Virginia hoping to continue dominance over Irish at Notre Dame

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Unbeaten at home, Notre Dame coach Mike Brey knows what’s coming over the weekend as the Fighting Irish host Virginia tonight (6 p.m., ACC Network), then Duke on Monday night.

After breaking some negative trends in their last two outings, Brey is hoping to continue that success against the Cavaliers. Virginia has won 16 of the last 17 games over Notre Dame, including the last six in a row (the Irish’s last win was 2017 in South Bend).

“I don’t know if I need to bring it up with our veterans, because I think they know,” Brey said earlier this week of UVA’s dominance in the series.

In their last two outings, the Irish ended two streaks: winning at Louisville for the first time since 2015; and beating NC State for the first time in four years.

If Notre Dame is to snap its streak against Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers, they’ll have to continue to play good defense and to hit the 3-pointers.

The Irish are one of the better long-range shooting teams in the country and boast two of the best shooters: Dane Goodwin, a small forward who is shooting 3’s at a 49-percent clip for the season; and stretch five Nate Laszewski, a 6-foot-10 junior, who has converted 46.5 percent of his triples.

“There’s never been two different styles coming at us within three days,” Brey said about UVA and Duke. “Virginia grinding. You have to guard more off-the-ball screens. They’re not as much a ball-screening team. Tempo may be last in the NCAA. So, you’ve got to defend and you’ve got to defend long possessions, which I think our guys are trained to do.

“The biggest concern is that you must be efficient offensively. You can’t take quick shots or bad shots, because now you’re playing defense for another 30 seconds on the other end.”

Notre Dame (13-6, 6-2 ACC) heads into tonight’s game resting in second place in the conference. Virginia, which has won three ACC games on the road this season, desperately needs to post some wins over upper-echelon teams to improve its rankings and chances of making the NCAA tournament.

The Cavaliers are 12-8, 6-4 in the ACC, which positioned them in sixth heading into the weekend. 

According to Vegas Insider, the Irish are a 4-point favorite.