With that, Atlantic Coast Conference opponents will end the regular season that helped Notre Dame men's basketball rebuild their season.
The Irish had lost seven straight before a Feb. 10 home game against Virginia Tech, a Saturday opponent at the always tricky Cassell Coliseum. The Irish had won five of six games and defeated the Hokies before Tuesday's meltdown at No. 7 North Carolina.
Neue:South Bend Riley High School honors former guard Blake Wesley
How about another win and a fresh start for Notre Dame?
When does the Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech game start? Is it on TV? Where does the All Time Series sit?
☘ Who: Notre Dame (12-18 overall, 7-12 ACC, 11-0 tie)th 1st place) vs. Virginia Tech (16-13; 8-10, 3-way tie for 8th place)
☘ where: Cassell Coliseum (9,275), Blacksburg, Virginia
☘ when: Saturday 2:30pm
☘ tv set: ESPNU
☘ wireless: WSBT (960am).
☘ online: Follow all Notre Dame games with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter) at twitter.com/tnoieNDI
Virginia Tech Hokies Scouting
Guard Sean Pedula had 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals in Tuesday's game against Louisville, with five Hokies scoring in double figures. Virginia Tech shot 53 percent in the first half and led 49-31 at intermission. He tied his season best with 13 points and picked up his third win in the last five games for the second consecutive year. … The Hokies return three starters from last year's team, which finished 19-15 overall, 8-12 and 11 wins.th Place it in ACC. They were selected this preseason and finished in 8th place. … Virginia Tech has won 26 of his games at Cassel Coliseum over the past two years. …Virginia Tech is 13-2 at home this season and 7-2 in league play with losses to Duke and Miami (Fla.). The Hokies have won three straight and five of six games in Cassel…Virginia Tech is 5-6 against six repeat league opponents.
Neue:Notre Dame men's basketball feels good this time around, but it feels good for certain players.
In terms of numbers
2: Virginia Tech enters the final weekend of the regular season ranked second in the ACC in free throw percentage (.792) and assists (15.23).
15: Virginia Tech rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat Wake Forest 87-76 on March 3, marking their first major upset since December 12, 2013 (they trailed West Virginia by 17 points). .
149: Saturday was graduate student guard Hunter Kattore's 149th career game, a program record.
.661: Lynn Kidd, a transfer from Clemson, leads the ACC and ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage. He took just three shots, making one in his first game against Notre Dame. Kidd is the only Hokie to start all 30 games.
7,709: Cassell Coliseum ranks ninth in the 15-team ACC in average attendance this season.
who is hot
Sophomore guard MJ Collins became a gotta play guard for Mike Young. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound sophomore from Clover, South Carolina, has played at least 33 minutes in each of his last six games and has scored in double figures in three games. He had 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals in 38 minutes against Louisville.
Often assigned to the other team's best guard (Hello, Marcus Burton)Collins averaged 6.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 28.8 minutes per game.
Who is not?
Before scoring 11 points against Louisville on Tuesday, North Carolina transfer Tyler Nickel had totaled three points (0, 3, 0) in his past three games. The sophomore swingman hit 1-of-17 from the field. Nickell is averaging 8.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 24.6 minutes in 29 games in his first season in Blacksburg.
Quoting the Hokies
“That's always a big part of what we do. We have a good shooting team. We're not shooting great all the time, but (we're) shooting the ball well.” — Head coach Mike Young's team ranks fifth in the league in 3-pointers made with 251 (8.3 per game) and sixth in 3-point percentage (.359).
Series history
Notre Dame and Virginia Tech have each won 10 times since they first met in 1973. Notre Dame has 4 wins and 3 losses against Blacksburg. Virginia Tech leads her ACC peers at 8-7. Notre Dame won 74-66 in South Bend on February 10, ending the Hokies' winning streak at six. The Irish haven't won against Blacksburg since Jan. 14, 2017, when they won 76-71 (three straight losses).
Scouting Notre Dame against the Irish
Unable to survive scoring runs of 12-2, 16-0, and 18-0, Notre Dame lost to No. 7 North Carolina State 84-51 on Tuesday, never leading and trailing by as many as 38 points. Attached. Notre Dame had won its second straight game and had the second-fewest points in an ACC game that had won five of six. …the Irish went from 22 years oldn.d. Reached 32 points in national scoring defense (65.4 points)n.d. (66.1) after Tuesday's loss. … Marcus Burton had 16 points, four rebounds and eight assists, and Braden Shrewsberry added 12 points and five rebounds in a 74-66 win over Virginia Tech on Feb. 10. . There were six ties and five lead changes in the game. Notre Dame is trailing by as many as nine and leading by as many as 11. …The Irish are 3-10 at home this season, 2-9 in true road games and 2-7 in ACC road games with the win at Georgia. High tech and Louisville. … Notre Dame is 4-7 against six repeat league opponents this season.
In terms of numbers
13.2: Notre Dame's average loss in six league games.
15: Selected in preseason and advanced to the top 15th — FINAL — Notre Dame enters the final weekend of the regular season in a three-way tie for 11th place in the ACC.
33.5: Notre Dame has the largest average deficit in its last two road league games. Notre Dame trailed Syracuse by 29 points and North Carolina by 38 points.
84.5: Notre Dame has allowed an average of 88 points against Syracuse and 81 points against North Carolina in its last two league road games.
511: Barton's points this season put him nine points away from setting a program record by a freshman. Troy Murphy holds the current mark of 519.
who is hot
Sophomore swingman Tae Davis scored in double figures in a season-high four straight games with 11, 18, 11 and 12. He became the only Irishman to score in double figures (11 points) against North Carolina. His 18 points against Clemson were his ACC career high. Davis played in 29 games (28 starts), averaging 8.7 points and 5.2 rebounds in 25.7 minutes. He is shooting .479 percent from the field, .167 percent from three and .707 percent from the foul line. All numbers are career bests for Davis, who played at Seton Hall last season.
Who is not?
Freshman guard Braden Shrewsberry has settled in for the first time in three years since late last month. Shrewsbury, which has scored in double digits for three straight games and shot 15-of-29 (.517) from 3-point range, is now 7-of-19 (.368) in the last two games. He scored 8 points and 9 points. Average number of successful 3-point shots is 7th in the league (2.40).
Quote from an Irishman
“Our culture has gotten better. We've stayed strong through tough times. Now the culture is creating itself. When it's a culture, the head coach defines it and the assistant coaches protect it. , the players show it. That's what's happening now.” Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry
Looking to the future
Notre Dame will continue on the road after Saturday, taking a bus to Washington, host of next week's ACC Tournament. If the season ended today, Notre Dame would be the No. 12 seed and would play No. 13 Georgia Tech (14-16, 7) at Capital One Arena on Tuesday at 2 p.m. (ACC Network). vs. 12).
The exact opponent and game time will be determined on Saturday night.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.
