Game Thread | Wake Forest at Notre Dame
Wake Forest (9-15, 2-10) at Notre Dame (13-12, 3-9)
Date: February 19th
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: Watch ESPNU | Rich Hollenberg and Debbie Antonelli
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame and Wake Forest will meet for the ninth time on Tuesday. The Irish lead the all-time series 5-3.
- The Irish have won five straight games over Wake Forest entering Tuesday’s game.
- Forward John Mooney leads the ACC in double-doubles with 16 in 25 games (14.2 ppg, 10.8 reb).
- Mooney has also recorded 10 double-doubles in ACC play. Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013-14, the single-season high for double-doubles in the ACC is 13 by UNC’s Brice Johnson.
- Freshman Prentiss Hubb is seventh in the country in playing time among true freshman playing amongst the major conferences.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 7.7 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| TJ Gibbs | 13.5 | 2.0 | 3.7 |
| Nik Djogo | 2.9 | 2.0 | 0.7 |
| DJ Harvey | 10.9 | 4.5 | 0.7 |
| John Mooney | 14.0 | 11.0 | 1.2 |
Wake Forest
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Brandon Childress | 14.5 | 3.5 | 4.0 |
| Chaundee Brown | 11.2 | 4.0 | 1.3 |
| Sharone Wright Jr. | 6.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 |
| Jaylen Hoard | 13.9 | 8.2 | 1.4 |
| Olivier Sarr | 5.9 | 5.5 |
0.5 |
STATS
| Stats (Per Game) | Notre Dame | Wake Forest |
| Points Per Game | 70.8 | 68.4 |
| Opp. Points Per Game | 69.0 | 75.5 |
| FG% | 40.0% | 39.6% |
| Rebounds | 37.9 | 37.8 |
| Assists | 13.1 | 10.5 |
| Blocks | 5.0 | 2.8 |
| Steals | 5.5 | 4.8 |
Preview
Notre Dame’s offensive problems have been well documented over the last two months but Wake Forest is in the same boat and maybe worse. The Demon Deacons have struggled to score highlight by a 64-37 loss at Clemson to start February.
The Irish offense has made strides here and there in February, but Mike Brey’s squad can’t take a step backward on Tuesday night.
Wake Forest does have standout freshman Jaylen Hoard, who came off the bench on Saturday, but he’ll be a test for John Mooney. Hoard is 6-foot-8 and will provide an athletic presence down low. Could this be the game we see Juwan Durham rise to the occasion?
Durham has struggled the last four games since returning from injury. The 6-foot-11 forward scored eight points against Miami but has been held scoreless in the other three games. Brey stated before Durham’s return he wanted to play him 20 minutes a night and the closest Durham has been in 12 minutes.
A boost in productive minutes will gain Durham’s confidence back, but also provide Notre Dame with help on both ends of the floor.
Another player I’ll be watching is freshman Nate Laszewski. The 6-foot-10 forward has had a typical freshman season of up and down play, but he did score nine points on Saturday at Virginia. Laszewski was just 2-for-7 from the field, however, I believe it’s a performance he can build on heading into Tuesday.
I expect Notre Dame to win this game as they are the better team and should have some positive momentum coming out of the six-point loss at Virginia. Yes, Notre Dame should be pleased they took Virginia to the finals minutes even though they lost.
Prediction: Notre Dame 73 Wake Forest 65