purcell pavilion – Page 13 – Syndication Server

Notre Dame Game at NC State Postponed After Positive COVID-19 Tests

Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team will have to wait a little longer to return to the court.

Notre Dame’s women’s basketball team will have to wait a little longer to return to the court. After over a week without game action, the Irish would have ended their layoff with a Presidents’ Day trip to NC State. Instead, positive tests for COVID-19 within the program, along with the quarantining and contact tracing that come with it, have forced that game to be postponed. The ACC also announced that the Valentine’s Day meeting between Louisville and Syracuse was postponed after the Cardinals had a positive test in their program.

Notre Dame (8-8, 6-6) slipped back to .500 with a three-game losing streak that followed a three-game winning streak. Its next game is scheduled for Thursday at Purcell Pavilion against Syracuse. Whether or not that contest will be played remains to be seen. If it’s not, the Irish have games at Pittsburgh on Feb. 22 and against Florida State on Feb. 25, and there’s no telling which of those games would be played would be the Irish’s next contest either.

Notre Dame Will Try to Ride Momentum vs. Wake Forest

Although Notre Dame faces an uphill climb in trying to salvage its season, that it’s making that effort at all is encouraging.

Although Notre Dame faces an uphill climb in trying to salvage its season, that it’s making that effort at all is encouraging. Saturday’s 84-58 road win over a Pittsburgh team that’s suddenly struggling was the Irish’s best-played game of the season, and they’ve now won three of their past four. They’ll look to continue this successful run against Wake Forest on Tuesday at Purcell Pavilion.

This recent surge by the Irish (6-9, 3-6) comes after dropping six of seven. The Demon Deacons (5-7, 2-7) come to South Bend in a similar situation. Though they’ve won two of their past three, this stretch has come after they dropped their first six games in January. With these teams going a combined 0-11 against ranked programs, the expectations have been lowered for both, and this game could determine who gets off to a stronger start in the final full month of the season.

Notre Dame Will Try to Ride Momentum vs. Wake Forest

Although Notre Dame faces an uphill climb in trying to salvage its season, that it’s making that effort at all is encouraging.

Notre Dame Has Bad Start, Can’t Recover vs. No. 20 Virginia Tech

Notre Dame struggled in the second half the last time it played No. 20 Virginia Tech.

Notre Dame struggled in the second half the last time it played No. 20 Virginia Tech. That cost the Irish in what otherwise might have been a closer game. These teams met again Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion. Things didn’t go any better this time in a 62-51 Irish loss, extending their drought against Top 25 teams dating back to beating No. 6 Wichita State in the 2017 Maui Invitational.

The shooting issues that plagued Notre Dame last time continued in the first half of this game as it made only two field goals in the first nine-and-a-half minutes. With 5:10 remaining before halftime, the Hokies went up, 25-10, and that proved to be too much of a hole for the Irish to dig themselves out of. They did a better job of matching the Hokies in the second half, only being outscored by two points. But the deficit was in double digits practically the whole time, so any notion of entertaining a real comeback merely was a pipe dream.

The Hokies’ Nahiem Alleyne and Justyn Mutts had identical shooting lines of 7-of-14 from the field, scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Mutts grabbed 11 rebounds to achieve a double-double, a feat he shared with Keve Aluma (14 points, 12 rebounds). Off the bench, Hunter Cattoor scored 12 of his 13 points on four 3-pointers. He also had a game-high three steals.

Prentiss Hubb practically did all of the offensive work for the Irish, leading all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting. No other Notre Dame player reached double figures. Dane Goodwin (eight points) and Trey Wertz (seven) both shot 0 of 4 from 3-point range on a night the Irish were 3 of 18 there. And whether or not Cormac Ryan’s absence had anything to do with this, the Irish didn’t help their cause with an 8-to-12 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Notre Dame Unable to Solve No. 22 Duke in ACC Opener

Did Notre Dame think it had a chance against No. 22 Duke without having to face Jalen Johnson?

Did Notre Dame think it had a chance against No. 22 Duke without having to face Jalen Johnson? Probably, because anyone who goes into a game with a losing attitude shouldn’t be playing college basketball. But there are reasons the Blue Devils are ranked, and the Irish are not. The latest is a 75-65 win by the more talented Blue Devils at Purcell Pavilion.

Dec 16, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish forward Juwan Durham (11) and Duke Blue Devils forward Patrick Tape (12) jump for the opening tip at the Purcell Pavilion. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The Irish (2-3, 0-1) never led this game, but they didn’t let it get out of hand either. They never let the deficit get bigger than 11 in the first half, and they got within five near the halfway point of the second. But the Blue Devils (3-2, 1-0) responded to that by scoring nine unanswered points and leading by double digits the rest of the way. Given that they did more with more opportunities (31 of 60 from the field vs. 23 of 49 for the Irish), that should have been the result.

Dec 16, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Mike Brey talks to his players during a time out in the second half against the Duke Blue Devils at the Purcell Pavilion. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Matthew Hurt led the Blue Devils with 18 points, three assists and two blocks. D.J. Steward scored 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had a game-high two steals. Jeremy Roach had 14 points, and Jaemyn Brakefield scored 10 in 24 minutes off the bench.

Dec 16, 2020; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Dane Goodwin (23) shoots a three point basket over Duke Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach (3) in the first half at the Purcell Pavilion. Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Dane Goodwin was scorching with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the floor, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. Prentiss Hubb scored 12 and tied with Cormac Ryan with three assists. Trey Wertz made his Irish debut with nine points in 21 minutes as a substitute.

Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 8 Seed – 2009-10 Irish

We finally have our first team in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament which qualified for March Madness: the 2009-10 Irish.

It took long enough, but we finally have our first team in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament which qualified for March Madness: the 2009-10 Irish. Even though Notre Dame was upset by Old Dominion in the first round of the NCAA tournament, this still was a decent team that flew under the radar. That’s the best to describe a group that finished 23-12.

The ’09-10 Irish are the last to go undefeated at the Purcell Pavilion, which meant they took care of business when they absolutely should have. They never had a losing streak longer than three, and they were one of eight Big East teams to win at least 10 conference games. No, they weren’t able to take down the top dogs in the conference like Syracuse, West Virginia or Villanova, but they did what they needed to obtain an at-large NCAA bid, and making the Big East semifinals surely helped. This definitely was a comeback year for them after missing out on the Big Dance the year before.

Luke Harangody came close to averaging a double-double with 21.8 points and 9.1 rebounds a game. Tim Abromaitis obtained a 16.1 scoring average while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range, and Ben Hansbrough posted 12.0 points a game. He also averaged 4.4 assists, not far behind the 5.3 assists from Tory Jackson. With those two setting the pace, the Irish ranked sixth in the country in assists (585).

Notre Dame Plays on ACC Tournament’s Last Normal Night

Notre Dame began its ACC tournament run against Boston College on Wednesday with fans in attendance at Greensboro Coliseum.

Notre Dame began its ACC tournament run against Boston College on Wednesday with fans in attendance at Greensboro Coliseum. The crowd was sparse, which is expected during the early rounds of these conference tourneys, especially when marquee programs aren’t involved. That’s not a knock on the Irish, but let’s just say the basketball program has a long way to go to catch up with the football program in prestige.

At the same time, it’s fair to say the coronavirus pandemic might also have affected the crowd size. And it’s that very pandemic that likely will prevent any fans from attending the rest of the tournament. As of this writing, no official word had come down yet, but speculation on Twitter suggests the ACC will follow the Big Ten, Big 12 and others in banning fans from the rest of their tournament games.

Coupled with no fans being allowed at the NCAA tournament at all, this surely was the last night of normal college basketball of the season at the Division I level. Even if the Irish receive an NIT invite and a home game, the prospect of fans inside Purcell Pavilion for it is looking less likely. They should be likely they had the opportunity to play Wednesday’s game in front of anyone from the general public.

We’re undoubtedly living in the most uncertain time to be a sports fan in our lifetimes. Thursday and beyond will confirm that. It’s unfortunate it had to happen during the time of year everyone is focused on college basketball. Alas, as the song goes, que sera sera.

Notre Dame Basketball: Time to See the Seminoles

The Irish will play their final two regular-season games at the Purcell Pavilion, starting Wednesday against No. 7 Florida State.

With Notre Dame’s NCAA tournament hopes dashed short of an ACC tournament title, the only thing left is to see if it can finish strongly enough to get a home game in the NIT or one of the other lesser postseasons college basketball decided needed to exist. The Irish (18-11, 9-9) will play their final two regular-season games at the Purcell Pavilion, starting Wednesday against No. 7 Florida State (24-5, 11-4). Revenge will be on their mind after a one-point loss Jan. 25 in Tallahassee.

History stands to be made during this homestand. By playing in both games, Rex Pflueger will break Pat Connaughton’s record for most appearances in program history (139). Pflueger also is seven steals away from 150 this season, which would make him the fourth Notre Dame player with 700 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists and 150 steals. Meanwhile, John Mooney needs two double-doubles to pass Luke Harangody for the single-season record (25) and to match Bob Whitmore for third on the career list (47).

Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Hope to Beat BC

When Notre Dame saw its 13-game winning streak against Boston College get snapped Dec. 7 at the Purcell Pavilion, it dropped to 0-2 in ACC play. For some, that was the moment they knew this season would be a disappointment, and little since then has caused that narrative to waver. But the Irish (17-10, 8-8) can get a little revenge when they visit the Eagles (13-15, 7-10) on Wednesday.

T.J. Gibbs will be worth watching in this game and for the rest of the season. He’s shooting 49.7 percent from the field, 51.8 percent from 3-point range and 90.2 percent from the free-throw line. No ACC player since the 1996-97 season has had a 40-50-90 line, and Gibbs would be the fourth major conference player since that season to achieve it. The last to do it was William Buford of Ohio State in the 2010-11 season.

Gibbs also needs to play 27 minutes to reach 4,000 for his career. His current total of 3,973 ranks ninth in both Notre Dame history and in the Mike Brey era.

Notre Dame Basketball: Irish Seek Winning Streak

Notre Dame hasn’t won two in a row since beating Alabama A&M on Dec. 29 and Syracuse on Jan. 4. After defeating Wake Forest on Wednesday, the Irish (12-8, 3-6) will try to start a new winning streak against Georgia Tech (10-11, 4-6) on Saturday. It …

This will be the first game in which T.J. Gibbs enters action as the Irish’s all-time leading scorer in regular-season ACC games. It took him 61 games to score 761 points, 11 games fewer than it took Steve Vasturia, the previous record-holder, to reach his mark of 739.

While Notre Dame will look to improve its ACC record Saturday, it also will be a day for celebration. Kelly Tripucka, who scored 1,719 points over his Irish career, will be inducted into the Purcell Pavilion Ring of Honor at halftime. Tripucka will be the ninth person to receive the highest honor the program can bestow upon a former student-athlete or coach.