, Pittsburgh 56 (Feb. 28, 2018).

Series Info: Notre Dame leads the all-time series 33-30.

Notre Dame opens its quest to claim the 2018 ACC Tournament title this afternoon against No. 15 seed Pittsburgh. The Irish claimed the lone meeting between the two programs in South Bend to close out February on Senior Night.

Here is Blue & Gold Illustrated’s preview of both teams along with a prediction of the outcome.

The Irish didn’t have much trouble versus Pittsburgh the first time around, building a double-digit lead in the first half and never looking back in the 17-point win.

Senior forward Bonzie Colson was the story of the night, returning for his first game in almost two months and scoring 12 points while grabbing nine rebounds in 21 minutes of action.

Seniors Matt Farrell (14 points), senior forward Martinas Geben (nine points and 13 rebounds) and fifth-year senior forward Austin Torres (six points) put together strong performances in what could wind up being the final home game of their Irish careers. Sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs added 14 points, while sophomore forward John Mooney scored eight points.

Notre Dame now enters a building that has been very friendly to the program of late. The Irish are 6-1 at the Barclays Center over the past three seasons, including two NCAA Tournament wins, a Legends Classic title and multiple ACC wins last season.

Head coach Mike Brey and company are hoping to continue that Brooklyn magic this week in the ACC Tournament, especially with a mostly healthy team minus freshman wing D.J. Harvey. Colson’s return provided a much needed spark of energy late in the season, and Notre Dame will need that all week.

The Irish also enter Brooklyn on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament and will need a strong run in order to sneak into the field. One win over Pittsburgh will not do the trick, and even defeating No. 7 seed Virginia Tech in the second round may not be enough.

Notre Dame’s run to a bid begins this afternoon.

A long and dreadful season for Pittsburgh could come to an end today against the Irish.

The Panthers are still looking for their first ACC win of the year and enter the postseason on a 18-game losing streak.

Junior guard Jared Wilson-Frame is the team’s leading scorer at 12.7 points per game while also contributing 3.4 rebounds per contest to the cause. He is joined on the perimeter by a trio of freshmen guards — Marcus Carr (9.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per game), Parker Stewart (8.9 points and 3.2 rebounds per contest) and Khameron Davis (4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per outing).

Freshman Kene Chukwuka (2.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game) has earned three of the last four starts and mans the middle for the Panthers.

Stallings typically goes eight deep with his main rotation, with freshman guard Shamiel Stevenson (8.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per contest) being the top option off the bench. Stevenson is usually joined by senior guard Jonathan Milligan (5.1 points per contest) and freshman forward Terrell Brown (4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds per game) off the bench.

Wilson-Frame scored 20 of the team’s 56 points in the first matchup against Notre Dame, while both Brown and Stevenson notched 10 points each. A similar effort won’t get the job done against a confident Notre Dame team.

Pittsburgh shot just 33.3 percent (22 of 66) from the field and 23.3 percent (7 of 30) behind the arc in the defeat at South Bend.

The Panthers scored just 62.0 points per game (No. 348 nationally) while making 40.6 percent of their shots, and allowed 72.5 points per contest (No. 181) during the regular season.

According to KenPom.com, Pittsburgh’s effective field goal percentage (48.3 percent) ranks No. 288 nationally and their three-point accuracy (32.7 percent) sits at No. 287.

Given how recent these two teams met, there isn’t much different like if they met early in league play, etc. Notre Dame controlled the first game throughout and didn’t have much trouble despite not playing their best, shooting just 41.8 percent from the field and 29.2 percent behind the arc.

Both teams will of course make adjustments based off the first meeting, but the Irish hold the edge heading into this one.

Prediction

Notre Dame 80, Pittsburgh 62

I see this one going pretty much like this first one, with Notre Dame building a lead in the first half and never relinquishing control. Colson had a great game against the Panthers the first time in limited action and proved against Virginia he is very much so the same double-double machine.

Notre Dame should cruise in round two of this matchup.

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