Game Thread | Clemson at Notre Dame
Clemson (7-9, 17-12) at Notre Dame (13-16, 3-13)
Date: March 3
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Purcell Pavilion | Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: ESPNU
QUICK FACTS
- Notre Dame and Clemson will meet for the 7th time on Sunday. Notre Dame leads the all-time series 5-1.
- Clemson beat Notre Dame 67-58 in the last meeting in January 2018.
- It will be Senior Night at Notre Dame on Wednesday.
THE STARTERS
Notre Dame
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Prentiss Hubb | 8.2 | 3.0 | 3.9 |
| TJ Gibbs | 13.6 | 1.9 | 3.4 |
| DJ Harvey | 10.7 | 4.2 | 0.7 |
| John Mooney | 14.3 | 10.9 | 1.2 |
| Juwan Durham | 5.3 | 3.8 | 0.4 |
Clemson
| Name | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Shelton Mitchell | 11.8 | 2.7 | 3.1 |
| Marcquise Reed | 19.2 | 5.4 | 3.0 |
| Clyde Trapp | 6.2 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Elijah Thomas | 13.1 | 7.9 | 1.4 |
| Aamir Sims | 8.4 | 4.5 |
0.9 |
STATS
| Stats (Per Game) | Notre Dame | Clemson |
| Points Per Game | 69.7 | 69.7 |
| Opp. Points Per Game | 69.3 | 64.3 |
| FG% | 39.8% | 46.1% |
| Rebounds | 36.4 | 35.1 |
| Assists | 12.9 | 12.4 |
| Blocks | 4.7 | 4.3 |
| Steals | 5.8 | 6.6 |
Preview
It will be the shortest Senior Night in Notre Dame history as walk-on Liam Nelligan will get recognized before Wednesday’s game with Clemson.
“We won’t do anything for Rex (Pflueger) because he’s coming back next year,” stated Brey. “Liam (Nelligan) is who we will honor. We’d like to win a home game. We haven’t won one in a while. It’d be nice to win against an NCAA Tournament team.
“It will be Liam and our senior managers. It will be the quickest senior ceremony in the history of Notre Dame basketball.”
Clemson is coming off a two-point loss to North Carolina over the weekend and will look to keep its NCAA Tournament hopes alive with a win over Notre Dame.
The Irish enter the game with five-straight losses and haven’t scored over 70 points in seven games.
Notre Dame hasn’t shot the ball well all year, but during Sunday’s loss to Louisville, the Irish shot just 4-for-14 from the free throw line, which is something they can’t afford to do if they want to get a big win the last week of the regular season.
The chance to knock off Clemson could serve as something to build around in the offseason as the Irish haven’t beaten an NCAA Tournament team since Purdue on December 15th.
“We kept battling,” said Brey. “It’s a great group of kids. They have taken some big punches in this league and that’s what happens in this league.
“ We have a chance at an NCAA Tournament team on Wednesday and we haven’t beaten anyone in the upper division. We need to get one of those teams before this thing ends.”
Maybe Notre Dame can find its offense on Senior Night, but if not, the Irish will struggle as Clemson gives up just 64.3 points per game, so points will likely be a premium for Brey’s offensively challenged team.
Prediction: Clemson 74 Notre Dame 65