Game Thread | Bellarmine at Notre Dame
Bellarmine Knights (1-2) at Notre Dame (2-4)
Date: December 23rd
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
Quick Facts
- Mike Brey is 2-0 against Scott Davenport and Bellarmine.
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 4-0 and 8-0 against the Atlantic Sun Conference.
- It took a little more than five hours for Notre Dame to schedule Bellarmine after the first ACC road trip of the season, set for Syracuse on December 22, was postponed due to contact tracing issues between the Orange and their previous opponent, Buffalo.
- Notre Dame is 9-13 all-time in games played on December 23 - a date that featured a number of marquee matchups for the Irish through the 1940s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. The Irish are on a four-game win streak on December 23 and are 2-0 under Mike Brey on December 23 - the most recent a 75-68 win over Columbia in 2005.
- The Irish are 10th in the country in free throw percentage at .818. Trim the national list to teams that have played at least five games and Notre Dame is fifth in the country. The Irish are just head of Virginia (.813) for the ACC lead in free throw percentage.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 16.2 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Cormac Ryan | 10.8 | 4.2 | 4.0 |
| Dane Goodwin | 14.3 | 5.2 | 2.5 |
| Trey Wertz | 18.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Nate Laszewski | 14.3 | 8.5 | 0.5 |
Bellarmine
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Dylan Penn | 15.7 | 2.7 | 5.0 |
| Juston Betz | 3.0 | 1.7 | 2.3 |
| Pedro Bradshaw | 15.0 | 7.3 | 3.3 |
| Ethan Claycomb | 11.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| Nick Thelen | 7.3 | 2.3 | 0.3 |
Preview
Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 73.3
Bellarmine: 68.7
Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 77.7
Bellarmine: 72.0
FG%
Notre Dame: 43.6%
Bellarmine: 47.6%
Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 33.5
Bellarmine: 32.0
Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 14.8
Bellarmine: 16.3
Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 3.8
Bellarmine: 0.7
Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 3.7
Bellarmine: 5.0
The bad news is Notre Dame’s game with Syracuse was postponed on Tuesday. The good news is Notre Dame set a game with Bellarmine for this afternoon and it should be a chance for the Irish to add one to the win column.
Notre Dame is desperate to add confidence and simply to work through the kinks starting a new season. As Mike Brey has noted on several occasions, Notre Dame didn’t get a regular exhibition season or “easier’ opponents to iron things out to start the season.
The murder’s row schedule has been tough on the Irish and Wednesday should be a bounce-back game.
This game will be solely about the Irish and a chance to get better. Notre Dame won’t be undermanned and certainly hold the edge athletically, which will be a nice change for this group. Can Notre Dame control the boards against a team who doesn’t rebound well and lacks size?
What will the offense look like? Can the Irish find a groove and not have a long stretch of scoreless play against an inferior opponent?
Notre Dame doesn’t need game pressure. The Irish need a big win. Getting the starters on track is key, but also getting the bench big minutes will only help later in the year. Brey’s squad won’t get another tune-up game and they need to take advantage.
Notre Dame 78 Bellarmine 64