MEN'S HOOPS -- No. 7 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Virginia Game Preview
No. 7 NOTRE DAME (20-12) vs. No. 2 VIRGINIA (23-7)
Where: Greensboro Coliseum Complex (0), Greensboro, N.C.
Time/TV/Internet: Today (7:00 p.m., EST); Available on either ESPN or ESPN2, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Prediction: Virginia 59, Notre Dame 54
ACC Tournament Bracket: Link is here
Series Facts: After muddling along to a 15-7 start this season, Virginia has become one of the hottest teams in the country and it will put an eight-game winning streak up tonight against Notre Dame in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Tournament (7 p.m. EST, ESPN or ESPN2).
Right up to Notre Dame’s heart-breaking 50-49 loss in Charlottesville, Va., a month ago, Virginia and its head coach Tony Bennett have been the biggest thorn for Mike Brey during his 20 years as head coach of the Irish. Since the two became ACC foes in 2014, Bennett is 8-1 versus Brey.
Bennett also went 2-0 against Brey’s Irish while the former was the head coach at Washington State.
The lone victory for Brey against Bennett came in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 ACC Tournament, a victory that helped propel Notre Dame to the conference championship game where it lost against Duke.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
A common belief in college basketball — and not unfounded — is that the first team to score 60 points wins the game.
Unfortunately, in its lone regular-season meeting with Virginia, Notre Dame couldn’t even get to 50 points, scoring a season-low 49 points in a one-point overtime loss.
In a game that more than lived up to its low-score billing, neither team even approached 40-percent shooting.
Missed opportunities and trademark Virginia defense limited Notre Dame to just one field goal and three points over the last 2:37 of regulation and the five minutes of overtime.
In fact, the Irish scored points on only two of its final 12 possessions in the game and managed only five points in the final 9:38, including overtime.
If Notre Dame can find a way to get to 60 points and stay away from extended scoring droughts, it has a legitimate shot at upsetting the offensively-challenged Cavaliers.
VIRGINIA OVERVIEW
*Staying true to its defensive identity, Virginia ranks first in the nation in scoring defense (52.4 points allowed) and second in field-goal percentage defense (36.9). Perhaps most importantly against an Irish team reliant on three-point shooting, the Cavaliers are 17th nationally at defending the arc (29.3 percent).
*At or near the top of the AP Top 25 poll all of last season on its way to a 35-3 record and a national championship, Virginia’s slow start this year — at one point 12-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC — dropped it out of the poll for the first time since November of 2017, ending a streak of 46 straight weeks in the national rankings.
With 11 wins in 12 games to finish the regular season, Virginia re-entered the rankings and now stands at No. 17.
GAME OUTLOOK
When news broke Wednesday evening that beginning tonight fans would not be allowed to attend the final three rounds of the ACC Tournament out of fears of spreading the coronavirus, the Irish players immediately realized they’ll face a unique setting.
Here was the assessment from Irish senior guard T.J. Gibbs.
“Our families are usually here and it’s a little bit easier to play with a little bit more energy in the building, but we have to bring our own energy and just play the way we play.”
QUICK HITS
*Virginia has held Notre Dame to 58 points or fewer in eight of the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
*The win over Boston College made Notre Dame 10-5 all-time in the ACC Tournament during its seven years in the league. Only once has it lost its opening-round game (2014).
*With eight points and a team-best 11 rebounds against BC, Irish senior forward John Mooney fell short of his 26th double-double for the second straight game, the first time he has gone consecutive games this season without recording one.
QUOTEABLE: “I don’t think there is going to be any letdown or distraction. You know, we practice over 100 practices a year in a (vacant) gym like that. I’m going to remind us of some of the great practices when there’s seven people in the gym and we’re going at it.” — Brey on the strange dynamic of playing a critical tourney game with no attendees there to see it live.
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