Why Notre Dame doesn't have revenge at top of mind in rematch vs. Boston College

A harsh draft may waft through Purcell Pavilion early Wednesday evening. Those guys from Boston College are back for a rematch.

The memories of Dec. 3 are still fresh for Notre Dame.

For the uninitiated, Notre Dame traveled to Chestnut Hill, Mass. that day to play its ACC opener against the team picked last in the league that currently sits in 12^th place. A soft start, seemingly. And one the Irish needed after a 1-3 stretch in the Maui Invitational and ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Eagles had other ideas. They handed Notre Dame a wire-to-wire 16-point defeat. It sticks out on the Irish’s résumé like a red wine stain on a white shirt.

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“They remember the ugliest night of the season,” head coach Mike Brey said. “I know I do. That was a long flight.”

Two-plus months later, though, that’s all it is. A memory. Not a primary motivator. These days, Notre Dame (18-7, 11-3 ACC) has its sights set on larger prizes than settling the score.

The Irish are 15-3 since that dreadful evening, a half-game back of Duke for first place in the league standings and comfortably in most projected NCAA tournament fields.

With six games left, a regular-season title remains firmly in sight and top of mind. Want to win it? Beating bottom-third teams at home is non-negotiable.

“This is a big game, one we have to take, one we have to win no matter what,” forward Paul Atkinson Jr. said. “We like we can get revenge, but at the end of the day, it’s just another team in the way.”

That’s a message straight from the top.

“I’m almost trying to get away from the whole revenge thing,” Brey said.

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Instead, he’d rather focus on why Notre Dame could pick itself up and hop into the conference title race after that ignominious defeat at Boston College. The Irish have established a method for winning games and rarely have been deterred from it. Against all odds for a Brey team, they’re winning with defense. Not since Louisville on Jan. 22 has an opponent topped 65 points against them. They’re third in the ACC in defensive efficiency in league play, per KenPom.

The offense, meanwhile, is average by Brey standards but reliable enough to support a sturdy defense. Notre Dame can generate open three-pointers (43.1 percent of its shots are from beyond the arc), make enough of them (38 percent in ACC play), find Atkinson in the post (ACC-best 59.8 field goal percentage) and ride explosive freshman guard Blake Wesley or likely All-ACC guard Dane Goodwin.

A lot of that hadn’t formed by the ACC opener. Heading into that game, Wesley had yet to start, Notre Dame was clanking three-pointers and Illinois had hung 82 points on the Irish’s defense.

In other words, a recipe for a loss to a rebuilding team. The 180-degree pivot from it has made the rematch much less about payback and more about a march toward a banner.

“One thing I did talk to them about was when we played [Boston College] Dec. 3 – and give them credit, I thought they played hard and beat us up – we didn’t have much of an identity,” Brey said. “How about the identity we’ve created and developed? That’s kind of cool and part of the process of wanting to chase a regular-season title.”

Boston College (9-14, 4-9 ACC) at (Notre Dame (18-7, 11-3)

When: Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. ET

Where: Purcell Pavilion

TV: ESPNU

Radio: Notre Dame basketball radio network

Last meeting: Boston College won 73-57 on Dec. 3, 2021

Series history: Notre Dame leads 24-13

Line: Notre Dame -9.5

KenPom prediction: Notre Dame 70, Boston College 60

Leading scorers

• Boston College: guard Makai Ashton-Langford (12.4 points per game), guard DeMarr Langford Jr. (10.9 ppg)

• Notre Dame: guard Dane Goodwin (14.8 ppg), guard Blake Wesley (14.2 ppg)

Other notes

• Boston College has not reached the 70-point mark since a Jan. 15 win over Clemson and only twice has hit that total since beating Notre Dame. The Eagles are last among ACC teams in conference-game effective field goal percentage (43.4) and three-point percentage (26.6). They’re 14^th out of 15 ACC teams in two-point accuracy (45.1 percent) in conference play.

• Wesley is 19-of-35 (54.2 percent) from the field in his last three games.

• Prentiss Hubb’s 5.7 assist-turnover ratio in ACC play is the best of any player in the country in conference games.