Game Thread | University of Illinois-Chicago vs. Notre Dame

University of Illinois-Chicago at Notre Dame

Date: November 6th

Time: 7:00 p.m. ET

Where: Purcell Pavilion

TV: ACC NETWORK - Juan Jose Rodriguez (play-by-play) and Mike Lightfoot (analysis)

QUICK FACTS

- Tuesday marks the first meeting between the two programs.

- Notre Dame is 83-15 all-time against teams from the Horizon League. 

- Notre Dame is 18-0 all-time in season openers during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 to present).

- Historically, the Irish are 102-11 (.903) in home openers.

- Notre Dame begins the 2018-19 season with seven consecutive games at home. The Irish are playing host to the first home exempt tournament in school history during the 2018 Gotham Classic.

- Notre Dame enters the 2018 Gotham Classic with an eight-game win streak during in-season tournaments. The Irish have claimed back-to-back in-season tournament titles - sweeping through the 2016 Legends Classic and the 2017 Maui Invitational.

- The 2017-18 season was UIC's first 20-win season since 2004 and the Flames posted a school-record nine road victories during the season.

THE STARTERS

Notre Dame

UIC

National Rankings 

Preview

Notre Dame will host the University of Illinois-Chicago in the Gotham Classic to open the 2018-19 season.

Mike Brey was pulling out all the stops on Monday as he hopes to make his six new faces as comfortable as possible heading into Tuesday's game.

“We’re going to practice in our game jerseys today," Brey said before Monday's practice. "We have so many guys who have won the game jersey one time. You have to get used to playing with the jersey on. I’ve never done it here because I haven’t had so many new guys who are part of it."

The Irish got a run through last week against Central State and Brey saw a few areas he'd love to see his team make strides in over the next few weeks.

“We’re still trying to get new guys comfortable and confident," stated Brey. "I thought we settled for some jump shots early. Can we drive it a little bit more if we have areas to drive? Defensive communication - anytime you’re working new faces in, young guys tend not to talk enough. Old guys are better talkers.” 

The youth of Notre Dame will be crucial for the Irish this season, but Brey is also still looking to find a starting lineup. TJ Gibbs, DJ Harvey and Rex Pflueger will start but the two other spots are to be determined.

“We’re still looking on it," explained Brey. "If we start a freshman, it would be the first freshman who would start the first game since Torin Francis. 

“You have two locks in our old guards, and then it has been a revolving door. We have played five games if you add the Bahamas, exhibition and the scrimmage. That’s 10 halves, and we’ve started 10 different lineups. That might be who we are. If some group grabs it, great. It could be night to night. 

“I will tell the team that we’re trying to figure out who will finish for us. With this group, how you play in the first 36 minutes will determine if you’re one of the five finishers. That’s really where we are.” 

When it comes to the Flames, Marcus Ottey (13.8 ppg) and Tarkus Ferguson (10.6) lead the charge for UIC and Brey knows they could be a handful.

“It’s a great challenge right out of the gate," said Brey. "They have old guards, and they won 20 games. We have a heck of a challenge. We need our fans and our students. This group needs help, especially to get started.”

Prediction: Notre Dame 81 UIC 69