Game Thread | Gotham Classic: Southern Indiana at Notre Dame
Gotham Classic | Southern Indiana (1-1) at Notre Dame (2-0)
Date: November 16
Time: 8:00 PM ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: ACC Network | Jordan Bernfield, Tim Welsh
Line: Notre Dame -15.0
O/U: 150.5
QUICK FACTS
- This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
- Southern Indiana is in its first season at the Division I level.
- Notre Dame guard Trey Wertz is shooting 72.2 percent from the floor this season
- Irish captain Nate Laszewski was named ACC Player of the Week
PROJECTED STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| JJ Starling | 13.0 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| Trey Wertz | 16.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Cormac Ryan | 11.5 | 4.5 | 2.0 |
| Dane Goodwin | 14.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 |
| Nate Laszewski | 21.0 | 11.0 | 1.5 |
Southern Indiana
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Isaiah Swope | 12.0 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
| Jelani Simmons | 20.5 | 5.5 | 2.5 |
| Gary Solomon | 9.0 | 6.5 | 1.0 |
| Trevor Lakes | 12.0 | 5.5 | 0.0 |
| Kiyron Powell | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
Preview
| Category | Southern Indiana | Notre Dame |
| Points | 81.0 | 83.5 |
| Opponent Points | 75.0 | 78.5 |
| FG% | 50.0% | 56.3% |
| Rebounds | 36.0 | 32.0 |
| Assists | 14.0 | 11.0 |
| Blocks | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| Steals | 9.5 | 3.5 |
Notre Dame enters Wednesday’s game with Southern Indiana with a perfect 2-0 record, but there has been a clear emphasis this week in practice and that’s been on defense.
“Point of attack in the middle of the floor, the middle of ball screens with fast guards is really giving us some problems,” stated Brey. “We watched a little bit of it yesterday and today we can work it. For our veteran guys, it’s not new or foreign. That’s an area where we can be better. Can we have some more oomph keeping it out of the paint?
Associate head coach Anthony Solomon spearheaded Notre Dame’s defensive efforts a year ago and saw the Irish make progress. Sure, he had Blake Wesley, but most of Notre Dame's core from a year ago is back.
The early season performances haven’t made Solomon happy and Brey expected him to get after the Irish a bit on Tuesday afternoon.
“He is not in a good mood,” laughed Brey. “He really teaches and is on it. I have a feeling today some guys are going to get lit up pretty good and I love it. He takes a lot of pride and he’s given us some great principles starting in June and I don’t know if we’ve had the attention to detail. I’m with it. If he’s in a bad mood, I’m in a bad mood.”
In the season opener, Radford shot 46.2 percent from the floor and then Youngstown State came into Purcell Pavilion and shot 50.8 percent.
Those numbers need to go down and quickly as Michigan State comes to campus in two weeks.
What can the Irish do? Well, the matchup zone that was effective a year ago is in play and it’s a situation that Brey can use because it plays to his team’s strengths.
“We’ve always had a little matchup zone in,” explained Brey. “Given your personnel sometimes you become a better zone group. The zone has saved us a little bit. If we don’t play some zone against Radford, we’re dead because they’re coming down the pipe on us. The dilemma we have right now is I don’t want to use zone as a crutch to let guys off the hook, but I don’t want to lose games in November either.
“This is a real catch-22. We’ll address some things in practice, but playing some zone, changing our defense - a lot of times we do is when a team has an out-of-bounds under, we go zone. It’s a way to get in it early and take a look at how they attack it.”
Brey also was able to pick the brain of his former player Chris Quinn, who is now an assistant coach for the Miami Heat, about the use of zone.
“I talked to Chris Quinn,” said Brey. “The Miami Heat will go 2-3 zone a lot. We were talking in the offseason and he said we do it to change the rhythm of the game. Touche. Amen. I love it and I agree.”
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