Game Thread | Jacksonville at Notre Dame
Jacksonville ( at Notre Dame (8-3)
Date: December 20
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion
TV: ACC Network Extra
QUICK FACTS
- Tuesday will be the first meeting between the two programs.
- Jacksonville finished 15-18 a year ago but did go 8-6 in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
- Jacksonville head coach Tony Jasick was named the Hugh Durham Coach of the Year in 2014 when he was at IPFW.
- Brey is 1-0 against Jasick after a 74-62 win over IPFW in 2012.
- Notre Dame is 7-0 all-time against the ASUN Conference.
- Irish forward John Mooney leads the ACC in double-doubles (6) and is second in rebounds per game (9.6).
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 7.6 | 2.9 | 3.1 |
| TJ Gibbs | 13.7 | 2.6 | 3.4 |
| Dane Goodwin | 6.0 | 3.2 | 0.7 |
| DJ Harvey | 11.1 | 4.9 | 0.9 |
| John Mooney | 12.5 | 9.6 | 0.7 |
Jacksonville
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Tanner Rubio | 4.6 | 1.3 | 2.2 |
| Aahmane Santos | 5.7 | 1.3 | 2.9 |
| Tyreese Davis | 8.8 | 4.3 | 1.7 |
| Jalyn Hinton | 9.4 | 6.5 | 1.8 |
| Jace Hogan | 13.6 | 5.3 | 0.8 |
Preview
Notre Dame will look to win its third game in a row on Thursday night and head into Christmas break with some much-needed momentum.
Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 76.6
Jacksonville: 78.3
Opponent Points Per Game
Notre Dame: 67.5
Jacksonville: 72.3
FG%
Notre Dame: 40.1%
Jacksonville: 37.7%
Rebounds Per Game
Notre Dame: 40.1
Jacksonville: 35.5
Assists Per Game
Notre Dame: 13.7
Jacksonville: 15.3
Blocks Per Game
Notre Dame: 5.5
Jacksonville: 6.7
Steals Per Game
Notre Dame: 6.4
Jacksonville: 7.0
Jacksonville has proven they can score the basketball against bad teams but what can they do against the best team they have faced to date?
The Dolphins have scored 123, 94 and 100 points in games this season, which should cause a little concern for Mike Brey as he reshapes the roster after losing Rex Pflueger and Robby Carmody for the season during the last week.
JD Notae leads the Dolphins in scoring and has been coming off the bench lately. If the Irish slow him down, it could be all she wrote. But it also might be easier said than done as Notae has a 40-point game on his resumè this season.
Much like Brian Kelly’s message has been, Brey’s squad needs to focus on bettering themselves right now. Figuring out roles and where points will come from will be significant in the last game before the Irish head home for Christmas.
Can John Mooney and Juwan Durham play well together for long stretches or does Brey have to sub them for each other? Can TJ Gibbs be more aggressive but impact the game earlier? Can freshmen Dane Goodwin or Nate Laszewki have a light bulb go on?
Notre Dame will give problems to the Dolphins on the defensive end with size but to me, Thursday night is about Brey finding something on offense.
Prediction: Notre Dame 81 Jacksonville 70