Stats Breakdown: Notre Dame Through 16 Games
Notre Dame sits at 13-3 through 16 games of the 2017-18 season, with a win over then-No. 6 Wichita State in the Maui Invitational final and three straight victories to open ACC play (Georgia Tech, North Carolina State and Syracuse).
Each week, Blue & Gold Illustrated will provide a rundown of how the Irish sit nationally in various team statistical categories.
Check out the charts below to see how Irish players are faring individually and where Notre Dame sits nationally in various team statistical categories.
| Player (Games Played) | Points Per Game | Rebounds Per Game | Assists Per Fame | Steals Per Game | Blocks Per Game |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bonzie Colson (14) |
21.4 |
10.4 |
1.1 |
2.0 |
2.4 |
|
Matt Farrell (15) |
15.9 |
2.1 |
5.1 |
1.3 |
0.1 |
|
TJ Gibbs (16) |
14.8 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
1.1 |
0.0 |
|
Rex Pflueger (16) |
9.5 |
4.6 |
2.6 |
1.4 |
0.2 |
|
Martinas Geben (16) |
8.6 |
7.3 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
|
DJ Harvey (16) |
5.8 |
2.7 |
0.5 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
|
John Mooney (16) |
3.6 |
2.9 |
0.5 |
0.4 |
0.3 |
|
Elijah Burns (14) |
2.0 |
2.0 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
|
Austin Torres (12) |
1.4 |
1.3 |
0.1 |
0.2 |
0.4 |
|
Nik Djogo (12) |
1.2 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
0.1 |
|
Matt Gregory (9) |
0.3 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
|
Liam Nelligan (6) |
0.3 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.2 |
| Player | Minutes Played Per Game | Field Goals (Percentage) | Three-Point Field Goals (Percentage) | Free Throws (Percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bonzie Colson (14) |
33.6 |
113-215 (52.6) |
11-36 (30.6) |
62-78 (79.5) |
|
Matt Farrell (15) |
34.3 |
81-178 (45.5) |
41-99 (41.4) |
35-43 (81.4) |
|
TJ Gibbs (16) |
35.8 |
74-160 (46.3) |
36-81 (44.4) |
53-68 (77.9) |
|
Rex Pflueger (16) |
32.9 |
51-118 (43.2) |
18-48 (37.5) |
32-39 (82.1) |
|
Martinas Geben (16) |
22.2 |
51-81 (63.0) |
0-2 (0.0) |
35-41 (85.4) |
|
DJ Harvey (16) |
17.5 |
32-79 (40.5) |
11-33 (33.3) |
18-26 (69.2) |
|
John Mooney (16) |
11.3 |
21-44 (47.7) |
8-20 (40.0) |
7-15 (46.7) |
|
Elijah Burns (14) |
9.4 |
8-20 (40.0) |
1-2 (50.0) |
11-14 (78.6) |
|
Austin Torres (12) |
7.5 |
8-10 (80.0) |
0-0 (0.0) |
1-5 (20.0) |
|
Nik Djogo (12) |
6.0 |
4-15 (26.7) |
3-8 (37.5) |
3-6 (50.0) |
|
Matt Gregory (9) |
2.3 |
1-4 (25.0) |
1-3 (33.3) |
0-0 (0.0) |
|
Liam Nelligan (6) |
2.0 |
1-2 (50.0) |
0-1 (0.0) |
0-0 (0.0) |
Senior forward Bonzie Colson, senior point guard Matt Farrell and sophomore guard T.J. Gibbs have been consistent forces on the offensive end for the Irish through 16 games.
But Colson will likely miss the rest of the regular season with a foot injury while Farrell’s status is unknown after suffering an ankle injury against North Carolina State Jan. 3. Farrell missed the Syracuse game on Saturday.
Colson and Farrell were playing about like many expected in terms of scoring, but Gibbs stepped into that third spot to complement the senior duo. Colson is one of three ACC players to average a double-double (Duke’s Marvin Bagley and North Carolina’s Luke Maye are the others).
Senior big man Martinas Geben has stepped up his production as well, improving a stat line of just more than three points and three rebounds per game last season. Junior guard Rex Pflueger has done a little bit of everything offensively for the Irish while doubling as the team’s best defender.
Pflueger has scored in double figures in five straight games and in eight of the team’s last 10 contests after doing so just once in the first six outings of the season.
The guards will see more minutes each contest with Farrell out. Sophomore reserve Nik Djogo played 10 minutes in the Syracuse contest, which was the first Farrell missed.
Freshman wing D.J. Harvey has scored in double figures in four games this season, doing so against Chicago State (16), Chaminade (12), St. Francis Brooklyn (10) and North Carolina State (17). Harvey is expected to continue growing as a force offensively as the season rolls on and he gets more and more comfortable on that end of the floor.
Since Colson’s injury, big man John Mooney has seen his minutes increase. The sophomore played 17 minutes against the Wolfpack and 15 versus the Orange. Both were above his season average before Colson went down.
The 15- to 17-minute range is likely where Mooney will sit the rest of the season with the potential for more if the production is there.
Fellow big men Elijah Burns and Austin Torres also received extra minutes over the past two contests, with Burns playing an average of 16.5 and Torres logging 15.0.
| Stat | Notre Dame (National Ranking) | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
|
Points Per Game |
79.8 (67th) |
64.1 (27th) |
|
Field Goal Percentage |
445-926/48.1 (t-51st) |
384-964/39.8 |
|
Three-Point Percentage |
130-333/39.0 (t-44th) |
123-367/33.5 |
|
Free Throw Percentage |
257-335/76.7 (t-24th) |
135-203/66.5 |
|
Rebounds Per Game |
36.9 (t-144th) |
33.8 |
|
Assists Per Game |
14.4 (t-143th) |
13.3 |
|
Turnovers Per Game |
9.7 (4th) |
12.8 |
|
Steals Per Game |
7.4 (t-77th) |
5.0 |
|
Blocks Per Game |
4.4 (t-69th) |
3.1 |
Through 16 games, Notre Dame is scoring at a solid clip and is doing so efficiently, which is tough to beat at times. The Irish rank among the nation’s top 51 in field goal percentage and three-point percentage.
Notre Dame also hasn’t been loose with the ball so far, turning it over just 9.7 times per contest to rank fourth nationally.
The Irish didn’t fare well on the boards during non-conference play, but has won the rebounding matchup 42.7-30.3 in its three ACC games.
Even though Notre Dame has struggled a bit a times offensively, especially in the first half, the team’s defense has shown up consistently holding teams to 39.8 percent from the field and 33.5 percent from behind the three-point arc.
If the Irish can find a way to be more consistent throughout the full 40 minutes on offense while continuing to play well defensively, Brey’s team will be able to challenge in the ACC without Colson.
| Stat | KenPom.com | TeamRankings.com |
|---|---|---|
|
Offensive Efficiency |
18th (116.2) |
12th (1.156) |
|
Defensive Efficiency |
35th (95.3) |
45th (0.939) |
|
Effective FG Pct. |
56th (54.6) |
56th (54.6) |
|
Effective DFG Pct. |
36th (46.7) |
37th (46.7) |
Both KenPom.com and TeamRankings.com, which dive deeper into statistics, have Notre Dame ranked in the top 20 nationally when it comes to offensive efficiency.
The KenPom.com metric is “adjusted,” which means it takes into account the team’s opponent and is based off points scored per 100 possession (along with the opponent adjustment). TeamRanking.com’s metric is based off the points per 100 possessions metric without the adjustment KenPom.com uses.
Both sites also have the Irish near the top 40 nationally in defensive efficiency with the KenPom.com metric again being adjusted for the team’s opponents.
Notre Dame ranks 286th nationally (out of 351 teams) in terms of adjusted tempo (67.1) on KenPom.com. The site also ranks Notre Dame 14th in adjusted efficiency margin (plus-20.66).
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