Game Preview/Thread: Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4) at Notre Dame (13-7, 3-4)
Virginia Tech (14-6, 3-4) at Notre Dame (13-7, 3-4)
Date: January 27th
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion, Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: ESPN2
ACC Standings heading into Saturday.
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame leads the all-time series 7-1 and have won the last seven games.
- The Irish are the only team in the ACC with three Saturday - Monday turnarounds this season.
- Mike Brey is 7-3 against Buzz Williams.
- Notre Dame continues to lead the country in the least amount of fouls at 13.2 per game.
- Notre Dame has out-rebounded six of its seven ACC opponents.
- Bonzie Colson, Matt Farrell, Martinas Geben, Matt Gregory and Austin Torres are three wins away from becoming the all-time winningest class in Notre Dame basketball history.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| TJ Gibbs | 14.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| Nik Djogo | 2.4 | 1.2 | 0.6 |
| Rex Pflueger | 8.4 | 4.3 | 2.9 |
| John Mooney | 4.7 | 3.6 | 0.5 |
| Martinas Geben | 10.0 | 8.1 | 1.2 |
Virginia Tech
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Justin Robinson | 12.5 | 3.1 | 5.5 |
| Nickell Alexander - Walker | 11.4 | 4.0 | 1.7 |
| Ahmed Hill | 14.9 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
| Justin Bibbs | 13.3 | 2.7 | 1.4 |
| Kerry Blackshear Jr. | 13.5 | 6.5 | 1.4 |
National Rankings
| Category | Notre Dame | Virginia Tech |
| Scoring Offense | 76.7 (112) | 85.4 (15) |
| Scoring Defense | 65.2 (28) | 72.8 (201) |
| Rebound Margin | 3.6 (82) | 1.5 (151) |
| Assist Per Game | 14.5 (133) | 17.5 (20) |
| FG% Offense | 45.6% (135) | 51.8% (3) |
| FG% Defense | 40.8%% (42) | 42.8% (133) |
| Three-Pointers Per Game | 8.2 (124) | 9.0 (68) |
| Three-Point Percentage | 36.7% (102) | 39.7% (25) |
| Free-Throw Percentage | 76.0% (33) | 73.2% (104) |
| Assist-Turnover Ratio | 1.41 (21) | 1.35 (36) |
Preview
Mike Brey finds himself in a familiar situation on Saturday as he will be without point guard Matt Farrell.
Brey shut Farrell down again after it was discovered the New Jersey native had a bone bruise in his ankle.
The positive for Notre Dame is they have played without Farrell, All-American forward Bonzie Colson for almost the entire month and without freshman forward DJ Harvey for the last game and a half.
The bad news is Virginia Tech is one of the nation's top offensive teams, and the Hokies are coming off an 11-point win against North Carolina.
All five starters for the Hokies have a scoring average in double-figures, while Notre Dame enters the game with two starters averaging under five points per game and three under 10 points per game.
The Irish have played well on the defensive end and clearly on the glass despite losing Colson, but Notre Dame has a problem scoring the basketball.
"My theme to our guys is that we need to continue to defend and rebound," Brey said on Thursday. "We can’t let up on that end because that is putting us in position.
"We have not been able to score enough, especially on the road. We have scored in the fifties on the road, we have been a little bit better here, and we have been getting some pretty good looks, you have to make a couple of those in order get over the hump to get a win."
I expect Notre Dame to continue its ACC dominance on the backboard on Saturday, but much like Brey, I just don't have a clue on where points will come from for the Irish.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 74 Notre Dame 61