Virginia vs. Notre Dame Game Preview, Score Prediction

The Cavaliers dive back into ACC play with a trip to South Bend to take on the Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon

With the non-conference portion of the regular season officially in the books, Virginia turns its attention fully to ACC play, which resumes with a trip to South Bend on Saturday afternoon to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. 

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 Saturday's matchup. 

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (10-2, 1-0 ACC) at Notre Dame Fighting Irish (5-7, 0-1 ACC)

When: Saturday, December 30th at 12pm

Where: Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Indiana

How to watch: ACC Network

How to stream: fuboTV (Start your free trial)

How to listen: SiriusXM 385, SXM App 975 | Virginia Sports Radio Network - click here for affiliates

All-time series: Virginia leads 17-3

Last meeting: Virginia defeated Notre Dame 57-55 on February 18th, 2023 in Charlottesville.

Game Notes

• Virginia holds a 17-3 advantage in the all-time series against Notre Dame, including a 6-1 record on the road in South Bend.
• UVA is 12-1 against the Fighting Irish in the regular season since Notre Dame joined the ACC.
• Tony Bennett owns a 13-2 record against Notre Dame as a head coach, which includes a win over the Fighting Irish in the 2008 NCAA Tournament while he was coaching Washington State.
• Current Notre Dame associate head coach Kyle Getter spent the last five years on the coaching staff at Virginia.

Opponent Scouting Report: Notre Dame

2022-2023: 11-21, 3-17 ACC
2023-2024: 5-7, 0-1 ACC

At the end of the 2022-2023 season, Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey announced his retirement, stepping down after 23 years as the program's all-time winningest head coach. Attempting to fill those massive shoes is Micah Shrewsberry, who was hired after spending the previous two seasons as the head coach at Penn State, leading the Nittany Lions to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2011 and their first NCAA Tournament win since 2001. 

It's been a rough start to his tenure at Notre Dame, though, as the Fighting Irish arrive at this game with a 5-7 record, which includes losses to Western Carolina, Auburn, South Carolina, Marquette, Georgetown (in overtime), the Citadel, and Miami in their ACC opener. Notre Dame beat Oklahoma State in overtime in Brooklyn, but there hasn't been much else to be encouraged by in South Bend through the first third of the season. The Fighting Irish are currently 224th on KenPom with an adjusted offensive efficiency of No. 314 and are ranked No. 239 in the NET rankings. 

It's a totally new roster in year 1 under Shrewsberry, as all of the familiar names from last season - Nate Laszewski, Cormac Ryan, Dane Goodwin, JJ Starling, etc. - have moved on. Only Matt Zona remains among the players who played meaningful minutes last season. 

Eight different players have started for the Irish this season as Shrewsberry has tinkered with different lineups, but the unquestioned engine of the Notre Dame offense is 5'11" freshman guard Markus Burton. He has started every game, is the only player scoring in double figures (16.0 ppg), and takes nearly 15 shots per game, while no one else on the team shoots more than eight. Though he is just a 22.4% three-point shooter, Burton has clearly been given the green light as he attempts more than four threes per game. Similarly, fellow freshman Braeden Shrewsberry, a 6'3" guard who is also the son of Micah Shrewsberry, has the green light, shooting more than six threes per game, but making only 26.0% of those shots. 

After redshirting last season, 6'7" junior guard J.R. Konieczny has started nine of the 12 games and is averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. In the front court is 6'10" freshman forward Carey Booth (6.4 ppg) and 6'9" sophomore forward and Seton Hall transfer Tae Davis, who averages 8.7 points per game and leads the team in field goal percentage at 49.4%. 

One player whose availability status will be key is Northwestern transfer Julian Roper II, a 6'4" junior guard who missed the last two games with a foot injury after starting the first 10 games. He is averaging 8.9 points and 5.2 rebounds per game and is the team's best volume three-point shooter at 35.9%. 

What to Watch For

Road woes?

Though it's a small sample size, Virginia's performances away from the friendly confines of John Paul Jones Arena haven't been encouraging. UVA went 1-1 at the Fort Myers Tip-Off, getting blown out by Wisconsin and barely edging past a struggling West Virginia team. In their first true road game, the Cavaliers suddenly developed issues with ball security en route to a 77-54 loss at Memphis. It's still early enough to nip this habit of playing poorly on the road in the bud, but Virginia must begin to make those corrections now as ACC play gets fully underway. 

Slow tempo

The crowd who complains about the "boring" brand of basketball played by Virginia should do themselves a favor and not tune into this game, which features two teams that rank 330th and 361st, respectively, in terms of tempo. Notre Dame so far under Micah Shrewsberry has been comfortable playing at a slow pace, so expect this to be a low-possession, and likely low-scoring affair. 

Familiar Face on the Sidelines

On Saturday, Tony Bennett and his coaching staff will reunite with former UVA assistant coach Kyle Getter, who left this offseason to join Micah Shrewsberry's staff at Notre Dame as associate head coach. Getter spent the previous five seasons on Bennett's staff at Virginia. 

Prediction

On paper, this is a game that Virginia should win fairly easily. But as it is only UVA's second true road game of the season and first conference road game, there are no guarantees. Barring a massive turnaround by Notre Dame in ACC play, this will be a Quad 4 - at best Quad 3 - game for Virginia. It's never to early to consider postseason implications and this is a game the Cavaliers cannot afford to put as a loss on their resume. 

Score prediction: Virginia 61, Notre Dame 50

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