Game Thread | Notre Dame at (3) Maryland
Notre Dame (6-1) at No. 3 Maryland (8-0)
Date: December 4th
Time: 7:30p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Center| College Park, MD
TV: ESPN - Dave Pasch and Jimmy Dykes
Quick Facts
- Notre Dame and Maryland have met 20 times as the Irish lead the all-time series 11-9.
- Mike Brey is 2-2 against Maryland.
- The Irish are 3-5 at Maryland’s and 0-1 at the Xfinity Center.
- Notre Dame leads the country in assist-turnover ratio at 1.82.
- John Mooney ranks fourth in the country in rebounds at 13.0 per game.
- TJ Gibbs became the 21st Notre Dame player to top 300 assists in his career against Fairleigh Dickinson.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 9.9 | 2.3 | 4.4 |
| TJ Gibbs | 12.0 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Rex Pflueger | 7.3 | 4.1 | 3.4 |
| John Mooney | 14.3 | 13.0 | 2.3 |
| Juwan Durham | 8.0 | 7.0 | 0.7 |
Maryland
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Anthony Cowan Jr. | 17.1 | 3.3 | 4.5 |
| Aaron Wiggins | 10.8 | 5.6 | 1.8 |
| Eric Ayala | 19.9 | 2.4 | 2.0 |
| Darryl Morsell | 9.0 | 6.1 | 1.9 |
| Jalen Smith | 13.4 | 9.0 | 1.0 |
Preview
Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 75.4
Maryland: 81.0
Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 61.1
Maryland: 62.4
FG%
Notre Dame: 41.7%
Maryland: 45.2%
Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 42.0
Maryland: 41.9
Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 17.1
Maryland: 13.4
Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 4.0
Maryland: 5.3
Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 7.9
Maryland: 6.1
Notre Dame competed against North Carolina to open the season in Chapel Hill and Wednesday night will be a great measuring stick to see how far the Irish have come in a month.
Maryland holds an advantage at just about every position on paper. John Mooney is the bright spot for Notre Dame, but college basketball is crazy and the Irish have several factors going for them. Prentiss Hubb, Mike Brey and Rod Balanis will make their return to Maryland, which might provide a little extra juice.
Hubb has struggled as of late with his shot and has dipped under 10 points per game for the first time this season. He’s shooting 40.6 percent from the field, but just 31.6 percent from three-point range. He’ll have a lot of family and friends in the building on Wednesday and it could be a recipe to see the Hubb we saw against North Carolina. (22 points and 6 assists)
Notre Dame will need production from Hubb as Maryland point guard Anthony Cowan Jr. will be a tough task to slow down.
“The point guard is a big-time winner,” stated Notre Dame coach Mike Brey. “Cowan really makes them go. Rex will start on him, but a lot of guys have to guard him. Do we change defenses to throw him? Every time they've been in crunch time, he makes the plays for them. (Darryl) Morsell is a winner too. We know him well. We recruited the heck out of him. Cowan has just driven the bus for them."
Brey also believes his team is more prepared to handle a tough environment as his young guys have aged. Dane Goodwin has scored in double-figures in five of the last six games and Nate Laszewski has scored in double-figures in three consecutive games.
“We've come leaps and bounds since North Carolina,” explained Brey. “I thought we were really good that night. We were ready to go and compete. I like where Dane (Goodwin) and Nate (Laszewski) are right now and where they're trending.
"I don't know if they were there on November 4th. This stretch at home helped us get a little confident. We had to fight our way through some stuff."
Notre Dame will get a chance to make a statement on Wednesday and one the program has needed since last year. Can they? We’ll see.
“For your guys, it's a great opportunity,” said Brey. “It's a big week for us. We turn around and we have a league game on Saturday afternoon. We step it up a level and it's time to do that."
Prediction: Maryland 81 Notre Dame 69