Scouting Notre Dame

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NC State is at Notre Dame for a 2 p.m. tipoff Saturday afternoon in South Bend. Here is a breakdown of the Fighting Irish.

Season Overview

The Irish is 11-6 overall and just 1-3 in the ACC, its lone conference triumph a 69-66 home win over Boston College Jan. 12. Notre Dame though has not had an easy start to conference play. Two of its losses were on the road to nationally ranked opponents — No. 10 Virginia Tech and No. 13/15 North Carolina — and it led the latter at halftime.

Nevertheless, head coach Mike Brey’s squad has had an uneven season thus far. It lost at home early in the year to Radford but also has a solid home win over Purdue.

Rankings

In the newly established NET rankings done by the NCAA, through games of Jan. 16, the Irish was ranked No. 71, which means as a road game it would qualify as a quad one contest for the Pack (road teams ranked 1-75 are quad one). Kenpom.com has the Irish at No. 75. ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has Notre Dame ranked in the same ballpark at No. 72.

In the old RPI formula used by the NCAA, according to RealTimeRPI.com, the Irish would be 120th.

For comparison, NC State is 18th in BPI, 31st in NET, 32nd in Kenpom and 138th in RPI.

Shooting

In four ACC games, the Irish is shooting just 37.7 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three-point range. In fact, it has shot better than 40.0 percent just once, at 41.1 percent in a 15-point loss at Virginia Tech on New Year's Day in its ACC opener. Despite the poor shooting numbers, Notre Dame is still likely to bombs away. In ACC play, over half its shots (121 of 236) have been three-pointers. It averages making 9.18 made threes a game.

Seven different Notre Dame players have made at least 10 three-pointers on the year, led by junior guard T.J. Gibbs who has made 41 treys and in ACC play is shooting 44.4 percent from long range. Junior forward John Mooney is not a prolific shooter, but deadly accurate when he does attempt one. He has made half of his threes in conference play and a team-best 45.9 percent on the year (17 of 37). Freshman guard Prentiss Hubb has heated up recently, making 8 of 18 threes in the last two contests.

For the season, Notre Dame’s 41.5 percent shooting from the field is last in the ACC, but that may be due to its heavy reliance on threes. The Irish’s 34.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc is actually a respectable sixth in the league. It’s, as always seem to be the case for the Irish, a reliable shooting free throw team, making 74.1 percent, fourth best in the league.

Rebounding

Only once in ACC play has Notre Dame outrebounded its opponent, and in nine of 17 games this year it has lost the battle on the boards. This is despite having three players 6-foot-9 or taller on its roster. Mooney leads the way at 10.4 boards per game, but overall the Irish is just 13th in the ACC in rebounding margin (0.4).

Defense

Notre Dame is one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country thanks to junior center Juwan Durham, who has 48 blocks in 15 games, an ACC best 3.2 a contest. Durham is on pace to challenge for the single-season school record in blocked shots. Overall the Irish is fifth in the nation in blocked shots per game.

Conversely however, the Irish do not force turnovers. It Is 13th in the ACC in steals per game (5.47) and 12th in turnovers forced per game (11.9).

The Irish though boast a positive turnover margin for the season because it takes care of the basketball as well as any team. Only Virginia turns it over fewer among ACC schools, and Notre Dame ranks tied for fourth nationally at just 9.5 turnovers a contest. Ironically, NC State leads the ACC in turnovers forced per game.

Depth

Notre Dame is the only team this year in Division I to win a game playing just six players, which it did against Boston College. The Irish was struck a blow when senior guard and captain Rex Pflueger tore his ACL in December and was lost for the year.

Typically though Notre Dame will play seven players. Gibbs missed the Boston College contest with the flu, and Durham missed that game with an ankle injury. Yet that remains the Irish's lone ACC victory.

The Irish is led by its big three of Gibbs, Mooney and sophomore wing D.J. Harvey.

Gibbs is averaging a team-best 14.1 points per game and leads the squad with 63 assists in 16 games. He is second in the ACC in his 3.50 assist/turnover ration. He is also top 10 in the ACC in assists (8th), three-point shooting percentage (10th), three-pointers made per game (tied for fourth) and minutes played (5th). In ACC games only Gibbs leads the ACC in made threes per game. Gibbs has scored in double figures in 13 of 16 games this season.

Mooney is posting a double-double of 13.7 points and 10.4 boards and has a league-best nine double-doubles this year. Harvey is contributing 11.7 points a contests. (More on Harvey later).

Rebounding: NC State is one of the better rebounding teams in the ACC. Despite being colossally outrebounded by UNC, the Pack is still fourth in ACC-only stats in rebounding margin. Notre Dame meanwhile is one of the poorer rebounding teams in the league.

So why is it important stat to watch? Because if the Irish somehow wins the battle on the boards, its odds of winning go up dramatically. Notre Dame is 7-1 when it outrebounds its opponent.

Three-point shooting: The Irish’s best win came when it beat Purdue by making 11 of 21 three-pointers. Notre Dame lives and dies by the three almost on offense. In its four best scoring performances of the year, the Irish made at least 10 threes each time. In ACC play its offense has come from beyond the arc, making double digits in three of four games (and ironically losing all three).

70 points: This season that seems to be Notre Dame's benchmark for needed offensive production. When it is held to less than 70 points it is just 4-5, including 1-3 in the ACC. When it scores more than 70 points it is 7-1, its lone loss an 85-80 setback against Oklahoma in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.

Lost in the shuffle last year was a third key injury for Notre Dame. More publicized was Notre Dame losing star power forward Bonzie Colson, who got hurt Dec. 30 and returned Feb. 28. Point guard Matt Farrell also missed time including part of the Fighting Irish’s 30-point win over NC State in South Bend. The third player injured was then freshman forward D.J. Harvey, who had 17 points and shot 3 of 4 on three-pointers in that lopsided win against the Wolfpack. Harvey got hurt two weeks later and was done for the season.

Harvey is a familiar name to NC State fans due to the Wolfpack’s long attempt to recruit him. He was first evaluated when he was an eighth-grader at Arden (N.C.) Christ School. The Huntsville, Ala., native eventually made his way to famed Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic, where he was a rare four-year starter. Harvey played with Team Takeover traveling team and went on to be ranked No. 51 overall in the country by Rivals.com.

Notre Dame eventually won the recruiting battle for Harvey, and it has paid off this season. The 6-6, 225-pounder is averaging 11.7 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and shooting 33.3 percent from three-point land. He has reached double figures in 11 games, including scoring 19 points in three different games.

Harvey had 15 points and went 3 of 5 on three-pointers in the 75-69 loss at UNC on Tuesday. NC State fifth-year senior wing Torin Dorn, who has similar size at 6-5 and 210 pounds, will likely match up against Harvey. Notre Dame hopes Harvey becomes the consistent force that Dorn has been for NC State the last two years.

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