Game Thread | Notre Dame at NC State

Notre Dame (15-7, 8-3) at NC State (10-13, 3-9)

Date: Feb. 2

Time: 3:00 PM ET 

Where: PNC Arena | Raleigh, N.C.

TV: ACC Network | Wes Durham and Dan Bonner

Line: NC State -1.0

O/U: 144.0

ACC Standings

Quick Facts 

- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 9-8

- Mike Brey is 2-4 against Kevin Keatts

- Notre Dame beat NC State 73-65 11 days ago. 

- The Irish are 12-0 (2021-22) when they shoot better than their opponent.

- Prentiss Hubb’s assist to turnover ratio in ACC play is 5.6. It’s the best for any player in conference play with more than five games played.

- Notre Dame is 10-0 this season when hitting 10+ three-pointers in a game. 

PROJECTED STARTERS

Notre Dame

NC State  

Preview

Notre Dame and NC State played 11 days ago and the Irish used a 15-0 run in the second half to blow the game open. Mike Brey's club had four starters in double-figures, including Nate Laszewski, who went off for 18 points and 4-for-5 from three. 

The Irish hit 11 threes, won the glass and took 11 more free throws in the 73-65 win. To leave Raleigh on Saturday, the recipe is much of the same, but the Irish will likely need to deal with NC State shooting a bit better at home. 

NC State only had eight scholarship players available on Wednesday against Syracuse and could be in the same situation on Saturday. Ebenezer Dowuona has a leg injury and his status is unknown for Notre Dame, but he would be the fourth player to suffer a major injury this season for the Wolfpack.

Notre Dame will see a smaller NC State team, which is fine as Brey would love to play five guards if he could get away with it. 

The player to watch for Notre Dame is senior point guard Prentiss Hubb as he's broken out of his slump and become one of the most efficient ball distributors in the ACC. In ACC play, Hubb holds a ridiculous 5.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. If you look deeper into it, Hubb committed three turnovers at Georgia Tech on January 3rd. Since that game, the D.C. native has played 246 minutes and committed just three turnovers and his assist-to-turnover ratio is 8.7 during that stretch. Oh, Hubb had 11 of his 15 points in the second half in Wednesday’s win at Miami. 

"I can't believe there is a quarterbacking guard playing better than this guy right now,” Brey stated. “He kind of uses his teammates and he senses when he's got to go for the jugular. He was fabulous. He has quarterbacked us and really helped us.”

It will also be interesting to see what kind of game Notre Dame plays against NC State. The Irish aren't afraid to get into an up and down game, but a slower pace has been good as of late. 

“It started with Kentucky,” said Brey. “It's a little bit of a page out of the Virginia book. If you play slow on offense, your backline doesn't have to be great for 70 possessions. It's helping us offensively because we needed some more structure and where to get shots. It's helped our defense because we do not have to deal with it over and over again, even though I believe we are more committed, in position and keeping it out of the middle better. “

NC State Last Five
Syracuse - 89-82 L
@ UNC - 100-80 L 
@ Notre Dame 73-65 L 
Virginia - 77-63 W
Virginia Tech - 62-59 L

Notre Dame Last Five
Miami - 68-64 W 
Duke - 57-43 L 
Virginia - 69-65 W
NC State - 73-65 W
Louisville - 82-70 W