PREVIEW: from Notre Dame

[wtm97]

A Battle of Unbeatens As Notre Dame Meets Providence In Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament
Former BIG EAST rivals meet for 27th time at 2:30 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Nov. 23, 2014

NOTRE DAME (4-0) vs. PROVIDENCE (4-0)
Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament · 2:30 pm (ET)
Mohegan Sun Arena · Uncasville, Connecticut
Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014

Television: ESPN2/ESPN3
Announcers: Doug Sherman (play-by-play) and Doris Burke (analyst)


NOTRE DAME AND PROVIDENCE MATCHUP
Notre Dame (4-0) and Providence (4-0) meet in Sunday's (Nov. 23) second game of the Naismith Bracket in the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament at 2:30 p.m. (ET) at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Uncasville, Connecticut on ESPN2.
Both teams are coming off victories in Saturday's semifinal action. The Irish defeated Massachusetts (81-68) in the first game on Saturday afternoon, while the Friars handed Florida State an 80-54 setback.

SERIES RECORD VERSUS PROVIDENCE
Sunday's matchup between Notre Dame and Providence is the 27th between the two schools. The Irish lead the all-time series 16-10.
The Irish and Friars are former BIG EAST Conference rivals. Notre Dame was a member of the BIG EAST from 1995-2013 and was 14-7 versus Providence in conference play (regular season and tournament games) during those 18 seasons.
Notre Dame has won nine of its last 10 meetings against Providence. The last time the two teams played, the Friars came away with a 71-54 victory at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. That result snapped Notre Dame's nine-game win streak against the Friars.
This will be just the second meeting in the series on a neutral floor. The only meeting on a neutral floor was at the Madison Square Garden in the BIG EAST Tournament as Providence earned a 72-55 victory on March 4, 1998.
Irish head coach Mike Brey is 11-2 all-time against Providence.

IRISH IN THE NUTMEG STATE
Saturday's game against Massachusetts marked the first time Notre Dame had played in the state of Connecticut since Jan. 29, 2012 when the Irish defeated former BIG EAST foe Connecticut, 50-48, at the XL Center in Hartford.
With the win yesterday, the Irish are 3-11 all-time playing in the state of Connecticut. It marked the first time Notre Dame had played in the Nutmeg state in an arena other than the XL Center or Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
In their 13 meetings in the state of Connecticut against the Huskies, the Irish were 3-10.

NEW ENGLAND HOMECOMING
Three members of the Notre Dame basketball team are from the state of Massachusetts and they will return for a New England homecoming of sorts this weekend. Senior captain Pat Connaughton is from Arlington and attended St. John's Prep in Danvers; Zach Auguste hails from Marlborough and graduated from New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire, and Bonzie Colson is a native of New Bedford and a graduate of the St. Andrew's School in Barrington, Rhode Island.

NOTRE DAME AGAINST THE BIG EAST
Against the 10 teams that currently comprise the BIG EAST Conference, Notre Dame owns a 202-66 record.
In 18 seasons as a member of the BIG EAST from 1995-2013, Irish teams compiled a 181-150 record (including both regular season and tournament play). From 1995-2000, Notre Dame teams were just 35-53 in the league, but were 146-97 all-time under Mike Brey (13 seasons).
Brey currently ranks fourth all-time on the BIG EAST Conference career wins list (146).
Providence is the first BIG EAST team the Irish have faced since joining the ACC in 2013-14.

POINTS A PLENTY
In its first four games, Notre Dame is averaging 89.8 ppg.
The Irish have scored 80 or more points in each of its first four games for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign when Notre Dame began the year netting 80-plus points in each of the first five contests.
Notre Dame is outscoring its opponents by +33.0 ppg., as the Irish are off to their first 4-0 start since 2011-12 and for the eighth time in 15 seasons under Mike Brey.

IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT SUCCESS UNDER Mike Brey
During Mike Brey's tenure at Notre Dame, his teams have registered a 28-13 record (.683) playing in-season tournaments.
The Irish have won three championships during his 14-plus seasons - Hawaii-Pacific Thanksgiving Classic (2001), BB&T Classic (2002) and the Old Spice Classic (2010).

IRISH GET OFFENSIVE OUT OF THE GATE
Notre Dame's 359 points are the most for the Irish through the first four games of a season since they tallied 369 in 2010-01 following wins over Georgia Southern (98-61), Liberty (72-51), Chicago State (102-62) and Maine (97-72).

AUGUSTE ON THE ATTACK
Junior forward Zach Auguste leads the Irish in scoring with 17.8 ppg. He topped Notre Dame in the scoring column in each of the first three games, posting career-high point totals in each of those three contests. He tallied 19 points in the season opener versus Binghamton and followed that up with a 20-point effort against Navy. In the win over Coppin State, Auguste topped the 20-point mark for the second straight game with a personal best 21 points and he was perfect from the field, connecting on all nine of his field goal attempts and all three of his free throws.
In yesterday's win over Massachusetts, he registered his first double-double of the season and second of his career as he finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
In addition to leading the Irish in scoring, Auguste tops the Irish in field goal percentage (.700) and free throw percentage (.714). He has connected on 28-of-40 from the field and 15-of-21 from the free-throw line. Entering this season, he was a career 53.6% (44-82) shooter from the charity stripe.
Auguste has scored in double-figures in a personal-best five straight games dating back to the final game of the 2013-14 campaign against Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

A DYNAMIC DUO
Seniors Pat Connaughton and Jerian Grant have spent a lot of time on the court together since they first stepped onto the floor during the 2011-12 campaign.
The duo has combined for 190 games played (172 of them starts), 2,227 points, 821 rebounds, 675 assists and 190 steals.
Even more impressive is the fact they have accounted for 6,307 minutes played on the court (33.2 mpg.).

A BIG PART OF THE IRISH OFFENSE
Just four games into the season, Jerian Grant already has been a big part of the Notre Dame offensive, accounting for 145 of the 359 points (40.4 percent) scored by the Irish.
Against Binghamton, Grant had a hand in 25 of Notre Dame's 82 points, scoring 14 points and dishing off five assists that resulted in 11 Irish points.
In the win over Navy, Grant factored into 42 of the 92 points the Irish put on the scoreboard. In registering his fifth career double-double, he scored 17 points and dished off 10 assists that produced in 25 points.
On Wednesday night in the win over Coppin State, Grant accounted for 34 of Notre Dame's 104 points as he tallied 15 and dished off eight assists that resulted in 19 points.
In the victory over Massachusetts, Grant had his prolific outing as he accounted for 44 of Notre Dame's 81 points, scoring a season-high 24 and dishing off eight assist that resulted in 20 point.
Grant was 10-13 from the field against the Minutemen. The 10 field goals marked a career best.
His 24-point effort was the most points scored by an Irish player this season and the 15th 20-plus point scoring effort of his career.

IRONMAN
Pat Connaughton has never missed a game during his Fighting Irish career. He has played in all 105 contests, including 89 starts. Connaughton has started 86 consecutive games.
Connaughton never left the court in eight games in 2013-14 (six times in ACC play).

ROAD DAWGS
Yesterday's win over Massachusetts was the first time in 2014-15 that the Irish had played a game away from the friendly confines of Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center.
Notre Dame is 99-118 (.456) playing on the road (either in a "true" road game or neutral site contest).
In 2013-14, Notre Dame was just 2-11 away from home.

513 AND COUNTING
Notre Dame has made at least one three-pointer in 513 straight contests dating back to the 1998-99 campaign.

[mikemc]

"In its first four games, Notre Dame is averaging 89.8 ppg."

What do you think, PC has to keep ND in the low 70's to win today??


....gotta love friartown...

[dmac80]

Defense is the key for our team. Everything feeds off that. Have to shut ND down today. They've dominated every game they've played so hopefully this will be a wake up call.

[dmac80]

BTW the espn box says this is an away game for us, is that how this one counts? I noticed ND is listed as 3-0 at home and 1-0 away (presumably yesterday counted as away for them??). I thought these games were neutral. Can anyone clarify?

[MindDFlight]

ND isn't getting to the line often. Even in their 100-something win over Coppin St., they only took 19 free throws. That means they're settling for a lot of jumpers,

I'm with you, DC -- the Friars have to contest the outside shot and rebound. Hope to see CD, Henton, Bentil, Harris, and Chukwu own the paint.

[MindDFlight]

Nov 23, 2014 12:21:02 GMT -5 MindDFlight said:

ND isn't getting to the line often. Even in their 100-something win over Coppin St., they only took 19 free throws. That means they're settling for a lot of jumpers,

I'm with you, DC -- the Friars have to contest the outside shot and rebound. Hope to see CD, Henton, Bentil, Harris, and Chukwu own the paint.

Technically, there's always a "home" and "away" team, but the game will considered a neutral site contest.

[dmac80]

As expected game has a much different feel from yesterday. ND is very good and plays disciplined ball. Other concern, Lindsey landed on opponents foot, rolled his ankle and went to locker room. Let's hope he's ok and gets back in action soon...

[dmac80]

Friars switch to a zone which scares me a little but so far ND has clanked a few good looks from downtown against it. Meanwhile Bentil (!) hits a three followed by Henton. Did not expect Bentil to be a credible threat from deep.

[friarbrown]

It's encouraging that we aren't playing our best and in this. The officials are taking the fun out of this game with the ticky tack fouls.

[dmac80]

Haven't liked the way this one felt from the get go. Awful officiating. Dunn not having a good game today the slower pace has affected him. Let's see what happens with 8 to go but feeling nervous.

[dmac80]

We finally feed It inside and draw a whistle with 5 min left in game to go to line. Been in bonus for at least 5 minutes. This is a big reason we've let it get away from us.

[dmac80]

Idiot time keeper starts clock before Dunn touches on in bound. Just cost us 3 or 4 seconds. F*cking clown show.

[HolyMoly]

Nov 23, 2014 16:21:21 GMT -5 dmac80 said:

We finally feed It inside and draw a whistle with 5 min left in game to go to line. Been in bonus for at least 5 minutes. This is a big reason we've let it get away from us.

I would definitely like to see our bigs get more touches and post-ups.

[dmac80]

That grant is a huge pain the ass. All day he's been killing us. Dunn is still limping considerably btw, let's hope it was a hard bump on that shin.

Win or lose Henton has it. Guy is ridiculous.

[friarbrown]

This was a HUGE WIN! Having Henton, Harris and Derosiers makes a difference. They made plays down the stretch. I wish the refs would have let us play though. Terrible officiating on both ends.