Game Thread | Virginia Tech at Notre Dame
Virginia Tech (13-9, 5-6) at Notre Dame (7-16, 2-10)
Date: February 10th
Time: 6:00 PM ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | South Bend, Ind.
TV: CW Network
Line: -5.5 VT
O/U: 129.5
QUICK FACTS
- Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 10-9
- In the last meeting, Notre Dame fell to Virginia Tech 67-64 in the ACC Tournament last March
- Freshman Markus Burton has scored in double figures in 16 straight games
- Burton has scored 372 points this season, which is No. 8 all-time for a Notre Dame freshman
- Freshman Braeden Shrewsberry is averaging 13.1 ppg over the last nine games
- ESPN’s Matchup Predictor: 77.5% in favor of Virginia Tech
PROJECTED STARTERS
NOTRE DAME
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Markus Burton | 16.2 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| JR Konieczny | 9.0 | 5.6 | 0.7 |
| Carey Booth | 5.7 | 4.2 | 0.4 |
| Tae Davis | 8.0 | 5.2 | 0.8 |
| Kebba Njie | 4.1 | 5.7 | 0.7 |
VIRGINIA TECH
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Sean Pedulla | 15.8 | 4.1 | 4.6 |
| Hunter Cattoor | 14.0 | 2.8 | 1.8 |
| MJ Collins | 6.0 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| Robbie Beran | 6.2 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
| Lynn Kidd | 13.5 | 6.6 | 1.4 |
TEAM STATS
| STAT | VIRGINIA TECH | NOTRE DAME |
| Scoring Offense | 74.3 | 61.5 |
| Scoring Defense | 69.2 | 65.7 |
| FG% | 46.6% | 39.8% |
| Rebounds | 32.7 | 36.4 |
| Assists | 15.5 | 9.6 |
| Blocks | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Steals | 5.4 | 5.8 |
| Turnovers | 11.9 | 13.7 |
THOUGHTS
Virginia Tech will bring one of the more experienced backcourts in the country to South Bend on Saturday, and that brings an immediate concern for Notre Dame. Hunter Cattoor has played in 140 games and Sean Pedulla has 90 games under his belt, so it will be quite the challenge for Markus Burton, Logan Imes, Braeden Shrewsberry and company as the Hokies won’t be rattled.
Perhaps even more of note, Cattoor and Pedulla are the leading scorers for Virginia Tech and both shoot at least 36 percent from three, so the Irish will need to stay focused on closing out and defending the perimeter.
Wednesday’s game at Duke went as most expected as Notre Dame showed some fight at times, but for key spurts, the Blue Devils were able to showcase the talent gap between the two programs. The Irish defense once again held Duke under its season average, but the Irish simply can’t take advantage of getting stops as Notre Dame has one of the nation’s worst offenses.
Now, the positive news is Notre Dame’s youth seems to be turning a corner as Shrewsberry has stepped up his play and Burton seems to have a running mate. Shrewsberry is averaging 13.1 ppg over the last nine games, including 13 points against Duke.
For Notre Dame to end the losing streak, it will need a third player to emerge. JR Konieczny has had a few big games at home, while Tae Davis is due for a big game as he’s scored in double figures just three times since December 9th.
Notre Dame has shown to be a team that will get into game situations in the final minutes, but the Irish have yet to crack the code of consistently finishing. Saturday will likely be a close game going into the final minutes and if Notre Dame can find a way to score, the Irish can absolutely end the seven-game losing streak. But they have to score.
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