Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 14, 2020

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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48 NOV. 14, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED MEN'S BASKETBALL BY PATRICK ENGEL M ike Brey's original non-confer- ence schedule was set up to chal- lenge his team. His revised and trun- cated one is, too, perhaps even more than the first version. Official word has not come as of press time, and dates and tip times still may be weeks away, but Notre Dame has completed its non-con- ference schedule and knows all its regular-season opponents for the 2020-21 campaign. The 27-game slate is as arduous as any Brey has assem- bled during his 21 seasons as Notre Dame's head coach. Three Big Ten teams and two highly regarded SEC squads high- light the non-conference slate. The previously revealed 20-game ACC pairings include home-and-homes with Duke and Virginia. Non-conference dates are known, but tip times are not. The ACC oppo- nents are known, but dates and times are pending. The lone certainty with league game dates is Notre Dame will play at least two before 2021, one at home and one on the road. The final additions to the seven- game non-league slate were a long- awaited announcement of a home opponent in the ACC/Big Ten Chal- lenge — Ohio State on Dec. 8 — a road date at Michigan State Nov. 28, a home tilt against Western Michigan Dec. 2 and a home game against Ten- nessee Nov. 4. The latter three have not been officially announced, but Blue & Gold Illustrated can confirm they are on the schedule, as first re- ported by The South Bend Tribune. Elsewhere, Notre Dame will still travel to Howard on Jan. 18, which is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Dec. 12 game at Kentucky, part of a three-year series agreed to this spring, remains on the schedule. No official announcement has been made, but the Dec. 19 Crossroads Classic is still on, and Notre Dame's opponent is Pur- due. Those three games were on the original 11-game non-conference slate. In pushing the season's start date back about two weeks to Nov. 25, the NCAA lowered the maximum num- ber of games allowed before confer- ence tournaments from 31 to 27. That left seven games for non-conference opponents. The Legends Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. — initially slated for Nov. 23-24, but now in Connecticut on Dec. 2-3 — came off the schedule when Notre Dame backed out of it earlier this fall. The original season opener against Army Nov. 11 was also canceled. The ACC Big Ten/Challenge, nor- mally held in late November, moved back about two weeks. Notre Dame is 4-3 in the challenge and 3-0 at home since joining the ACC prior to the 2013-14 season. The most recent Irish win in the event was a 76-74 home victory over Illinois on Nov. 27, 2018. They lost at Maryland 72-51 last year. Ohio State and Notre Dame will play for the 14th time, and the Buck- eyes lead the all-time series 8-5. They won the most recent meeting, 64-61 on Dec. 21, 2013. Michigan State leads Notre Dame 60-37 in the all-time series. They last played in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge in 2017, a meeting of teams ranked in the top five. The Spartans won, 81-63. Tennessee and Notre Dame have played just once in their history, a 1979 NCAA Tournament game the Irish won 73-67. All told, Notre Dame's out-of-con- ference schedule includes five teams in the KenPom.com preseason top 25: Ohio State (No. 10), Kentucky (No. 11), Michigan State (No. 15), Tennessee (No. 20) and Purdue (No. 25). Seven ACC teams are in KenPom's top 30: Duke (No. 3), Louisville (No. 14), Vir- ginia (No. 16), Florida State (No. 19), North Carolina (No. 23), Syracuse (No. 29) and Virginia Tech (No. 30). Notre Dame finished last season with nine wins in the last 13 games and a 20-12 overall record, including 10-10 in the ACC. The conference's official preseason poll comes out Nov. 11. The consensus from various media outlets' predictions is Notre Dame will finish around 10th to 12th in the conference standings. The Irish are ranked No. 100 in the preseason KenPom rankings. Notre Dame has not yet announced attendance policies for home basket- ball games. ✦ Notre Dame and Dane Goodwin will face Michigan State, whom it last played in 2017. The Spartans are one of three Big Ten teams on the non-conference schedule. PHOTO BY COREY BODDEN A Clear Picture Of A Highly Challenging Schedule The Irish know all their opponents in a shortened 27-game regular season 2020-21 NOTRE DAME OPPONENTS Non-Conference Michigan State (road, Nov. 28), Western Michigan (home, Dec. 2), Tennessee (home, Dec. 4), Ohio State (home, Dec. 8), Kentucky (road, Dec. 12), Purdue (neutral, Dec. 19), Howard (road, Jan. 18) Conference Home-and-home: Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.), Virginia and Vir- ginia Tech Home only: Clemson, Florida State, North Carolina State and Wake Forest Road only: Louisville, North Carolina, Pitts- burgh and Syracuse 2020-21 NUMERICAL ROSTER No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Year 2 Trey Wertz^ G 6-5 183 Jr. 3 Prentiss Hubb G 6-3 175 Jr. 5 Cormac Ryan G 6-5 195 Jr. 11 Juwan Durham F 6-11 230 5th-Sr. 12 Tony Sanders Jr. G 6-7 202 Fr. 13 Nikola Djogo G 6-8 230 5th-Sr. 14 Nate Laszewski F 6-10 227 Jr. 22 Elijah Taylor* F 6-8 231 Fr. 23 Dane Goodwin G 6-6 200 Jr. 24 Robby Carmody G 6-4 215 Jr. 25 Matt Zona F 6-9 243 Fr. 31 Elijah Morgan G 6-1 165 So. ^ Will sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules; * will be sidelined all of 2020-21 after ankle surgery

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