Game Thread | Notre Dame at No. 18 Florida State
Notre Dame (13-14, 3-11) at No. 18 Florida State (21-6, 8-5)
Date: February 25th
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Where: Donald L. Tucker Center | Tallahassee, Fla.
TV: ESPN | Sean McDonough, Dan Dakich and Allison Williams
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame and Florida State will meet for the ninth time on Monday evening.
- Forward John Mooney leads all major conference players in rebounds per game in league play with 12.4 per game.
- Mooney has pulled down 14 or more rebounds six times in ACC play.
- Freshman Prentiss Hubb is sixth in the country in playing time among true freshman playing amongst the major conferences.
- Notre Dame’s freshman class has amounted 2,105 minutes played this season, the most for a freshman class in the Mike Brey era.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 7.6 | 2.9 | 3.9 |
| TJ Gibbs | 14.1 | 2.0 | 3.4 |
| Nik Djogo | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.8 |
| DJ Harvey | 10.7 | 4.3 | 0.7 |
| John Mooney | 14.0 | 10.9 | 1.2 |
Florida State
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Terance Mann | 11.7 | 6.4 | 2.4 |
| Trent Forrest | 9.0 | 4.8 | 3.8 |
| M.J. Walker | 7.7 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| Phil Cofer | 7.4 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
| Christ Koumadje | 6.7 | 5.7 |
0.3 |
STATS
| Stats (Per Game) | Notre Dame | Florida State |
| Points Per Game | 70.3 | 76.5 |
| Opp. Points Per Game | 69.1 | 67.9 |
| FG% | 39.9% | 44.8% |
| Rebounds | 37.1 | 37.3 |
| Assists | 13.0 | 13.4 |
| Blocks | 4.9 | 4.2 |
| Steals | 5.6 | 7.6 |
Preview
Mike Brey wanted his young team to knock off one of the programs at the top of half the ACC and the Irish will get another shot after a disappointing game against Virginia Tech on Saturday.
Florida State is coming off an 18-point loss to North Carolina on Saturday, so it might not be the best time to sneak up on the Noles.
Another thing working against the Irish will be the depth and overall size of Florida State. Notre Dame will be overmatched at almost every position, which will be an interesting test for the freshman, who haven’t seen a team this big.
Christ Koumadje will be protecting the basketball with his 7-foot-4, 268-pound frame, while the Florida State guards also have size and length.
Notre Dame’s bench will also likely get outscored as Florida State’s leading scorer, Mfiondu Kabengele, comes off the bench and averages 13.2 points per game. The 6-foot-10, 250-pounder will be a handful for Notre Dame as he’s scored in double figures 17 times this season, which also includes four games scoring 20 points or more.
The offensive problems haven’t gotten better for the Irish and I’m not sure I see them getting better against Florida State’s defense, who will look to push the Irish off the perimeter.
Prediction: Florida State 72 Notre Dame 59