Virginia vs. Notre Dame Preview, Score Prediction
One month after that inexplicable blowout loss in South Bend, Virginia will get a chance to avenge that lopsided defeat as Notre Dame comes to Charlottesville on Wednesday night for a rematch.
Read on for a full preview of Virginia vs. Notre Dame, including game details and notes, an opponent scouting report, what to watch for, and a prediction for Wednesday night's matchup.
Game Details
Who: Virginia Cavaliers (15-5, 6-3 ACC) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (7-13, 2-7 ACC)
When: Wednesday, January 31st at 7pm ET
Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia
How to watch: ESPN2
How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)
How to listen: SiriusXM 389, SXM App 979 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates
All-time series: Virginia leads 17-4
Last meeting: Notre Dame defeated Virginia 76-54 on December 30th, 2023 at Notre Dame.
Game Notes
- Virginia owns a 17-4 record against Notre Dame in the all-time series that dates back to 1981.
- UVA is 12-2 against Notre Dame in the regular season since the Fighting Irish joined the ACC.
- Virginia is 8-0 against Notre Dame in Charlottesville.
- Tony Bennett owns a 13-3 record against Notre Dame as a head coach, which includes a win when he was head coach at Washington State in the NCAA Tournament in 2008.
- Virginia has won its last 21 games at John Paul Jones Arena, the nation's longest active home winning streak.
- Virginia is tied for third in the ACC with a 6-3 conference record, while Notre Dame is tied for 13th at 2-7.
Opponent Scouting Report: Notre Dame
2022-2023: 11-21, 3-17 ACC
2023-2024: 7-13, 2-7 ACC
Year 1 under Micah Shrewsberry has been a bumpy one for Notre Dame, which comes in with a 7-13 record and a 2-7 mark in ACC play. The Fighting Irish suffered bad losses to Western Carolina, Georgetown, and the Citadel in non-conference play and have only two wins in ACC action. One came in overtime against Georgia Tech and the other, unfortunately for the Cavaliers, was probably Notre Dame's best performance of the season in a 76-54 beatdown against Virginia on December 30th in South Bend.
That loss was part of a series of lopsided road losses the Cavaliers suffered in December and January, but that game was the most difficult of the bunch to explain. UVA's other blowout road losses came against quality opponents - Memphis, NC State, and Wake Forest - the defeat to Notre Dame was the worst by far.
The Fighting Irish got off to a perfect start in that game, with 6'6" junior guard J.R. Konieczny, a 22.4% three-point shooter on the season leading into that game, making his first three shots from beyond the arc, including a mid-air desperation heave that barely beat the shot clock and went in off the backboard. That shot was indeed the signal that it was simply Notre Dame's day. Konieczny went on to shoot 6/6 from the floor with four threes in the first half, nearly doubling his season scoring average before halftime. Notre Dame shot nearly 70% from the field and hit seven threes in the first half, leading 41-24 at halftime.
Virginia threatened a comeback for a moment in the second half, cutting the deficit to 10 points, but the Fighting Irish pulled away from there and ended up cruising to a 22-point win. 6'10" freshman forward Carey Booth joined Konieczny with 17 points, 5'11" freshman guard Markus Burton had 15 points, and 6'10" sophomore forward Kebba Njie had 10 points.
Virginia was bludgeoned on the boards, as Notre Dame won the rebounding battle 40-27. UVA shot 2/11 from three and 38.2% from the floor. Reece Beekman had 15 points, but was 0/4 from three and had five turnovers. Ryan Dunn had 13 points on 6/9 shooting as perhaps the long bright spot in the game.
The two teams have taken divergent paths since then. Virginia has has made significant personnel adjustments, with Jordan Minor emerging as the starting center and giving the Cavaliers a competitiveness and physicality they were sorely missing in the front court, and Dante Harris returning from injury to give UVA another capable ball-handler and solid on-ball defender. Virginia has won its last four games, while Notre Dame has lost its last four games and six of the last seven since that big win over the Cavaliers.
What to Watch For
Rebounding battle.
In the first meeting between these two teams, Notre Dame killed Virginia on the glass to the tune of a 40-27 rebounding advantage. Expect Jordan Minor, who played only nine minutes in that game and mostly in garbage time, to make a difference on that front. Virginia will need good contributions from Ryan Dunn and Blake Buchanan in the rebounding area as well.
Three-point shooting.
Notre Dame is one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country, ranking 333rd in that category at 29.8%. Yet, the Fighting Irish lit up the Cavaliers for seven threes in the first half and shot 11/23 from beyond the arc when these two teams first met on December 30th. Virginia, meanwhile, was a dismal 2/11 from the perimeter in the first meeting, which also deviated significantly from the team's 36.2% season-long three-point percentage which ranks 73rd in the nation. Expect those numbers to regress (positively or negatively) to the mean in the rematch.
Momentum and home-court advantage.
While Notre Dame will undoubtedly lean on the result of the first meeting between these two teams for confidence coming into this matchup, Virginia can lean on its own momentum and home-court advantage. The Fighting Irish have lost their last four games and six of their last seven, while the Cavaliers have won their last four games and also boast the nation's longest active home winning streak at 21 games.
Prediction
Notre Dame will hope to replicate what happened in South Bend on December 30th. But between the significant adjustments and improvements Virginia has made since that game and the fact that the Cavaliers are playing in their home gym, UVA should have a decisive edge in the rematch.
Score prediction: Notre Dame 52, Virginia 64
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