Game Thread | Notre Dame at Boston College
Notre Dame (9-12, 6-9) at Boston College (3-13, 1-9)
Date: February 27th
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Where: Silvio O. Conte Forum | Chesnut Hill, Mass.
TV: ACC Network | Mike Monaco and Jordan Cornette
Line: Notre Dame -7.5
Quick Facts
- Mike Brey is 18-2 against Boston College.
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 24-11.
- Nate Laszewski (7.8), junior guard Dane Goodwin (5.2) and Juwan Durham (5.2) are all averaging over 5.0 rebounds per game.
- Prentiss Hubb is averaging 6.2 assists per game this season, which would rank ninth on the Notre
Dame single-season list. Hubb has recorded five or more assists in 12 of his last 14 games played.
- Juwan Durham has reached double-figure scoring in seven consecutive games.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 13.7 | 3.2 | 6.2 |
| Trey Wertz | 7.6 | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Dane Goodwin | 12.3 | 5.2 | 1.6 |
| Nate Laszewski | 14.3 | 7.6 | 0.8 |
| Juwan Durham | 10.5 | 5.2 | 1.4 |
Boston College
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Rich Kelly | 11.0 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Jay Heath | 14.3 | 3.2 | 1.9 |
| Kamari Williams | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| CJ Felder | 10.4 | 6.4 | 0.9 |
| Steffon Mitchell | 9.1 | 7.2 | 1.5 |
Preview
Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 71.9
Boston College: 71.4
Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 71.8
Boston College: 77.6
FG%
Notre Dame: 46.4%
Boston College: 42.0%
Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 33.0
Boston College: 33.2
Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 15.3
Boston College: 11.8
Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 3.8
Boston College: 4.3
Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 4.1
Boston College: 7.3
Notre Dame needs to get back on track after two bad losses to Syracuse and Louisville. The road swing takes the Irish to Boston College and it could be just what Mike Brey needs to get his team to finish the month and season strong.
The Eagles enter the game in last place in the ACC and haven’t won a game since January 12th. Jim Christian is gone and Scott Spinelli will be the interim head coach for Boston College on Saturday.
This game will be all about Notre Dame. Can they score enough points to win? Can they play defense? And can the Irish build momentum heading into the final two games of the season against NC State and No. 11 Florida State?
Boston College is a bad basketball team. Notre Dame needs to focus on Notre Dame and that starts with the seven-man rotation playing well.
“We need all seven of them playing well to beat anybody,” stated Brey following the loss to Louisville. “Those seven have to be a good rhythm. We had some guys that just didn't play well offensively.”
I’ve been a big fan of getting Juwan Durham involved over the last two months and it’s paid off as he’s playing the best basketball of his career. However, Saturday will be about getting Nate Laszewski going on the offensive end of the floor.
The junior forward leads the Irish in scoring, but has disappeared in the first half on multiple occasions this year. Laszewski struggled against Louisville as he shot 0-for-8 from the field and finished with just two points.
Brey needs to run plays and sets to get him involved early. Laszewski needs a small confidence boost and Notre Dame needs him firing the last three games of the year.
Nik Djogo will also be returning to a friendly environment as he scored a career-high 21 points in 2019 at Conte Forum.
Outside of that, Notre Dame should take care of business and if not, then there might be some bigger issues to follow.
Prediction: Notre Dame 81 Boston College 68