Virginia Basketball vs. Notre Dame Game Preview, Score Prediction

Virginia will look to build some semblance of momentum in going for a second-consecutive victory when the Cavaliers host Notre Dame on Saturday evening at John Paul Jones Arena.

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 score prediction for Saturday night's matchup.

Virginia vs. Notre Dame Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (9-10, 2-6 ACC) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-10, 2-5 ACC)

When: Saturday, January 25th at 6:30pm ET

Where: John Paul Jones Arena (14,623) in Charlottesville, VA

How to watch: ESPN2

How to listen: SiriusXM 119 or 193, SXM App 955 | Virginia Sports Radio Network | Notre Dame Radio Network

All-time series: Virginia leads 18-4

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Notre Dame 65-53 on January 31st, 2024 at John Paul Jones Arena.

Virginia vs. Notre Dame Game Notes

Virginia leads Notre Dame 18-4 in the all-time series that dates back to February of 1981.
UVA is 13-2 against Notre Dame in regular season ACC play since the Fighting Irish joined the conference in 2013.
The Cavaliers are 9-0 against the Fighting Irish in games played in Charlottesville, including a 65-53 victory in their most recent meeting back on January 31st, 2024.
Virginia and Notre Dame split a pair of regular season matchups last season, with the Fighting Irish defeating the Cavaliers 76-54 in South Bend.
UVA is 8-3 in home games at John Paul Jones Arena this season.
Notre Dame is tied for 14th in the ACC standings with a 2-5 record in conference play, while Virginia is just below in 16th place with a 2-6 ACC record.

Scouting Report: Notre Dame

2023-2024: 13-20, 7-13 ACC (12th)
2024-2025: 8-10, 2-5 ACC (14th)

In most of our scouting reports this season, our breakdown of the personnel of Virginia's opponent usually begins with how that team's roster was built through the transfer portal. But that's not really the case for Notre Dame. In year 2 under head coach Micah Shrewsberry, the Fighting Irish managed a level of roster continuity that is becoming less and less common in college basketball. Of the seven players who started double-digit games for Notre Dame in the 2023-2024 season, six of those players returned this season, including each of the team's top four leading scorers. The Irish did add one quality player from the portal in sharpshooter Matt Allocco from Princeton, so it seemed they were set up to take a marginal step forward, getting picked to finish 10th in the ACC.

That hasn't quite panned out so far, as Notre Dame is currently tied for 14th in the conference standings with a 2-5 record in ACC play and sits at 8-10 overall. The season started with four unimpressive blowout wins, then the team suffered five-consecutive losses to Elon, Rutgers (in overtime), Houston, Creighton, and Georgia. The Irish got back on track with a win over Syracuse in the ACC opener and followed that up with two more wins, but have since gone 1-5 with losses to Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, Duke, and Syracuse. The lone victory in that stretch came against Boston College, a team who has suffered 18-point losses to both Notre Dame and Virginia.

It is important to note that Notre Dame was missing arguably its best player in sophomore guard Markus Burton for the entirety of December with an MCL injury. The Fighting Irish went 3-4 in his absence and Burton has shaken off the rust and played well since his return, scoring 20 or more points in four of the five games since he came back, but the team still isn't winning. Burton is averaging 19.8 points per game, ranking him top 20 nationally and second in the ACC on a per game scoring basis. He is a 36.7% three-point shooter and averages 3.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

Joining Burton in the back court are sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry and senior guard Matt Allocco, the Princeton transfer. Shrewsberry, who of course is the son of head coach Micah Shrewsberry, attempts by far the most threes of any player on the team and also play the most minutes, shooting 37.0% from beyond the arc on 7.5 attempts per game and averaging 14.8 points per game. Allocco is averaging 10.2 points per game and is having his best shooting season of his career, knocking down 47.1% of his triples on just under four attempts per game.

In the front court, 6'9" junior forward Tae Davis leads the way averaging 16.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. Davis has scored in double figures in 13-straight games. Rounding out the starting five is 6'10" junior forward Kebba Njie, who averages 6.7 points per game and is Notre Dame's leading rebounder at 6.1 boards per game.

Coming off the bench is 6'7" senior guard J.R. Konieczny, who is a 35.5% three-point shooter and averages just 4.3 points per game, but he had 17 points against Virginia in the first meeting last season before scoring only three points in the rematch in Charlottesville. Also coming off the bench now is 6'4" senior guard Julian Roper II, who got six starts while Burton was injured, but hasn't played nearly as much since Burton's return. The only other player averaging double-digit minutes is 6'4" sophomore guard Logan Imes, who averages 2.4 points per game.

What to Watch For in Virginia vs. Notre Dame

Three-Point Shooting
Despite their poor records (which we'll touch on next), this game features two of the better three-point shooting teams in the conference. Notre Dame is fourth in the ACC with a team three-point shooting percentage of 36.8% and Virginia is next in fifth at 36.6%. The Irish and Cavaliers are also sixth and seventh, respectively, in defending the three-point line. Notre Dame is 8/29 from beyond the arc in its last two games, but shot a blistering 14/24 from three in a narrow eight-point loss at Duke the game before that. Virginia, meanwhile, is coming off of an excellent 11/20 three-point shooting outing against Boston College, but also has a tendency to go cold for entire games. We hesitate to simplify the game of basketball down to one statistical category, but if one of these teams has a good day shooting the three ball, they'll probably win on Saturday.

Climbing the Bottom of the Ladder
Neither of these teams is going to make the NCAA Tournament. The next month and a half will be a battle over who will be the unlucky three teams to become the first to miss out on the ACC Tournament entirely. Miami is penciled in one of those spots with an 0-8 ACC record and no head coach and Boston College seems to be heading that way as well at 1-7, but that third eliminated team could be any one of seven or so teams that are currently in the bottom half of the ACC standings and Virginia and Notre Dame are right there at the cut line. Qualifying for the ACC Tournament is an almost embarrassing goal to have, but in the race to reach that goal, this could be a must-win game.

Virginia vs. Notre Dame Prediction

The Cavaliers played some good basketball in their most recent outing against a bad Boston College team, showing glimpses of what they are capable of when they are firing on all cylinders. Notre Dame is a good bit better than BC, but if the Hoos come to play on Saturday with the same focus they had immediately from the tipoff last time, they can and should win this game.

Score prediction: Notre Dame 58, Virginia 62

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