What to know about Notre Dame men's basketball at Syracuse
On Saturday, Notre Dame will have a chance to win four-straight games. It also has a chance to beat one of its starters from the last time it did that.
The Irish will travel to Syracuse, where former Notre Dame guard JJ Starling — a 5-star-plus recruit in the class of 2022 — averages 13.7 points per game for the Orange. Starling entered the transfer portal March 13, 10 days before Micah Shrewsberry was named Notre Dame’s head men’s basketball coach, and committed to Syracuse the next day.
The sophomore from nearby Baldwinsville, N.Y., will face his former team for the first time Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.
Notre Dame vs. Louisville game information
- Teams: Notre Dame (10-16, 5-10 ACC) at Syracuse (17-10, 8-8 ACC)
- Date: Wednesday, Feb. 21
- Location: JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
- Time: Noon ET
- Television: ESPN
- TV announcers: Doug Sherman (play-by-play), Randolph Childress (analyst)
- Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend
- Radio announcer: Tony Simeone
Matchup notables
• Syracuse features one of the ACC’s best scorers and passers in Judah Mintz, who averages 18.1 points and 4.4 assists per game. Those numbers rank fifth and third in the conference, respectively. Mintz’ masterpiece was a 25-point, 8-for-11 from the field, 9-for-11 from the free-throw line performance in an upset win over No. 7 North Carolina on Feb. 13.
• How dangerous can Mintz be as a passer? He dished out 13 assists in 72-69 win over Miami on Jan. 20. Syracuse goes as he goes, with Starling as the team’s second-best scorer.
• The Orange are one of the best teams in the nation at taking the ball away, with Mintz and sophomore forward Maliq Brown averaging over 2 steals per game. Sophomore guard Quadir Copeland is not far behind at 1.5.
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• As a team, Syracuse averages 9.4 steals per game, which ranks 16th in Division I and first in the ACC. Protecting the ball will be paramount for a Notre Dame team that has gotten better at that during its current winning streak, only averaging 6.67 turnovers over its past three games as opposed to 13.0 throughout the season.
• With longtime coach Jim Boeheim retired, Syracuse is a man-heavy defense as opposed to the 2-3 zone Boeheim made famous during his heyday. Orange head coach Adrian Autry made the change, and Boeheim even supported it over the summer, citing the sheer number of good shooters that exist in today’s college basketball.
• On the Notre Dame side, freshman guard Braeden Shrewsberry is shooting 46.5 percent from 3-point range since Jan. 1. In the month of February, he has shot 37 3s and only 9 2s.
• Freshman Irish guard Markus Burton is averaging 16.2 points per game. He’s scored 16 or more in each of his last six games and nine of his last 10, building his case for ACC Rookie of the Year with five regular-season games to go.
