Irish Open Exhibition Play Against Nazareth Friday Night

The University of Notre Dame men’s basketball team welcomes Nazareth College for the first exhibition game of the 2021-22 season • Friday night marks the return of exhibition games and fans to Purcell Pavilion, after both  were not allowed during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic • there will be no limited attendance numbers at Purcell Pavilion this season and all non-team personnel will be required to wear masks • the exhibition game is the first of two scheduled this season• the Irish will face St. Norbert next Friday at 7 p.m.

 

Notre Dame Game Notes (PDF)

WHO:	Notre Dame vs. Nazareth College
WHAT:	Exhibition Game
WHERE:	Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center
WHEN:	Friday, October 29, 2021 | 7 p.m. ET
TICKETS:	Available at und.com/buytickets
RADIO:	Play by Play: Tony Simeone | Live locally on WSBT-AM 960/FM 96.1, worldwide on und.com

2021-22 FIGHTING IRISH – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

BACKCOURT

PRENTISS HUBB – Preseason All-BIG EAST Second Team • leads all returning ACC players in career assists (445) • the 445 career assists are the fifth-most for any active NCAA player entering their fourth sesason of action • led the Irish in scoring (14.6) and three-point field goals made (65) last season • one of five major conference players to reach 100 assists in league play last season.

CORMAC RYAN – Started 16 of 25 games in his first year with the Irish last season • scored 21 points in the first half in the victory at Duke last year, eventually scoring career-best 28 points • shot .344 from 3FG range last season.

DANE GOODWIN – Has seen action in 91 career games, making 30 starts • posted career highs of 11.8 ppg and 5.2 rpg in 2020-21 • one of the best free throw shooters on the team, boasting a .821 career average from the stripe.

TREY WERTZ – Planned to sit out 2020-21 season after transferring from Santa Clara until all underclassmen transfers were given immediate eligibility in December of 2020 • appeared in 21 games making 14 starts, shooting .429 from three-point range • hit the game-winning 3FG at the buzzer vs. WF in 2021 ACC tournament.

BLAKE WESLEY – First South Bend, IN, public school MBB prospect to sign with Notre Dame since 1985 • consensus four-star prospect • athletic backcourt player expected to be an immediate key contributor.

J.R. KONIECZNY – (pronounced Ko-NEZZ-knee) All-time leading scorer in St. Joseph County history (1,996) • joins classmate Blake Wesley as the first Northern Indiana Conference players to sign with Notre Dame since 2012 (D. Jackson, A. Torres).

TONY SANDERS JR. – Athletic wing player who saw action in 14 games during his rookie season.

ROBBY CARMODY – Has suffered season-ending injuries in his first three seasons on the Irish roster • continues to rehab and has started some limited basketball activities • started his first two career games at ND before injuries.

ELIJAH MORGAN – Walk on member of the program has earned the staff’s trust to be inserted into the lineup at any time • has played in 22 career games with one start.

ALEX WADE – First-year walk on joined the Irish in the summer of 2021 • four-year varsity captain at Cathedral Catholic.

FRONT COURT

NATE LASZEWSKI – Posted 12 games with nine or more rebounds in 2020-21 • improved FG% 19 percent, 3FG% 11% and RPG by 3.1 last season • scored over 20 points four times last season and has five 20-point games in his career.

PAUL ATKINSON, JR. – 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year at Yale • did not participate in 2020-21, as the Ivy League cancelled all intercollegiate athletics • ranked by ESPN+ as the fourth-best transfer prospect in 2020-21 • boasts a .661 career field goal percentage – top for any returning NCAA Division I player this year – and led Ivy League in FG% all three seasons in which he competed.

MATT ZONA – Saw action in 14 games last season • developing into a key rebounder, screener on the Irish front line.

ELIJAH TAYLOR – Missed 2020-21 while recovering from ankle surgery • athletic front court player will provide depth on the Irish front line.

IRISH ITEMS – BY THE NUMBERS

1	Since 2000-01 (first year of the Mike Brey era), Notre Dame has led the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (1.44).
7	Notre Dame will confer an NCAA Division I men’s basketball-best seven degrees in the spring of 2022 – undergraduate degrees to R. Carmody, D. Goodwin, P. Hubb, N. Laszewski, C. Ryan and T. Wertz, along with a graduate degree to P. Atkinson Jr.
21	Games played by senior Trey Wertz in 2020-21 –  21 more than anticipated at the beginning of the season. Wertz, who transferred from Santa Clara during the 2019-20 offseason, expected to sit out last season, but the NCAA ruled all transfers immediately eligible on Dec. 16, 2020 – to help with roster management during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wertz eventually started 14 games for the Irish, scoring 8.3 ppg and shooting .429 from three-point range.
40	Notre Dame has won all 40 exhibition games in which they have competed during the Mike Brey era.
66	Or .661 to be precise – graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr.’s career field goal percentage – which leads all returning NCAA Division I players this year. The 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year graduate transferred to Notre Dame during the offseason.
73	Notre Dame’s free throw percentage during the Mike Brey era, the best in the ACC and third-best of any power conference program.
255	Games won by Notre Dame with Mike Brey and Associate Head Coach Anthony Solomon on the coaching staff. Solomon returns for his third stint with the Irish this season and with him on the sidelines, Mike Brey has won .676 percent of the games he has coached at Notre Dame.
445	Career assists for senior Prentiss Hubb, the most for any returning ACC player and the fifth-most that any active NCAA player has compiled in three season of action.
448	Wins at Notre Dame for Mike Brey, the most in school history and the ninth-most for any NCAA coach at his current school.
5294	The 2021-22 team will be the most experienced, statistical-wise, of the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current), with the most returning GS, MP, FGM, 3FGM, FTM, AST and points (5294).

HUBB AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS IN CAREER ASSISTS

Prentiss Hubb’s 445 career assists are noteworthy without any qualifiers, but a further look at the numbers shows that the Upper Marlboro, MD, native is among the national leaders. He is sixth among all active Division I players in career assists who have playe three seasons or less (see below) and enters the season tied for 21st in career assists for all active players.

DIVISION I CAREER ASSIST LEADERS – THREE YEARS OR LESS

	Player	Team	Seasons	Games	Assists
1.	RJ Cole	UConn	2017-current	90	517
2.	Andrew Nembhard	Gonzaga	2018-current	99	507
3.	Cameron Parker	Montana	2018-current	77	486
4.	Marcus Carr	Texas	2017-current	92	477
5.	Jalen Pickett	Penn State	2018-current	76	463
6.	Prentiss Hubb	Notre Dame	2018-current	91	445
	Camren Wynter	Drexel	2018-current	85	445

ATKINSON JR. LEADS ALL RETURNING NCAA PLAYERS IN CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Graduate student Paul Atkinson Jr. not only brings over 1,000 career points and the 2019-20 Ivy League Player of the Year trophy to the Notre Dame roster, his amazing career field goal percentage ranks him at the top for all active NCAA players. Atkinson Jr. also is just the second active Division I player and only major conference player to average over .600 career field goal percentage entering the 2021-22 season.

DIVISION I ACTIVE CAREER FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE LEADERS

	Player	Team	Height	Seasons	FGM	FG%
1.	Paul Atkinson Jr.	Notre Dame	6-9	2017-current	422	.661
2.	Zachary Simmons	North Texas	6-10	2017-current	480	.637
3.	Nick Muszynski	Belmont	6-11	2018-current	567	.596
4.	K.J. Williams	Murray State	6-10	2018-current	431	.586
5.	Bryce Nze	Butler	6-7	2016-current	470	.582

IRISH WELCOME BACK MOST EXPERIENCED TEAM OF THE BREY ERA

Notre Dame is in an unusual position this season and welcomes back, by far, its most experienced group of players since the Mike Brey era began in 2000-01. With the additions of Trey Wertz (two seasons at Santa Clara) and Cormac Ryan (one season at Stanford) last season, then adding Paul Atkinson Jr. (three seasons at Yale) the Irish boast a veteran group of players who have seen a significant amount of college basketball action.

As shown below, the Irish return the most career starts, minutes played, field goals, field goals attempted, three point field goals, three point field goals attempted, free throws, free throws attempted, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists and points of any team in the Brey era:

Statistic	GS	MP	FG	FGA	3FG	3FGA	FT	FTA	DR	REB	AST	PTS
2021-22 Returning Team	350	14389	1879	4186	641	1885	895	1225	1599	2111	1157	5294
Previous Returning High	257	11083	1355	2953	456	1351	843	1139	1232	1784	1011	3933
Previous Returning High Year	01-02	19-20	00-01	19-20	19-20	19-20	00-01	00-01	08-09	08-09	08-09	00-01

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTED BY 1,000 POINT SCORERS

Notre Dame has produced 65 1,000 point scorers throughout the history of the program with 24 of those players reaching that statistical milestone during the Mike Brey era (2000-01 – current). Of the 85 players who have suited up for Notre Dame under Mike Brey, 36 of them were recruited by the staff and exhausted their eligibility with the Irish – 20 of those players have scored more than 1,000 points in a career.

School	All-Time 1,000 Point Scorers	1,000 Point Scorers since 2000-01
North Carolina	77	20
Louisville	69	18
Duke	67	20
Villanova	67	28
NOTRE DAME	65	24
Syracuse	63	20
Kansas	62	20

BREY-ERA TENETS SHOW THROUGH IN STATISTICAL RANKINGS

In his 22 years on the Notre Dame bench, Mike Brey’s teams have developed certain tenets they can be counted on to display – take care of the ball, defend without fouling, shot making and free throw percentage excellence. Those traits are reflected in Notre Dame’s statistical rankings, compared to all NCAA teams and the ACC, since the Brey era began in 2000-01.

NCAA Statistical Ranking Since 2000-01	ACC Rank	Statistic	Notre Dame Number
1	1	Assist/Turnover Ratio	1.44
1	1	Least Amount Of Fouls Per Game	15.0
2	1	Opponent FT Attempts Per Game	15.4
4	1	Least Amount Of Turnovers Per Game	11.0
7	2	Total Assists	10,988
9	1	Free Throw Percentage	.733
9	1	Three Point Field Goals Made Per Game	8.1
10	1	Assists Per Field Goals Made	.605
19	5	Points Scored	51,940

A DECADE OF ‘NO FOUL’ CONTINUES

One of the mantras of Notre Dame basketball under Mike Brey has been to keep the amount of opponent foul shots down. Defend without fouling is a way of life for Irish basketball and the statistics bear out that trend.

In the last 12 years, Notre Dame has failed to finish among the top 10 in least amount of personal fouls committed just twice. They have also led the country in least amount of personal fouls three times.

The NCAA has been tracking the least amount of fouls committed in a season since 1993. Notre Dame is the only team since 1993 to lead the country in least amount of fouls more than twice and the Irish finished the 2020-21 season second in the NCAA.

NOTRE DAME FOULS PER GAME NATIONAL/CONFERENCE FINAL RANKING

Year	Fouls Per Game	NCAA Raking	Conference Ranking
2009-10	15.1	10	2
2010-11	15.2	11	1
2011-12	13.8	1	1
2012-13	14.1	8	1
2013-14	16.2	15	5
2014-15	15.1	6	1
2015-16	15.1	1	1
2016-17	14.9	4	1
2017-18	13.1	1	1
2018-19	13.8	1	1
2019-20	12.4	1	1
2020-21	12.8	2	2