Notre Dame Men's Basketball Hosts Michigan State In Final ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Notre Dame looks to bounce back after its first loss of the season by hosting Michigan State on Wednesday night in the final ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Notre Dame men’s basketball plays is set to host Michigan State on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Fighting Irish look to rebound after suffering their first loss of the season last Friday at St. Bonaventure.

Where: Notre Dame, Ind – Purcell Pavilion
When: Wednesday, Nov. 30 – 9:15 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 (5-1, 0-0 ACC)

Head Coach: Mike Brey (477-260 at Notre Dame (23rd season), 576-312 28th season overall)

Notre Dame got into a 22-9 hole to St. Bonaventure and could never dig out, falling 63-51 for its first loss of the season. The Bonnies made 10 of 24 from 3-point range, while the Fighting Irish hit just 2 of their 17 shots from long distance.

Ven-Allen Lubin turned in his first career double-double. The freshman scored 10 points with a new career-best 13 rebounds off the bench. Nate Laszewski was the only other Irish player to score in double figures with 11 points.

Probable Irish Starting Lineup

G JJ Starling - 6-3, Fr. - 12.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG
G Cormac Ryan - 6-5, 5th – 10.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 2.0 APG
G Dane Goodwin - 6-6, 5th – 14.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 1.3 APG
G Trey Wertz - 6-5, 5th. - 11.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.3 APG
F Nate Laszewski - 6-10, 5th – 18.2 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 5 BLK

Michigan State Spartans (5-2, 0-0 Big Ten)

Head Coach: Tom Izzo (671-269 in 28th year at the school/overall)

Tom Izzo just keeps plugging along. Since missing the NCAA Tournament in his first two seasons as head coach, the Hall of Famer had led the Spartans to 24 consecutive March Madness trips.

Michigan State has already played three ranked teams in its first eight games this season. They lost to No. 2 Gonzaga on Veterans Day, followed that with an 86-77 win over No. 4 Kentucky four days later in Indianapolis and then fell 81-70 to No. 18 Alabama (all rankings at the time of the meeting). The Spartans also have wins over Villanova and Oregon.

Opponent Projected Starting Lineup 

G Tyson Walker - Stats – 15.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 4.5 APG
G AJ Hoggard - Stats – 11.0 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 6.5 APG
F Joey Hauser - Stats – 13.9 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 1.7 APG
G Pierre Brooks - Stats – 8.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG
C Mady Sissoko - Stats – 8.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

This will be the 24th and final season for the ACC/B1G Challenge. It is the longest running interconference men’s basketball challenge, but the ACC announced this week that its schools will begin playing the ACC/SEC Challenge next season. The ACC leads the series 12-8-3.

Six games into the season, Notre Dame’s lack of depth is what it’s going to be for the foreseeable future, or at least until (and if) Marcus Hammond is healthy. The transfer from Niagara has missed Notre Dame’s first six games with a strained MCL (knee). Irish head coach Mike Brey said this week that Hammond would be a game time decision against Michigan State. The 6-4 grad transfer averaged 18.1 points a game in his final season at Niagara. He also hit 37% of his 184 three-point attempts. In the meantime, Notre Dame’s five starters are all averaging at least 33 minutes per game, with Lubin’s 19.5 minutes being the only other Irish player averaging more than two minutes off the bench.

Michigan State has a deeper rotation but will be without starter Malik Hall. The 6-8 senior suffered a stress reaction to his left foot recently. The school announced he will be out of action for at least three weeks. He is averaging 12.0 points in four starts this season.

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