Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1322461
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JAN. 1, 2021 55 MEN'S BASKETBALL ished 20-12 and could at least see the NCAA Tournament bubble when the coronavirus outbreak prematurely ended the 2019-20 season last March. Once Brey saw "the light bulb go on for some of our young players" late last season, he believed it was time to test his group with some ad- vanced preseason tests. "Our junior class, which we in- vested in as freshmen," Brey recalled of his highly touted 2018 recruiting group, "they got their backsides handed to them and then they grew." To what extent player growth translates to team wins re- mains to be seen with the grind of the ACC season upon his team. A WELCOME ADDITION With 20-plus years under his belt coaching the Irish, Brey has pulled a lot of strings and made numerous moves during his career. And while one particular lineup switch that Brey made before the Purdue game didn't lead to an Irish win, inserting junior transfer guard Trey Wertz into the starting lineup in place of senior forward Juwan Dur- ham provided the coach much hope that Notre Dame has found a legiti- mate playmaker moving forward. Wertz scored a game-high 27 points against the Boilermakers in his first start and second career ap- pearance for the Irish. A transfer from Santa Clara Uni- versity, Wertz's career high remains 33 points. "As we all saw in practice — which nobody else was able to see because of COVID with no open practices or scrimmages — [Wertz] is a very gifted, feel-for-the-game guard," Brey explained to Fighting Irish Me- dia after the Purdue loss. C i r c u m s t a n c e s s u r r o u n d i n g Wertz's seemingly overnight emer- gence from an inactive player, to a starter and then to a game's leading scorer all add even more intrigue to his story. After an unexpected announce- ment from the NCAA on the eve- ning of Dec. 16 that gave immediate eligibility to all the NCAA transfers expected to sit out this entire season, Wertz immediately suited up that same night and wasted no time mak- ing his mark against Duke, logging nine points and three rebounds in 20.5 minutes. Wertz's effort earned him the start- ing spot against Purdue. His perfor- mance in the game — arguably the best of any Irish player this season — should provide him many more to come. "To see what he did [against Pur- due], I give him a lot of credit," Brey said. "The game comes easy to him." DEFENSIVE DOLDRUMS With a non-conference sched- ule that ranked as high as the third toughest in the country before the season, Brey and the Irish were ex- pected to take some lumps in Decem- ber, and there's no shame in losing to Michigan State and Duke in any season, given the quality of those two programs. That said, there is also no excuse for the extended stretches Notre Dame has demonstrated of offensive invisibility and defensive indiffer- ence — a couple of surprising ail- ments for a team loaded with experi- enced starters. The Irish blew an 11-point second- half lead Dec. 8 in a 90-85 home loss to Ohio State, and then scored only 16 points in the second half against Kentucky and nearly squandered a 22-point halftime lead in the one-point win. In the season opener on Nov. 28, Notre Dame al- lowed an embarrassing 26-0 scoring run to Michigan State, help- ing the Spartans to a 28-point lead before Spartans head coach Tom Izzo — a good friend of Brey's — called off the dogs and settled for a 10-point win. "We don't necessarily have a de- fensive identity right now," assessed Wertz, describing an underlying is- sue for Notre Dame that's been evi- dent for three years. "We can score with the best of them, but we've got to get stops when we need to." Through Dec. 20, Notre Dame ranked 13th among 15 ACC teams in scoring defense (78.2). It was also 13th in field-goal percentage defense (.451), and last in opponent rebounds allowed (154). ✦ 2020-21 NOTRE DAME SCHEDULE Date Opponent (TV) Result/Time (ET) Nov. 28 at Michigan State L, 80-70 Dec. 6 Detroit Mercy W, 78-70 Dec. 8 Ohio State# L, 90-85 Dec. 12 at Kentucky W, 64-63 Dec. 16 Duke* L, 75-65 Dec. 19 vs. Purdue^ L, 88-78 Dec. 22 at Syracuse* Ppd. Dec. 30 Virginia* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 2 at Pittsburgh* (ACCN) 2 p.m. Jan. 6 Georgia Tech* (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at Virginia Tech* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 13 at Virginia* (ACCN) 8:30 p.m. Jan. 16 Boston College* (ACCN) 4 p.m. Jan. 18 at Howard TBA Jan. 24 at Miami* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Jan. 27 Virginia Tech* (RSN) 7 p.m. Jan. 30 at North Carolina* (ACCN) 8 p.m. Feb. 2 Wake Forest* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Feb. 6 at Georgia Tech* (ACCN) 8 p.m. Feb. 9 at Duke* (ESPN/2) 9 p.m. Feb. 14 Miami* (ACCN) 6 p.m. Feb. 17 Clemson* (RSN) 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Louisville* (ACCN) 8 p.m. Feb. 27 at Boston College* (ACCN) 2 p.m. Mar. 3 NC State* (ACCN) 7 p.m. Mar. 6 Florida State* (ESPN/2) TBA Mar. 9-13 ACC Tournament$ # ACC/Big Ten Challenge; * ACC game; ^ Cross- roads Classic at Indianapolis; $ at Greensboro, N.C.; ACCN — ACC Network; RSN — Regional Sports Networks Three-Point Play 1. Roller-Coaster Ride Junior point guard Prentiss Hubb continues to lead Notre Dame in scoring (16.2 points per game) during the 2-4 start, but his production has been sporadic. Against Kentucky, Hubb scored 18 points — including nine of Notre Dame's final 11 points — to preserve the one- point win, only to be held scoreless two games later in the 10-point loss to Purdue. 2. Breaking Out Junior forward Nate Laszewski is enjoying a breakout season, ranking in the top five of the ACC in both rebounding (8.5 per game) and field-goal shooting percentage (.596) while averaging 14.3 points per contest. 3. Iron Men Never one to worry much about playing his guys extended minutes, head coach Mike Brey has four players — Laszewski, Hubb, and junior guards Dane Goodwin and Cormac Ryan — ranked in the top 10 of the ACC in minutes played, all logging anywhere from 33.6 to 37.5 per contest. — Todd D. Burlage "I like that we have thrown ourselves to the wolves in December. … It's coming at us hard." HEAD COACH MIKE BREY