Game Thread | Notre Dame at No. 8 Miami

Notre Dame (3-3) at No. 8 Miami (5-1) 

Date: December 2nd

Time: 12:00 PM ET 

Where: Watsco Center | Coral Gables, Fla. 

TV: CW Network | Evan Lepler and Jordan Cornette 

Line: Miami -14.5

O/U: 146.5

QUICK FACTS 

- The all-time series between Notre Dame and Miami is currently tied at 13-13. 

- The Irish lost the last meeting against Miami 76-65 last December in South Bend. 

- Freshman Markus Burton leads all ACC freshmen in scoring at 16.3 ppg. 

- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 5.8% of a Notre Dame win

PROJECTED STARTERS

Notre Dame

Miami 

TEAM STATS

THOUGHTS

- Miami checks a lot of boxes you look for as it relates to Notre Dame having a tough night. The Canes are experienced, athletic and will enter Saturday’s game shooting 43 percent from three-point range, which is No. 2 in the nation. 

To be frank, Notre Dame hasn’t seen a team like Miami this year even though the Irish have played three Power Five programs. 

Notre Dame has struggled greatly on the offensive end in those three Power 5 games as the 66 points in the win against Oklahoma State is most points the Irish have scored against a major conference team - and that came in overtime. Micah Shrewsberry’s team will need to find a way to score points in ACC play if they want to have any shot at competing. 

Shrewsberry knows his team needs to be more efficient on offense, yet it didn’t seem he was overly worried about the step up to ACC play. In fact, Shrewsberry appeared surprised to think his team could give up 80 points. 

"We're not playing with great pace,” explained Shrewsberry. “We're not screening people when we have an opportunity to screen people. Now, your catches are much tougher. Getting off a ball screen is much tougher. Catching the ball where you want it is much tougher. When you execute the details, things get a little easier, things slow down a little bit and if we don't do that, then, yeah, we're going to score 53. If we do, then we'll be able to score some points. 

"You take one game out, against Auburn, where we were a little bit shook, we're guarding people. You're going to have to get to 80-something, like, good luck to you. There ain't been many people who score 80-something on the teams that I've been coaching the last few years, no matter how many points a game they average." 

You have to admire the confidence, but unless the Irish are playing stall ball, it appears Notre Dame will have its hands full stopping the Canes as five players average in double figures compared to one for the Irish. 

Maybe Shrewsberry saw something on the film from Miami’s 22-point loss (95-73) to No. 12 Kentucky, but the Irish are far from having John Calipari’s roster. 

Transition defense will be key on Saturday and it’s been a significant focus this week in practice. 

“We put a lot of emphasis on our transition defense, but we're also rebounding at the same time,” stated Shrewsberry. “Tae Davis is getting two offensive rebounds a game. J.R. (Konieczny), he's not at two a game but he's probably at 1.5 a game. Kebba (Njie) will get more as he goes. We've got guys that are going to the glass, but we also have guys who are doing their job of, when the shot goes up, I'm supposed to be back and the guys that aren't going to the glass are now sprinting back. 

"We put a lot of emphasis on our transition defense. I think our transition defense has been pretty good for the most part, which now forces people to play in the halfcourt and have to execute in the halfcourt, which nobody wants to do in college basketball - execute against good defense in the halfcourt." 

Njie’s return has definitely helped the Notre Dame defense as his presence has been felt at the rim, but on offense, it’s been an adventure. The 6-foot-10 forward is shooting just 27.3 percent from the floor in his first two games in the blue and gold. 

"He's still feeling his way back, right,” Shrewsberry explained. “He's back, he's 100 percent, but there's always a little bit of doubt in your mind when you're coming back from an injury, especially a hand injury where I'm catching the ball, I'm handling the ball, people are slapping at it. Like, that's how he got injured in the first place. Now it's getting comfortable with that. The more game reps, that's where I think he gets more comfortable.” 

Big picture, Shrewsberry hopes his team can retain its confidence and continue to grow despite the result at the end of the game. Saturday could be another long day for young Irish, but eliminating mistakes and growing from past mistakes are points of emphasis for this group. 

"Nobody's going to be perfect, right,” said Shrewsberry. “So, we have to build off the things that we did right and then correct the things that we didn't do right. Shorten those mistakes. There's going to be mistakes in every game, but we can't let one turn to two. Two turns into three. I think that's where, as a young team, really understanding at valuing possessions means. How important every possession is when you get into these games. it might not seem important, right? 

"We start the second half (of the South Carolina game) with a stop and lose it out of bounds. Now that turns into, we don't kick it, but they call a kick. They turned it over, but they get the ball back. Now, we get that defensive rebound, it turns into two fouls on two different guys and free throws for them. Instead of us having the ball and having a chance to go down and score when we should have. Seeing that, recognizing it, but also showing them how we're playing and what we're doing is gaining us possessions. 

"Two different times, Kebba Njie dove on the floor and got it back, and we got a possession. Carey Booth dove on the floor and got a loose ball, but it was a jump ball and our possession. Little things are really important in games that are going to be close-margin games. That's what we're going to play. How we're set up defensively, how we play, we're going to be in close-margin games if we play the right way. Every single possession matters." 

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