Game Thread | Duquesne (3-0) at Notre Dame (3-1)
Duquesne (3-0) at Notre Dame (3-1) - Gotham Classic
Date: November 20th
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
- Duquesne leads the all-time series with Notre Dame 5-2.
- Tuesday will be the first meeting since Notre Dame won 77-62 in Purcell Pavilion on February 8, 1995.
- The Dukes have beaten William & Mary (84-70), UIC (89-88 OT) and Radford (69-64)
- Duquesne head coach Keith Dambrot coached LeBron James for three years in high school at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.
- Turnover-per-game average for Notre Dame in 2018-19, which is the seventh-best in the country.
- Notre Dame is averaging 15.5 offensive rebounds per game this season - a mark tied for 23rd in the nation.
- Notre Dame is 10th in the country in free throw shooting percentage (73-90, 81.1).
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 6.8 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| TJ Gibbs | 12.0 | 3.3 | 3.5 |
| Rex Pflueger | 6.5 | 4.0 | 3.3 |
| DJ Harvey | 10.8 | 4.8 | 0.8 |
| John Mooney | 13.5 | 8.8 | 0.3 |
Duquesne
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Sincere Carry | 14.0 | 3.3 | 7.3 |
| Mike Lewis II | 9.0 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
| Eric Williams Jr. | 16.3 | 9.7 | 0.7 |
| Marcus Weathers | 8.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Michael Hughes | 9.0 | 5.7 | 0.0 |
Preview
Four games into the season, Notre Dame sits at 3-1 but head coach Mike Brey is still learning and tinkering with his roster and rotation.
Brey stated he wanted to get down to a 9-man rotation before last week’s loss to Radford and followed it up with playing 11 guys in the first half against William & Mary.
The departure of senior forward and captain Elijah Burns will likely shorten the rotation to 10 guys and possibly give Juwan Durham a few more minutes, but I’m not sure it changes too much in the short-term.
The good news for Brey is he’s showing he’s willing to adapt to his roster and he might have just found a starting five with freshman point guard Prentiss Hubb being the missing link.
Notre Dame will need to bring its offense on Tuesday as the Dukes average 80.7 points per game and shoot 44.9% from the field. The Irish are averaging 76.5 points per game but shooting just 39.3% from the field.
The ESPN matchup predictor gives the Irish a 79.4% chance to win but I’m not sure that accounts for the youth on the roster.
It’s hard to even predict what will happen as no one is sure what the rotation will be at this point in the season. Notre Dame’s freshmen have played well but need to be more consistent on the offensive end. The defense has been up and down, but Brey can live with that. I’m just not sure Notre Dame will win games in the 60s right now as the Irish experience game situations early in the year.
Brey said this three-game stretch was big and if the Irish can get a win on Tuesday, I will have the arrow point up.
Prediction: Notre Dame 77 Duquesne 65