Notre Dame Men's Basketball Renews Dormant Rivalry With Marquette

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team wraps up its four-game home stand Sunday afternoon against Marquette. The Fighting Irish have won 21 of their last 23 games at Purcell Pavilion after holding on for an 81-75 win over Boston University on Wednesday night.

Where: Notre Dame, Ind – Purcell Pavilion
When: Sunday, Dec. 11 – 4:00 PM EST
Network: ESPN2
Radio: Notre Dame Radio Network – WSBT 960 AM in South Bend, Tony Simeone PBP

Let's take a look at today’s matchup:

NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (7-2, 0-1 ACC)

Head Coach: Mike Brey (479-261 at Notre Dame (23rd season), 578-313 28th season overall)

Cormac Ryan kept his hot hand going with a game high 21 points in Wednesday’s win over Boston. Ryan shot a perfect 4 for 4 from 3-point range in the win. He has made 14 of his last 19 shots from beyond the arc in his last three games.

The Fighting Irish needed everything they got from Ryan in the narrower than expected win over the Terriers. Notre Dame had a 13-point lead in the first half only to see it disappear and turn into a two-point deficit early in the second half, thanks to 12 for 29 shooting from long range by Boston. Notre Dame held on at the end though for its seventh win of the young season, thanks to Trey Wertz (16) and JJ Starling (15) scoring in double digits as well.

Probable Irish Starting Lineup

G JJ Starling - 6-3, Fr. - 12.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.1 APG
G Cormac Ryan - 6-5, 5th – 13.1 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.0 APG
G Dane Goodwin - 6-6, 5th – 13.7 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.4 APG
G Trey Wertz - 6-5, 5th. - 11.2 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 4.2 APG
F Nate Laszewski - 6-10, 5th – 14.3 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.9 APG

Marquette Warriors (7-3, 0-0 Big East)

Head Coach: Shaka Smart (26-16 in 2nd year at Marquette, 298-158 in 14th year Overall)

Shaka Smart is in his second season at Marquette after spending the previous six years at Texas. In 12 seasons as a head coach at Virginia Commonwealth and Texas, Smart led the two programs to a total of eight NCAA Tournament appearances. Those trips were highlighted by a run from the First Four to the Final Four by VCU in 2011. He led the Warriors to the NCAA Tournament in his first season in Milwaukee.

Marquette athletic director Bill Scholl is a Notre Dame alumnus (1979) who served in Notre Dame’s athletic department for 23 years. He finished his Irish run as Deputy Athletics Director before becoming Ball State’s athletic director in 2012. Scholl has been at Marquette since 2015.

Opponent Projected Starting Lineup

G Kam Jones - Stats – 15.5 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.3 APG
F Olivier-Maxence Prosper - Stats – 15.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG
F Oso Ighodaro - Stats – 10.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 20 BLK
G Tyler Kolek - Stats – 8.2 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 8.0
G Stevie Mitchell - Stats – 6.9 PPG, 2.7 RPG, 1.5 APG

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Sunday's matchup will mark the first meeting between former Big East rivals Notre Dame and Marquette since the quarterfinals of the 2013 Big East Conference Tournament in Madison Square Garden. Sunday will mark the 119th all-time meeting in a series that dates back to the 1919-20 season.

While Notre Dame’s only two Power 5 conference games have been against Michigan State (W) and Syracuse (L), Marquette has five such matchups under its belt. The Warriors have beaten Georgia Tech and No. 6 Baylor and have lost to Wisconsin, Mississippi State and Purdue. The three losses have been by a total of 11 points.

Like the Irish, the Warriors have had a consistent starting lineup all season. Notre Dame’s five starters have started all nine games, while Marquette has had the same starting five for all 10 of its games. The Warriors have four reserves who have played in every game and three of them are averaging 15-plus minutes off the bench. Notre Dame has just two players, Ven-Allen Lubin and Marcus Hammond, coming off the bench with regularity, currently. Hammond has played a little more than 34 minutes in the last two games since missing the first seven games with an MCL sprain to his right knee.

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