Game Thread | Virginia at Notre Dame
Virginia (10-2, 1-0) at Notre Dame (5-7, 0-1)
Date: December 30th
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | South Bend, Ind.
TV: ACC Network | John Meterparel and Malcolm Huckaby
Line: Virginia -9.5
O/U: 115.5
QUICK FACTS
- Virginia leads the all-time series 17-3
- The Irish lost the last meeting in February 57-55 in Charlottesville
- Notre Dame is 1-6 at home against Virginia
- The Irish enter Saturday’s game with the No. 5 scoring defense in the ACC at 66.6 ppg
- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 80.4 % in favor of Virginia
PROJECTED STARTERS
NOTRE DAME
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 16.0 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| JR Konieczny | 9.8 | 5.8 | 0.8 |
| Julian Roper II | 8.9 | 5.2 | 0.9 |
| Tae Davis | 8.7 | 5.8 | 0.8 |
| Kebba Njie | 3.8 | 4.3 | 0.8 |
VIRGINIA
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Reece Beekman | 12.9 | 3.4 | 5.7 |
| Isaac McKneely | 11.2 | 2.9 | 1.7 |
| Ryan Dunn | 9.0 | 6.8 | 0.9 |
| Andrew Rohde | 6.0 | 2,8 | 3,5 |
| Jacob Groves | 8.3 | 2.3 | 0.9 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | VIRGINIA | NOTRE DAME |
| Scoring Offense | 66.8 | 62.6 |
| Scoring Defense | 54.5 | 66.6 |
| FG% | 45.6% | 39.4% |
| Rebounds | 33.1 | 35.9 |
| Assists | 16.1 | 10.1 |
| Steals | 9.1 | 6.0 |
| Blocks | 5.8 | 2.8 |
THOUGHTS
If you’re a team struggling to find any offense, Virginia is one of the last teams you want to face. Notre Dame will host Virginia on Saturday afternoon and it’s hard to see this one going right for the Irish.
Micah Shrewsberry’s team has been horrific on offense to start the 2023-24 campaign. In fact, the Irish are shooting under 40 percent from the field and average just 62.6 ppg and have struggled to find shots against mid-major programs.
Notre Dame will now get one of the best defenses in the country to start ACC play and while not trying to sound snarky, the Irish simply need to find a way to score. It can be second-chance points or being even more aggressive on defense in hopes of finding a few more transition points or even dialing up some good out of bounds schemes.
It’s hard to see Notre Dame being in this one, much less having a chance to win despite Virginia not being an offensive powerhouse. Virginia is holding teams to 36.7 percent shooting and starting point guard Reece Beekman is the reigning ACC defensive player of the year.
The recipe has been simple on paper to beat the Irish and it starts with having experienced guards. Beekman is that and more as he’ll make life very tough for Markus Burton. If Burton can’t find answers, then it will be up to anyone to step up to the plate and become a scoring option for the Irish and no one has done that consistently to date, so Saturday could be an ugly one at Purcell Pavilion.
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