Notre Dame's Brey: 'PNC an Underrated Home Atmosphere'

The Wolfpack will try to take advantage of its homecourt with a bounceback win agianst the Irish on Wednesday

When you talk about intimidating homecourt advantages in ACC basketball, Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Carrier Dome and Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena are among the first that usually come to mind.

But according to Notre Dame coach Mike Brey, NC State's PNC Arena should be included on that list.

"I think that is one of the underrated home atmospheres in our league," said Brey, who will bring his Irish to play at PNC on Wednesday. "I think that's because they're there in the Triangle with Cameron and the Dean Dome, and people, I don't think, understand that the NC State fan base loves basketball."

Brey, speaking on the ACC's weekly coaches teleconference Monday, said the thing that makes PNC so difficult on visiting teams is the proximity of the student section to the court -- one of the things State insisted upon when it moved there from Reynolds Coliseum two decades ago.

"They do a great job getting their students strategically placed down on that lower bowl," the former Duke assistant said. "So I think their home crowd has made it difficult."

State beat Notre Dame 76-58 at PNC in 2017-18. The Wolfpack also won in South Bend 77-73.

"They have been hard for us to guard. And nothing will change Wednesday, our challenge," Brey said. "We've had a hard time guarding their speed and athletic ability off the dribble. But I think they have a great home atmosphere and it's very underrated."

Notre Dame (10-4) comes into Wednesday's day off an 88-87 win at Syracuse on Saturday, its first ACC victory in three tries this season. State is also 10-4 overall, 1-2 in the conference after Saturday's loss at Clemson.

While there are the aspects of the Wolfpack's attack that make it a difficult matchup for the Irish -- especially if leading scorer and rebounder C.J. Bryce is back in the lineup after missing two games with a concussion -- the Irish will present just as much of a challenge to State's defense.

That's especially true when it comes to turnovers.

Coach Kevin Keatts' Wolfpack is among the ACC's best at forcing them, averaging just over 15 per game. Notre Dame, on the other hand, boasts the nation's best assist-to-turnover ratio at 1.96.

"I knew we could pass it. I didn't know we could pass it this well," Brey said. "It gives you a chance every night if you can move it and find an open guy and not turn it over. The thing is not to overcoach us offensively, because obviously these kids know how to play and play the right way. And we're starting to make some shots after we find that open guy."