Game Thread | Virginia Tech at Notre Dame
Virginia Tech (16-14, 7-12) at Notre Dame (18-12, 9-10)
Date: March 7
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: ACC Network | Dave O’Brien, Jordan Cornette and Katie George
Quick Facts
- Notre Dame and Virginia Tech will meet for the 13th time on Saturday.
- The Irish lead the all-time series 8-4, but the Hokies have won the last two meetings.
- Notre Dame is 3-2 at Purcell Pavilion against Virginia Tech.
- John Mooney is second in the nation and leads all major conference players in rebounds-per-game with a 12.8 average.
- Senior John Mooney leads the nation with 25 double-doubles this season (in 29 games) ahead of William & Mary’s Nathan Knight (22 in 31 games) as of Friday, March 6.
- Rex Pflueger has played in 139 games and it matches the school record held by Pat Connaughton. That record will be broken today.
- TJ Gibbs has played 4,084 minutes and is the seventh Notre Dame player to eclipse the 4,000 minutes mark.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 12.2 | 2.4 | 4.9 |
| TJ Gibbs | 12.9 | 2.2 | 3.2 |
| Rex Pflueger | 5.1 | 3.4 | 3.5 |
| John Mooney | 16.8 | 12.8 | 1.8 |
| Juwan Durham | 7.8 | 4.6 | 0.8 |
Virginia Tech
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Wabissa Bede | 5.3 | 3.7 | 5.6 |
| Tyrece Radford | 10.4 | 6.3 | 1.8 |
| Nahiem Alleyne | 9.0 | 2.4 | 1.5 |
| Landers Nolley II | 15.9 | 6.0 | 2.4 |
| PJ Horne | 7.4 | 4.1 | 0.4 |
Preview
Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 74.4
Virginia Tech: 69.4
Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 69.3
Virginia Tech: 66.2
FG%
Notre Dame: 42.6%
Virginia Tech: 42.6%
Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 37.4
Virginia Tech: 34.3
Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 16.5
Virginia Tech: 14.8
Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 3.8
Virginia Tech: 2.9
Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 5.8
Virginia Tech: 5.9
And we’re here.
Saturday marks the end of the regular season for the Fighting Irish as Virginia Tech comes to Purcell Pavilion for Senior Day.
Seniors John Mooney, Rex Pflueger and TJ Gibbs have seen the highs and lows of college basketball over their career, but despite the disappointment of Wednesday night, it’s a group who will want to make sure they walk off the floor on Saturday with a win.
Mooney is up to 46 career double-doubles on the year and there are too many fun facts to note at this point his career. The Orlando native tied Luke Harangody’s single-season double-double record with 25 against Florida State, but he also set the ACC single-season record with 16 passing Tim Duncan.
A few fun facts on Mooney:
- With 900 career rebounds, Mooney is 10th on the Notre Dame career list and is the ninth Irish player to reach the 900-rebound statistical plateau.
- With 20 double-doubles last season and 25 this season, Mooney is the first Notre Dame player to boast two seasons with 20 or more double-doubles in a career.
- With 25 double-doubles so far this season – and finishing 2018-19 with 20 total – Mooney joins Tim Duncan and Sheldon Williams as the only ACC players to post consecutive seasons with 20 or more double-doubles in the past 25 years.
- Mooney is the first ACC player to post consecutive seasons with 13 or more double-doubles in league play. His 29 double-doubles in two seasons are the most for an ACC player over a two-year stretch since Tim Duncan had 26 combined in 1995-96 and 1996-97.
- 86 percent is the percentage of double-doubles in games played this season for John Mooney (25 of 29, .862). That percentage is the best in the country and threatens Blake Griffin from Oklahoma (30 of 35, .857) and Kenny Adeleke (Hartford, 24 of 28, .857) for the highest percentage in Division I over the past 20 years.
- With 237 rebounds in ACC play this season, Mooney needs two more rebounds to move past Tim Duncan’s ACC record for total rebounds in a season from the 1996-97 season.
It’s been a ride for Pflueger. You know his story and what he’s battled over the last year, which is incredible that he’s even on the floor and playing basketball. Pflueger might not have the numbers of Mooney, but he has made left a mark on the program with game-winning plays. North Carolina in 2020, Wichita State in Maui, Syracuse buzzer-beater in the Carrier Dome, Duke, and the tip-in against Stephen F. Austin to advance to the Sweet 16.
Pflueger’s 744 points, 434 rebounds, 342 assists and 143 steals are in rare company as only three other players have reached the mark in that combination of stats. (Chris Thomas, David Graves and Tory Jackson)
Gibbs had a rough junior season, but has rebounded to have a big season in 2019-20, including the buzzer-beater at Boston College last week.
The New Jersey native will leave the program with the most points scored (875) in ACC play in school history as he passed Steve Vasturia (739) and Bonzie Colson (696) earlier this season.
Gibbs heads into his final game at Purcell Pavilion with career marks of 1,538 points, 281 rebounds, 375 assists and 131 steals.
Prediction: Notre Dame 78 Virginia Tech 69