The ACC needed a team to emerge after Duke, and Notre Dame has accepted that challenge.
Notre Dame is 8-3 in the league and have won 11 of its 13 games, including a 73-65 home win over NC State on Jan. 26. The Fighting Irish (15-7 overall) have four heavily experienced players surrounding star freshman wing Blake Wesley.
The computers might not love Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish are aiming to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2016-17.
Notre Dame plays at NC State at 3 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network.
Overview
The emergence of junior wing Dane Goodwin and freshman small forward Blake Wesley gives Notre Dame 28.7 points a game.
Senior center Paul Atkinson, a Yale transfer, anchors the middle with 12.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a contest. Notre Dame also likes to have stretch four Nate Laszewski slide over at center at times and give the Fighting Irish five three-point threats on the perimeter.
Junior point guard Prentiss Hubb, whose numbers are down this season, is still a threat and just had 15 points and six rebounds in the 68-64 win at Miami on Wednesday. Hubb, Goodwin, Laszewski, and reserves Cormac Ryan and Trey Wertz are all fourth-year juniors due to the COVID year.
Rankings
Notre Dame is No. 70 in the NET rankings this season, and NC State is No. 122.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Fighting Irish currently ranked No. 64 overall, and NC State is No. 103.
KenPom.com has Notre Dame at No. 73, and NCSU checks in at No. 113.
RealtimeRPI.com has NC State ranked No. 191 in the country, and Notre Dame is No. 59.
Shooting
Notre Dame is averaging 70.1 points per game and is shooting 44.8 percent from the field, 36.5 percent on three-pointers and 74.6 percent from the line.
ND has six players who have made at least 14 three-pointers this season. Goodwin has made 50 of 102 from beyond the arc for 49.0 percent, and Laszewski has gone 36 of 81 for 44.4 percent.
Rebounding
Notre Dame is averaging 33.3 rebounds per game and have grabbed 163 offensive boards. Opponents have out-rebounded them by 0.5.
Laszewski leads the way with 7.3 rebounds per game, and Atkinson chips in 6.6 rebounds a contest.
Defense
Opponents have averaged 65.9 points per game, and shooting 43.7 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from three-point land.
The Fighting Irish have 51 blocks, with Atkinson getting 17 and Laszewski adding 16. Wesley leads the squad with 25 steals and six players have at least 15.
Depth
Notre Dame typically only plays two reserves, which was the case in the first matchup. Ryan can play multiple positions along the perimeter and logged 27 minutes off the bench. He’s a former Stanford transfer and is averaging 7.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 27.6 minutes per game.
Wertz played eight minutes off the bench in the first matchup. The Santa Clara transfer from Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day is averaging 4.0 points and 2.4 assists in 20.2 minutes per contest.
Star Watch
Fourth-year junior stretch four Nate Laszewski isn’t really a star, but he was against NC State in the first meeting.
Laszewski played power forward and center and created mismatches with his three-point shooting ability. He went 6 of 9 from the field and 4 of 5 from three-point land en route to 18 points, plus 11 rebounds and a block.
Laszewski has always had that kind of ability. Rivals.com ranked him the No. 56 overall player in the class of 2018 coming out of Gill (N.H.) Northfield Mount Hermon High.
The native of Jupiter, Fla., flashed that ability when he had 23 points and went 6 of 9 on three-pointers his freshman year at Pittsburgh on March 9, 2019.
The 6-foot-10, 235-pound Laszewski truly emerged during his third season last year. He averaged 13.3 points and 7.3 rebounds, and shot 43.4 percent from three-point land.
Laszewski exploded for 28 points and four three-pointers in a loss vs. Virginia on Dec. 30, 2020, and then had 25 points and shot 7 of 11 from three-point land the next game at North Carolina. He also had 27 points and four three-pointers in a loss at Georgia Tech later in the season Feb. 6, 2021.
With more scoring threats this season, Laszewski is down to 8.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, but is making a career-best 44.4 percent on three-pointers this season. He has only reached double figures in seven games, but did pour in 20 points and went 6 of 7 on three-pointers in the 78-73 win vs. North Carolin on Jan. 5.
Likely Starters
NC State
PG — 1 Dereon Seabron (6-7, 180, R-Soph., 18.2 jpg, 9.0 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.5 spg)
SG — 0 Terquavion Smith (6-4, 160, Fr., 15.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.5 spg)
G — 14 Casey Morsell (6-3, 200, Jr., 7.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.8 apg)
PF — 4 Jericole Hellems (6-7, 200, Sr., 14.4 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.2 spg)
C — 21 Ebenezer Dowuona (6-11, 225, Soph., 4.1 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.1 apg, 1.8 bpg) or 11 Jaylon Gibson (6-10, 220, Soph., 2.4 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.2 apg)
Notre Dame
PG — 3 Prentiss Hubb (6-3, 176, Jr., 8.5 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 3.6 apg)
SG — 23 Dane Goodwin (6-6, 208, Jr., 14.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.2 apg)
SF — 0 Blake Wesley (6-5, 185, Fr., 14.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.1 spg)
PF — 14 Nate Laszewski (6-10, 235, Jr., 8.8 jpg, 7.3 rpg, 0.8 apg)
C — 20 Paul Atkinson Jr. (6-9, 230, Sr., 12.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.5 apg)
Numbers Of Note
5: Players who have scored over 1,000 career points — Paul Atkinson, Dane Goodwin, Prentiss Hubb, Nate Laszewski and Trey Wertz. Atkinson (Yale) and Wertz (Santa Clara) got the bulk of their points at a previous program. Notre Dame has 67 players who have reached that milestone.
10 The Fighting Irish are 10-0 when they make 10-or-more three-point field goals this season.
36: Years since Notre Dame last had a public school product from South Bend, Ind. Freshman wing Blake Wesley attended Riley High and was ranked by Rivals.com No. 104 overall in the class of 2021.
Game Within The Game: Notre Dame’s Dane Goodwin vs. NC State’s Terquavion Smith
Notre Dame fourth-year junior wing Dane Goodwin has been the model of consistency for the Fighting Irish.
The 6-6, 200-pounder from Upper Arlington, Ohio, has scored in double figures in 21 of 22 games this season. He’s averaging 14.6 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, and he is shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 49.0 percent on three-pointers and 88.1 percent on free throws this season.
Goodwin is 164 of 418 from three-point land in 113 career games for 39.2 percent.
NC State also sometimes brings out the best in Goodwin. He had 17 points with eight rebounds and went 4 of 7 on three-pointers in the win Jan. 26. He busted out for 19 points his freshman year in a loss Jan. 19, 2019.
NC State freshman wing Terquavion Smith has been a fearless flame-thrower at times this season, but he had one of his worst games of the season in the first meeting. Smith went 1 of 9 from the field and 1 of 5 on three-pointers en route for four points, seven rebounds and four turnovers.
The 6-4, 160-pounder is averaging 15.7 points per game and is shooting 41.4 percent from the field and 36.5 percent on three-pointers.
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