Game Thread | Notre Dame at South Carolina
Notre Dame (3-2) at South Carolina (5-0)
Date: November 28th
Time: 7:00 PM ET
Where: Colonial Life Arena | Columbia, S.C.
TV: SEC Network | Tom Hart and Dane Bradshaw
Line: South Carolina -7.5
O/U: 131.5
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 10-5.
- The Irish lost the last meeting against the Gamecocks 52-42 in 1984.
- Freshman Markus Burton leads all ACC freshmen in scoring at 18.0 ppg.
- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 81.9% in favor of South Carolina
PROJECTED STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 18.0 | 4.0 | 2.8 |
| JR Konieczny | 8.0 | 5.8 | 1.0 |
| Julian Roper II | 8.2 | 5.2 | 1.4 |
| Tae Davis | 7.4 | 4.4 | 0.8 |
| Kebba Njie | 7.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 |
South Carolina
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Ta’Lon Cooper | 9.0 | 3.4 | 5.4 |
| Meechie Johnson | 14.4 | 4.4 | 2.2 |
| Myles Stute | 12.0 | 4.6 | 1.2 |
| Stephen Clark | 4.2 | 1.8 | 1.6 |
| BJ Mack | 16.0 | 5.2 | 1.0 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | NOTRE DAME | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Scoring Offense | 66.2 | 76.6 |
| Scoring Defense | 67.2 | 66.0 |
| FG% | 42.8% | 48.2% |
| Rebounds | 36.2 | 36.0 |
| Assists | 11.8 | 15.2 |
| Steals | 5.2 | 5.6 |
| Blocks | 2.6 | 2.6 |
THOUGHTS
- When looking at South Carolina’s roster (or any Notre Dame opponent...see Western Carolina), the first that jumps out is the veteran guards. Ta’Lon Cooper and Myles Stute are seniors, while Meechie Johnson is a junior, who has played in 78 career games. In fact, if you look at Notre Dame’s starting five stacked up against South Carolina, well, it’s not favorable for the Irish as they will play the first true road game of the season.
Collegiate Games Played
South Carolina
Ta’Lon Cooper: 131
Myles Stute: 96
Meechie Johnson: 78
Stephen Clark: 114
BJ Mack: 109
- Notre Dame is coming off back-to-back wins, so there should be confidence heading into Tuesday. JR Konieczny has been the early story of the year as he recorded two double-doubles in Brooklyn, which earned him a spot in the starting lineup.
The other big addition was getting forward Kebba Njie back from injury as he scored seven points and recorded four rebounds in his Irish debut. I put him in the starting lineup tonight solely due to South Carolina’s best player, BJ Mack, being a stout force in the post as he’s averaging 16.0 ppg and 5.2 rpg., but he’s also listed at 6’8, 270. Njie is a bigger and longer body than Matt Zona, so Tuesday provides the opportunity to get a bigger body in the starting lineup.
- It will be another measuring stick for Micah Shrewsberry’s young squad. The first test didn’t go so well a couple weeks ago against Auburn, so we’ll see if Notre Dame has made any early season growth by 9:00 PM tonight.
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