Game Thread | Radford (2-0) at Notre Dame (2-0)
Radford (2-0) at Notre Dame (2-0) - Gotham Classic
Date: November 14th
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
TV: ACC NETWORK - Juan Jose Rodriguez (play-by-play) and Mike Lightfoot (analysis)
QUICK FACTS
- Wednesday will be the first time meeting between the two programs.
- Notre Dame is 4-1 against teams from the Big South.
- The 2017-18 Big South Champions, Radford defeated LIU Brooklyn in the NCAA Tournament last season before falling to Villanova.
- Notre Dame is currently No. 4 in the nation in free throw shooting as the Irish have gone 50-for-57 from the free throw line.
- The Irish will be putting a school-record-matching nine-game in-season tournament win streak on the line when the Gotham Classic continues on Wednesday
- The four players active in the Notre Dame freshman class have combined to score 71 points in two games this season - a total that already surpasses three Brey-era rookie classes.
- Mike Brey will enter Wednesday’s game with 504 career wins.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| TJ Gibbs | 9.5 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Rex Pflueger | 7.0 | 3.5 | 3.0 |
| Robby Carmody | 9.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| DJ Harvey | 10.5 | 6.5 | 0.5 |
| John Mooney | 8.5 | 6.0 | 0.5 |
Radford
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Carlik Jones | 24.0 | 2.0 | 10.0 |
| Donald Hicks | 17.0 | 5.5 | 2.0 |
| Travis Fields Jr. | 15.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Ed Polite Jr. | 12.5 | 12.0 | 2.5 |
| Mawdo Sallah | 7.5 | 5.5 | 0.5 |
Preview
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey made it known Radford was a team to be concerned about as the Irish host the Highlanders on Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion in the Gotham Classic.
The Highlanders Carlik Jones, Donald Hicks and Ed Poilite Jr. from its NCAA Tournament team and Brey made his team well-aware of the fact Radford went dancing last season.
“Radford is really good,” Brey stated. “I told our guys yesterday that Radford went to the NCAA Tournament and we didn’t. They won a game in the NCAA Tournament and have a nucleus of old guys who won 23 games. It’s a heck of a challenge for us. If we can get it, once you start playing real games, you start to create a resumè good or bad.”
While I’d imagine some Notre Dame fans have never heard of Radford, Brey knows a win can give his young Irish confidence as it’s a win over an opponent who won an NCAA Tournament game a year ago.
“This would be a good win for us if we can get it,” stated Brey. “We’ve got our hands full. They’ve made 30 threes in two games, so they’re really firing.”
I listed the same starting lineup from Thursday’s win against Chicago State, but it will be different come Wednesday night. Brey admitted he has made changes to the starting five but wasn’t giving up his newest lineup.
“We’re not going to start the same group we started the other night,” Brey said. “We’re trying to figure out how to come out of the gate. We have nine or ten guys we have to get in there.”
The good news for whoever falls out of the starting lineup is the fact there is plenty of playing time available and Brey plans to continue to play nine or ten players.
“It has to play itself out,” said Brey. “Hopefully, with this stretch we have - the one thing I talked to them about is it’s a heck of a nine-day stretch from yesterday’s practice through Tuesday’s game next week against Duquesne. We’ll have a much better feel of rotation and who we should start after this stretch.”
As for the game, Notre Dame beat the University of Illinois-Chicago by a score of 84-67, while the Highlands beat UIC 88-78.
It’s hard to say who has the upper hand but it’s safe to say Notre Dame’s guards will need to be on their A-game as Jones dropped 24 points and 10 assists against UIC.
In Notre Dame’s two games this season, the Irish have been up and down, so I’m going to predict a close game as I’m just not sure how good the offense will be from Brey’s squad.
Prediction: Notre Dame 81 Radford 73