Game Thread | Notre Dame vs. Georgia
Notre Dame (7-3) vs. Georgia (7-3)
Date: December 18th
Time: 5:30 PM ET
Where: State Farm Arena
TV: ESPN2 | Tom Hart & Dane Bradshaw
Line: Notre Dame -3.5
O/U: 134
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 2-1
- The last time the two programs met was in November of 2011 and the Bulldogs won 61-57.
- Notre Dame is 7-0 when leading after the half this season
- The Irish are No. 7 in the nation in free throw percentage (80.4%)
- Notre Dame averages just 8.9 turnovers a game, which is No. 3 in the country.
PROJECTED STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| JJ Starling | 12.5 | 2.9 | 1.1 |
| Trey Wertz | 10.8 | 2.7 | 4.1 |
| Cormac Ryan | 12.5 | 4.1 | 2.0 |
| Dane Goodwin | 12.9 | 4.9 | 1.7 |
| Nate Laszewski | 14.9 | 8.3 | 1.6 |
Georgia
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Terry Roberts | 14.2 | 4.7 | 4.4 |
| Kario Oquendo | 13.9 | 4.3 | 0.9 |
| Justin Hill | 8.4 | 3.2 | 2.9 |
| Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe | 6.0 | 4.5 | 0.7 |
| Braelen Bridges | 6.2 | 4.2 | 0.8 |
Preview
| Category | Notre Dame | Georgia |
| Points | 72.4 | 70.0 |
| Opponent Points | 68.9 | 63.3 |
| FG% | 47.2% | 42.9% |
| Rebounds | 31.6 | 39.4 |
| Assists | 12.1 | 12.6 |
| Blocks | 3.3 | 3.6 |
| Steals | 4.2 | 7.4 |
Notre Dame is in a weird position entering Sunday’s trip to Atlanta to play Georgia at a “neutral site.” The Irish are far from the terrible product Louisville has put on the floor, but Mike Brey’s group hasn’t exactly looked remotely close to a team that can make the NCAA Tournament.
The Irish have kept the turnovers and fouls down, but is it because they aren’t aggressive on either side of the floor? Notre Dame’s defense has struggled to stop anyone from getting to the rim and Georgia has seen the film.
“We’ve got to compete,” stated Brey. “I’d like to see us stick our nose in there a little bit today and tomorrow before we head to Georgia because I don’t think we did that really well.
“We’ve got a chance to bounce back but we’re going to have to deal with athletes down there. Guys coming at your chest, coming at your throat.”
Notre Dame’s defense needs to find answers or at least a little heart, but the other issue is the offense has been inconsistent. The good news is the Irish aren’t having scoring droughts like some of the teams over the last 4-5 years. but they are going scoreless for over five minutes at a time, which is alarming given the experience on the roster.
“If your offense isn’t going good, are you mentally tough enough to go back and defend,” Brey said. “We’re not there yet. We have not shown that and that is a thing we’ve got to challenge them with.
“I’d like to get into a better offensive rhythm, too. A lot of times when you’re in a little better offensive rhythm, you’re back there defending a little better. So it’s a little bit of both.”
Brey has to find a way to bring out the team that ran Michigan State off the floor, but that’s proven to be a tough task as the Irish have yet to do it since the win in November.
“We’ve been in and out of being connected on both ends of the floor,” explained Brey. “We were lucky to beat a couple teams because we got disconnected.
“Teams with athletic ability and bodies - we really have to be connected more defensively. It’s not like we haven’t done it, but we don’t do it enough.”
Notre Dame Last Five
Marquette - 79-64
Boston University - 81-75 W
Syracuse - 62-61 L
Michigan State - 70-52 W
St. Bonaventure - 63-51 L
Georgia Last Five
Georgia Tech.- 79-77 L
Florida A&M - 68-46 - W
Hampton 73-54 - W
East Tennessee State - 62-47
UAB - 87-73 L
Notre Dame Fighting Irish OHT Military Appreciation Digit Quarter-Snap
