Tag: Prentiss Hubb

Notre Dame wins over teams at least eight games above .500 since 2018

The Irish haven’t had many recent wins like the one against Virginia.

In a season that figures to have few true highlights, Notre Dame had one Saturday. Virginia entered Purcell Pavilion with a 10-2 record and having received votes in the most recent Top 25 poll. That didn’t matter to the young Irish because they crushed the Cavaliers, 76-54. If anyone tells you they saw that coming, they’re lying.

This wasn’t only an upset against a quality program and Micah Shrewsberry’s first ACC win. It represented a rarity for Notre Dame in recent years. The Cavaliers’ record coming into this game meant they were eight games above .500. Since the Irish last made consecutive NCAA Tournaments from 2015 to 2017, they have beaten opponents who were at least eight games above .500 coming in only seven times.

So forgive the Irish if they go a little over the top in celebrating this latest such instance. This doesn’t happen to them very much these days, so they definitely are cause for celebration every time. Here are the most recent of these occurrences:

Five things to know ahead of Notre Dame vs. Nazareth College

Basketball is back in South Bend

Another season of Notre Dame basketball is underway. After a one-year absence, the action tips off once again with an exhibition game. This time, they’ll be welcoming Division III program Nazareth College of Rochester, New York, to South Bend. Here are five things to think about as the Irish see their first game action of the season:

Mike Brey meets with media ahead of Notre Dame’s 2022-23 season

Here’s what we heard when we traveled to the Irish’s local media day.

[autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] is coming off his best season coaching Notre Dame over the past few years. Irish fans will be anxious to see how his team will be able to build off last season’s success. Until they learn how or if that happens, words from the longtime coach will suffice. And he has plenty to say about it.

Fighting Irish Wire accepted an invitation to attend a media day for local media at Purcell Pavilion and was with the assembled group when Brey spoke. He addressed everything from the outlook of this year’s team to the ACC’s reputation to players old and new. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone by now, but he knows his team very well and is as much of an open book as you can imagine for a college basketball coach.

Here is some of what Brey had to say to the local media:

Notre Dame gives out 2021-22 awards

Who was the best of the best for the Irish this season?

The 2021-22 season didn’t start like it would be a memorable one for Notre Dame. Starting the schedule with a 4-5 record will do that. Then, the Irish rattled off winning streaks of six, four and five and stayed in contention for the ACC regular-season championship almost to the end. Their resume was enough to be selected for their first NCAA Tournament since 2017, and a pair of wins to get to the round of 32 tied a nice bow on this 24-11 season.

Before this iteration of the Irish goes its separate ways for good, there were some team awards to give out. The informal presentation was held at Rolfs Athletic Center. When you look the winners, there probably won’t be any surprises if you followed this team closely from the beginning. Let’s take a look at which players were rewarded for being the best of the best for the Irish this past season:

Watch: Notre Dame celebrates in locker room after NCAA Tournament win

Think these guys are happy?

One of the cooler additions to March Madness coverage in recent years is celebrations in winning locker rooms. It usually consists of players and coaches gathering together and jumping up and down while cheering and shouting victory phrases. After Notre Dame beat Rutgers in perhaps the most epic game in First Four history, it would have been unreasonable to expect a calm locker room for the victors. Fortunately, for the sake of our enjoyment, that locker room was as far from calm as you possibly could get:

The Irish now will travel to the opposite end of the country to play sixth-seeded Alabama in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64. However, before that game begins, there’s a lot of celebrating to do, and that is well underway. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if no one on the team slept on the way to San Diego. We know Prentiss Hubb and Trey Wertz won’t be feeling tired anytime soon:

Oh, and a jubilant Mike Brey has this message for everyone:

[lawrence-related id=53418]

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Mike Brey, Prentiss Hubb, Cormac Ryan speak after ACC Tournament loss

The Irish have a few things to say about their early exit.

Mike Brey will be hosting his Notre Dame team at his house for Selection Sunday. Unlike last year, the Irish will be waiting for their name to pop up barring a sudden change of heart by the selection committee. Should the unlikely unfortunate happen, their 87-80 ACC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Virginia Tech surely will be a contributing factor. However, that merely is a worst-case scenario, and virtually no college basketball expert is listing the Irish as a bubble team.

Brey addressed the media along with Prentiss Hubb and Cormac Ryan, the Irish players who had the best performances in the loss. Most of the conversation understandably revolved around what had just happened against the Hokies. There also was talk about how well the team gets along and what it has been able to accomplish so far this season. Here is some of what the Irish coach and players had to say:

Notre Dame one-and-done in ACC Tournament after loss to Virginia Tech

Not what the Irish had in mind.

Notre Dame hoped to get revenge for its loss to Virginia Tech earlier in the season. A double bye and the second seed in the ACC Tournament should have indicated that the Irish were ready for almost anything thrown their way. Instead, the Hokies doubled down on the fact that they own the Irish this season and won the quarterfinal meeting, 87-80. While the Irish are said not to be on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, a win sure would have given them less reason to be nervous come Selection Sunday.

The Irish (22-10) never led in this game, nor did they ever tie it once the Hokies (21-12), a true bubble team, scored the first points of the contest en route to a great shooting night. They trailed by as much as 16 in the first half, making only nine field goals and having an assist-to-turnover ratio of four to 10. The second half went better on both ends, and they got the deficit down to four with 48 seconds left. However, the Hokies answered every Irish run, and the comeback effort was too little too late.

Keve Aluma led the Hokies with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Justyn Mutts had the best all-around game with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Storm Murphy shot 5 of 7 from the field on a 16-point night, and Nahiem Allleyne matched that shooting line while scoring 12. Sean Padulla added 13 off the bench.

Prentiss Hubb led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and paced the Irish with five assists. Cormac Ryan made all eight of his free throws in a 20-point game, and Nate Laszewski had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Dane Goodwin, making his first appearance off the bench this season, scored 11.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame seniors’ best scoring games at Purcell Pavilion

Take a look back at these memorable performances.

Notre Dame’s graduating class will get one final opportunity to show itself off during senior day at Purcell Pavilion. Although there still will be a few meaningful things to play for against Pittsburgh, the significance of day shouldn’t be lost on any of them. After all, graduating players get only one opportunity to be honored for their years of service to the program, so this is the time to let it all soak in.

Over the past few years, the Irish’s six seniors and one graduate student have had plenty of opportunities to put points on the Purcell Pavilion scoreboard. Some efforts have produced better results than others. As they prepare to take their home court for the last time, let’s take a look at the scoring performances that they haven’t been able to top. Maybe one of these games will be replaced by this upcoming one, but this is their last chance to top themselves in South Bend.

Notre Dame misses opportunities in loss to Florida State

Not how the Irish wanted their last true road game of the year to go.

If anyone thought Notre Dame’s remaining opponents would just let it have the second seed in the ACC Tournament, they were wrong. Even with Florida State decimated by injuries to its top players, it had every intention of making a statement when the Irish came to Tallahassee. That’s exactly what happened in a 74-70 Seminoles win. Consequently, Duke has won the outright ACC regular-season championship.

The Irish (21-9, 14-5) bounced back from the Seminoles (16-13, 9-10) making their first five 3-point attempts to take a five-point halftime lead. The second half saw the Irish lose that lead early and never get it back despite plenty of chances to do so. They both missed shots and coughed up loose balls at inopportune times. Perhaps most damning of all, they missed all 10 shots from 3-point range in the second half while the Seminoles equaled the six 3s they made in the first half.

John Butler, who could make the jump to the NBA in the distant future, was the man for the Seminoles. He led them with 16 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Three of his four 3-pointers came during the Seminoles’ shooting barrage out of the gate. Helping him out were fellow starters Anthony Polite, RayQuan Evans and Tanor Ngom, all of whom scored 12 points.

Blake Wesley scored two of his game-high 21 points on a thunderous first-half dunk, which proved to be the highlight for the Irish in this one. Paul Atkinson Jr. achieved a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Prentiss Hubb had a 10-point, seven-board game, but he shot only 4 of 12 from the field, including 1 of 6 from beyond the arc.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89

Notre Dame blows out Georgia Tech to clinch double bye in ACC tourney

The Irish will get a two-round head-start in the ACC Tournament.

When Notre Dame first met Georgia Tech this season, it needed overtime to pull off the victory. When the teams reconvened in South Bend, the Irish made sure from the beginning that there would be no extra basketball this time. They led the Yellow Jackets wire-to-wire in a 90-56 victory that gave them their largest margin of victory in ACC play this season. More importantly, they clinched a top-four spot in the conference, guaranteeing them one of four double byes in the upcoming ACC Tournament.

The outcome of this game never was in doubt. You had to believe it after the Irish (21-8, 14-4) shot a whopping 66.7 percent from the field in the first half and made their last seven shots of the frame. That was enough to catch the attention of Tory Jackson:

Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets (11-18, 4-14) shot 34.4 percent for the entire contest. They missed eight of their final nine shots, including their last six. It was so decisive that Mike Brey felt comfortable enough to let 10 players see the floor.

Dane Goodwin led the Irish with 17 points, all of which came in the first half and were more points than he scored in the past two games combined. Blake Wesley scored 15 points, and Prentiss Hubb balanced out his 13 points with a game-high six assists.

Paul Atkinson Jr. rounded out the list of Irish players scoring in double figures with 10 points. Cormac Ryan recorded a game-high 10 rebounds and finished one field goal short of a double-double.

Contact/Follow us @IrishWireND on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Notre Dame news, notes, and opinions.

Follow Geoffrey on Twitter: @gfclark89