Game Thread | Notre Dame at Pittsburgh

Notre Dame (5-9, 2-6) at Pittsburgh (8-4, 4-3)

Date: January 30th

Time: 8:00 p.m. ET

Where: Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, Pa.

TV:  ACC Network | Mike Monaco and Dan Bonner 

Line: Pittsburgh -3.5 

ACC Standings 

Quick Facts 

- Mike Brey is 1-1 against Jeff Capel and 14-11 against Pitt. 

- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 34-31.

- Nate Laszewski leads the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage at 55.1%

- Nate Laszewski leads the ACC in field goal percentage at 65.0%. 

- Prentiss Hubb became the 17th player in program history to top 360 career assists.  

THE STARTERS

Notre Dame

Pittsburgh

Preview

Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 69.9
Pittsburgh: 73.5

Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 72.6
Pittsburgh: 67.7

FG%
Notre Dame: 44.7%
Pittsburgh: 43.4%

Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 32.4
Pittsburgh: 41.2

Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 14.3
Pittsburgh: 16.1

Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 3.4
Pittsburgh: 3.9

Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 4.1
Pittsburgh: 6.4

Notre Dame’s starting lineup is a guess at this point. Will Cormac Ryan be back from an ankle strain? Will Mike Brey start his bench? It’s an unknown. 

The Irish will be facing one of the most improved basketball teams in the country on Saturday. The Panthers are currently No. 6 in the ACC after finishing No. 13 a year ago. 

Why has Pitt exploded up the ACC standings? Justin Champagnie. The sophomore forward might be the ACC Player of the Year as he’s averaging 20.2 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. Champagnie has scored in double figures in every game this season and includes scoring 31 points and pulling down 14 rebounds against Duke. 

It’s problematic for Notre Dame as they don’t exactly have someone to slow Champagnie down. In addition to Champagnie, Pitt is averaging over 41 rebounds per game. Notre Dame will need to be aggressive on the boards or Saturday night might be a long one.

Following Wednesday’s loss to Virginia Tech, Brey questioned the toughness of his team and they’ll need to be physical and play with a mental edge at Pitt. 

“We'll flush it and move on,” Brey said following Wednesday’s loss. “There's no film to watch. We'll come in tomorrow and get ready for Pittsburgh and understand Pittsburgh has physicality and athletic ability that can get out and guard us like Virginia Tech. We move on quick." 

While the Panthers aren’t ranked, Notre Dame has also had a major issue beating teams ahead of them in the ACC. Brey didn’t seem to have an answer to why the Irish can’t win against a better team.

"I don't know,” said Brey. “We've not really been able to do that. I don't know. I think that's frustrated all of us, our players included. We haven't been able the last two years to get anybody above us. We'll have some chances, but it's kind of where we are. 

"We're kind of pigeonholed right now in this league the last year and a half. It's an amazingly gifted league at the top as we have experienced the last year and a half." 

Notre Dame will also need to find a way to get Nate Laszewski involved in the offense. Laszewski leads the ACC in field goal and three-point percentage, but he took just one shot in the first half against Virginia Tech and finished just 3-for-4 from the field. 

Prentiss Hubb took 22 shots (8-for-20) on Wednesday as the Irish seemed to shy away from taking shots with Laszewski unable to get going. Dane Goodwin was the only other Irish player to take double-digit shots and was only 3-for-13 from the field. 

As much as Brey has stressed defense, Notre Dame can’t afford to have Laszewski take just four shots in an ACC game.  

In past years, I think I would have predicted a close Notre Dame victory, but Jeff Capel has a player Notre Dame likely can’t guard. 

Prediction: Pitt 78 Notre Dame 69