MEN'S HOOPS: Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech Preview
NOTRE DAME (10-6, 1-4 ACC) vs. GEORGIA TECH (8-8, 3-3)
Where: McCamish Pavilion, Atlanta
Time/TV/Internet: Tonight (8:30 p.m., EST); Available on The ACC Network, UND.com, Sirius/XM Radio Channel 989
Line: Georgia Tech -2 (134 ov/und)
Prediction: Notre Dame 65, Georgia Tech 63
Series Facts: Coming off a tough 67-64 loss Saturday at home to Louisville that dropped Notre Dame to 1-4 in ACC play, the reeling Irish return to action tonight against Georgia Tech at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
Georgia Tech and Boston College are Notre Dame’s two permanent home-and-home ACC opponents, meaning the Irish and Yellow Jackets play twice each league season.
Notre Dame is 7-5 since that repeat arrangement began for the 2013-14 season.
These two teams actually played three times last season.
Notre Dame lost 63-61 in Atlanta then won 69-59 in South Bend to split the two regular season matchups.
The Irish then defeated the Yellow Jackets 78-71 in the first round of the ACC Tournament, one of the few bright spots of last season.
Georgia Tech leads the series 11-10.
NOTRE DAME OVERVIEW
Irish head coach Mike Brey didn’t even wait Tuesday to be asked a question that he knew was coming before he proactively answered it.
“It’s not like we haven’t done it!” Brey explained of his team’s ongoing struggles to finish and win games late, “we did it against Toledo, we did it at the Carrier Dome (against Syracuse)!”
Notre Dame has followed a familiar — and troubling — script this season.
Six times the Irish have trailed by at least seven points in the second half.
To their credit, four times they’ve clawed back, often taken a late lead, and had a legitimate chance to complete a comeback win in each of those four.
Only once, against Toledo, were they able to finish the job and secure a victory.
And with the make-up and parity within the ACC this season, expect the Irish to be in these down-to-the-wire situations almost every time out.
“It’s never your turn, you gotta go get it,” Brey told his team this week.
McCamish Pavilion has provided some exciting — and sometimes bizarre — finishes in this series.
Four of the last five meetings there have been decided by three points or fewer.
GEORGIA TECH OVERVIEW
Led by 6-5 sophomore guard Michael Devoe, the Yellow Jackets feature four players averaging double-figures.
Devoe averages 16.1 points per game, which is sixth in the league.
Moses Wright, a 6-9 junior forward, has been the Yellow Jackets player to watch of late.
Moses, who averages 13.6 points and has scored double figures in seven consecutive games, ranks second in the ACC in field-goal percentage (55.2) and seventh in rebounding (8.2).
With 18 points and 10 rebounds Saturday in a 71-52 win at Boston College, Moses has six double-doubles this season, three of which came against No. 3 Duke, No. 9 Florida State and No. 10 Kentucky.
GAME OUTLOOK
*Brey was encouraged by a lineup move he tinkered with Saturday in the Louisville loss. Needing an offensive burst after his team scored only 24 points in the first half, Brey switched to essentially a four-guard offense and got the results he wanted.
Taking all of the second-half minutes away from senior starting forward Juwan Durham, an interior specialist, sophomore guard Dane Goodwin played all but one minute of the second half and scored 11 of his 14 points in the stanza.
With Goodwin on the floor, Notre Dame started the second half on an 11-1 run to get itself back into the game, and outscored the Cardinals 40-31 in the second half.
*The fact that Georgia Tech has two home games this week seems like good news. But consider that the Yellow Jackets are 0-3 at McCamish Pavilion and 3-0 on the road in ACC games this year, then maybe home isn’t so sweet after all.
QUICK HITS:
*Despite going only 3-4 at McCamish Pavilion overall so far this season, Georgia Tech is 10-1 all-time at the venue against the Irish.
*A double-double for Irish senior forward John Mooney against Georgia Tech would be his 11th in a row, which would tie a Notre Dame streak record set by Luke Harangody in 2008-09.
*Speaking of Mooney, the Irish standout needed only 15 games this season to reach 200 rebounds. It’s the second quickest a major conference player has ever reached that mark in a year. Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97 needed only 14 games to hit the 200 rebound mark.
QUOTEABLE:
“If Coach Wooden was alive today, he would fire all of that (John R. Wooden Player of the Year Award) advisory board, there’s no question. You mean to tell me John Wooden wouldn’t appreciate how Johnny Mooney plays, my gosh? That award, I just think it’s a little bit comical and a little bit public relations.” — Brey on Mooney being left off the 25-player Wooden Award finalists list for national player of the year.
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