Notre Dame Hosts D-I Newcomer Bellarmine In Need Of Stabilization, Fixes
Mike Brey added a last-minute Sunday night game with Detroit in early December because his team needed to play after cancelations tore up the prior week’s schedule.
Now, on the wake of another postponement, the Notre Dame coach opened his rolodex and swiftly filled the void within five hours. This time, though, the Irish need a game because they need a win.
The insertion of Bellarmine, a program in its first Division I season, should provide a nice path. Less than five hours after Brey learned Monday morning Notre Dame’s Tuesday evening game at Syracuse was axed due to COVID-19 hang-ups that hit the Orange, the Knights were on the schedule. They agreed to make the trip from Louisville for a Wednesday matinée (noon ET).
The on-court events aren’t likely to be memorable and won’t even be publicly viewable. The lack of fans and no television coverage ought to create the clandestine feel of a preseason secret scrimmage. The empty stands and time of day are ingredients for an atmosphere akin to an 8 a.m. AAU game. The setup itself just might be Notre Dame’s most bizarre, only-in-2020 game.
The last-minute nature of it and placement on the calendar might allow it to sneak up and sneak past fans who never knew it was added until they see the final score. Nonetheless, Brey wouldn’t have scheduled it if there wasn’t some upside.
Notre Dame would otherwise have had 11 days off, practicing against only itself. The team isn’t going home for Christmas. May as well play somebody. May as well provide a chance to feel good and attempt to solve the wayward moments of recent weeks in an actual game setting.
The Irish have dropped two straight games, surrendering at least 75 points in both. The most recent was an 88-78 loss to Purdue Dec. 19 in the Crossroads Classic. Brey tinkered with a new starting lineup, in part to increase playing time for transfer guard Trey Wertz. The former Santa Clara point guard seized his move into the starting five and scored 27 points in 29 minutes in his second game since he was ruled eligible. He made five 3-pointers, had five assists and just one turnover.
“I kind of liked what I saw,” Brey said afterward. “We can try and build on that.”
“That was the easiest 27, with no forced action, that I’ve ever witnessed.”
What irked Brey, though, was another listless effort on defense. Purdue made 14 of its 28 three-pointers, the volume just as worrisome as the accuracy. The Boilermakers were 8 of 15 on layups, had only two shots blocked and committed just six turnovers. They weren’t often stressed in cruising to 1.29 points per possession. Brey was often looking for answers. Still is.
“I don’t know what those are yet,” Brey said. “There’s no question on that end of the floor, we’re giving up too much too easy. It puts such pressure on our offense. We’re going to have to look at some zone at times. We tried a little bit today.”
Bellarmine (1-2) is more likely to allow for Brey to experiment than it is to push the Irish for 40 minutes and threaten to hand them a loss. The Knights haven’t played since Dec. 9, when they lost to Chattanooga. Two of their three games were against Notre Dame opponents: They lost 76-54 to Duke in the season opener and handled Howard 84-63 two days later.
Notre Dame (2-4, 0-1 ACC) vs. Bellarmine (1-2, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)
When: Wednesday, Dec. 23, Noon ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion
TV: The game will not be televised
Radio: Notre Dame Basketball Radio Network, available worldwide on und.com
KenPom prediction: Notre Dame 78, Bellarmine 64
Series history: The programs met four times while Bellarmine was in Division II, including a pair of exhibition games last season.
Other notes:
• With Wertz in the starting lineup, guard Prentiss Hubb operated more off the ball than he did in the first six games. But for the first time since Jan. 5, 2019, he went scoreless. He was 0-for-7 from the floor, with four assists and two turnovers. Wertz lessens the pressure on him, but not his role. Hubb played a team-high 38 minutes.
• Forward Juwan Durham was the starter removed for Wertz, which shifted Notre Dame to a four-guard lineup around forward Nate Laszewski. All the starters played at least 29 minutes. Durham played 19 and finished with four points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
• Notre Dame played seven guys in the rotation against Purdue, with Durham and wing Nikola Djogo as the main reserves. Freshmen Matt Zona and Tony Sanders Jr. each appeared for less than a minute.
• Notre Dame is 12th nationally in 3-point accuracy, at 41.1 percent.
• Bellarmine has made 39 percent of its 3-point attempts through three games (29th nationally), but the volume is low (321st in percentage of shots from deep).
• It's an extremely small sample, Knights sophomore forward Alec Pfriem leads the country in defensive rebounding rate, grabbing 46.7 percent of opponent misses when he's on the floor.
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