When: Wednesday January 8 – 7:00 PM
Where: Lenovo Center
TV: ESPNU
Opponent: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Prediction – KenPom (KP) / Bart Torvik (BT): NC State 73-69 / NC State 71-68
Wolfpack Snapshot:
- Record: 8-6, 1-2
- Rankings: KP #93, BT #102, WAB -2.2 ranked 120th *
- NET Ranking: NET 113, 11th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (0-3), Q2 (0-3), Q3 (1-0), Q4 (7-0)
Wolfpack Season So Far:
THIS IS A MUST WIN GAME! We are reaching the midway point of the season, are on a two game losing streak, have zero quality (Q1, Q2) wins, and have UNC coming to Raleigh on Saturday. We’ll be the underdog in that one, so if we lose both we’ll be at 8-8 / 1-4 and on a four game losing streak headed to Blacksburg next Wednesday.
Notre Dame is currently ranked 100 in the NET, so is a Q3 opponent. Q3 wins don’t help as much as losses hurt. However, they just got their All-ACC guard back into the rotation and should improve, so a win might look better later in the season.
Wolfpack Player Notes:
- Mike James had arthroscopic knee surgery on 10/30. In the WF postgame presser Coach Keatts said they recently intended to start including him in some drills, but he got sick. The poor guy can’t catch a break.
Opponent Overview:
Notre Dame was voted to finish 10th in the ACC during the preseason
The Irish finished last season 13-20, losing 20 games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Coach Micah Shrewsberry is beginning his second season.
The Irish return most of the key players from their team including probable starters, preseason All-ACC guard Markus Burton, coach’s son Braeden Shrewsberry, Tae Davis, and Kebba Njie, plus seniors Julian Roper II and JR Konieczny, and sophomore Logan Imes.
Coach Shrewsberry, mirroring Notre Dame’s long-time philosophy, has not leaned heavily on transfers in the past. But like their football team, he’s brought in some difference makers from the portal this season.
Guard Matt Allocco is the gem of the class, a two-time second team All-Ivy league guard from Princeton. He’s a grad student and an excellent outside shooter. Ukrainian forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi transferred from Monmouth where he averaged 9.3 / 8.1. And guard Burke Chebuhar comes from Lehigh.
Coach Shrewsberry brought in a solid freshman class and already has one of the top 2025 classes signed. 4-star Freshman shooting guard Sir (not a typo) Mohammed from Charlotte is expected to get playing time this season. 4-star shooting guard Cole Certa and 3-star big man Garrett Sundra are unlikely to crack the rotation this season.
Opponent Snapshot:
- Record: 7-7, 1-2
- Rankings: KP #91, BT #91, WAB -3.0 ranked 148th *
- NET Ranking: NET 100, 10th in ACC Conf NET rankings
- NET performance: Q1 (1-2), Q2 (0-3), Q3 (0-2), Q4 (6-0)
Team Stat Comparison
| Team | PPG | FG% | 3PT% | 3PT-M pg | Reb pg | Ast pg | TO pg | ST pg | BL pg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | PPG | FG% | 3PT% | 3PT-M pg | Reb pg | Ast pg | TO pg | ST pg | BL pg |
| NC State | 73 | 45.9% | 32.2% | 5.9 | 32.9 | 13.4 | 10 | 6.9 | 3.8 |
| Notre Dame | 75.6 | 46.9% | 35.6% | 8.1 | 36.2 | 12.7 | 10.8 | 5.1 | 1.9 |
Their ACC Rankings of Note: (Source: theacc.com)
- Notre Dame is 4th in the league in opponent 3PT% – at 30.1%
Their Season So Far:
Notre Dame got their first (and only) Q1 win of the season, beating Georgetown on the road by 21.
Like NC State, the Irish played 4 heavy hitters in the OOC, beating Georgetown and losing to Houston (-9), Creighton (-4), and Georgia (-21).
In ACC play they beat Syracuse (+5), lost at Georgia Tech (-11), and to UNC (-1) Saturday.
Probable Starters
| Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | PPG | 3PT% | 3PTApg | REB | ASST | STL | BLK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Class | Pos | Height | Weight | PPG | 3PT% | 3PTApg | REB | ASST | STL | BLK |
| Markus Burton | SO | G | 6’0″ | 190 | 18.9 | 31.0% | 4.1 | 3.9 | 4.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Tae Davis | JR | F | 6’9″ | 215 | 16.6 | 26.3% | 1.4 | 5.5 | 1.7 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Braeden Shrewsberry | SO | G | 6’4″ | 200 | 16.1 | 37.2% | 8.1 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Matt Allocco | GR | G | 6’4″ | 190 | 10 | 46.3% | 3.9 | 4.4 | 3.6 | 0 | 0.2 |
| Kebba Njie | JR | F | 6’10” | 250 | 6.4 | 37.5% | 0.6 | 5.8 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.6 |
Player Notes
- Markus Burton was voted to the All-ACC first team in the preseason voting
- Burton missed 7 games due to injury, he returned in Saturday’s game against UNC – he came off the bench and played 22 minutes, scoring 23 points. (I think he’s okay)
- Tae Davis is 3rd in the ACC in FG%
- Braeden Shrewsberry is 4th in the ACC in 3PT% and 2nd in 3PT made per game
- Matt Allocco is 2nd in the league in Assist / Turnover ratio
Keys To The Game
- Guard Play – College basketball is a guard’s game, and Notre Dames has got them. NC State probably will not face a better trio of guards this season. Burton (6’0”), Allocco (6’4”), and Shrewsberry (6’4”) collectively average 45 points per game, 11 rebounds, 9.2 assists and average 38.1% from 3PT. Each have scored 20+ points in a game this season. And they seldom leave the floor, Allocco and Shrewsberry are averaging 34 mins per game. Burton has been injured so his minutes are down, but he averaged 33.8 mpg last season. To beat Notre Dame, you have to keep their guards under control.
- High Scoring Big Man – The Irish start two bigs, Davis (6’9”) and Njie (6’10”) so we are likely to see Big Ben and BHH starting together. Davis is their second leading scorer and rebounder, so will be a defensive challenge for Middlebrooks – ideally while avoiding fouls so he can help us offensively. Davis has scored 20+ five times this season, and tied his season high of 27 against Georgia Tech. Styles and DPJ, at 6’6”, will be at a disadvantage guarding him, so this might be an opportunity to have Diouf (6’9”) backup the forward position and use their (DS & DPJ) size advantage at the wing.
- 3PT Shooting – Like the Wolfpack, Notre Dame guards the 3PT line well. Both have limited opponents to 30.1% on the season. About 30% of their made field goals are from 3PT. The Pack is going to have to perform as well from the arc as the Irish (defensively and offensively) or risk losing control of this game quickly.
* Welcome to the WAB
The WAB (wins against bubble) shows how many more, or fewer, wins a team has against its schedule versus what a hypothetical bubble team would expect to have against the same schedule.
