The Notre Dame Basketball program will kick off their Men’s ACC Tournament run tonight, as they take on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in an 11 vs. 14 matchup. The Demon Deacons are one of the worst teams in the ACC this season and are in the middle of a seven-game losing streak, a stretch that has seen them lose by an average of 19 points.
The winner of this matchup is going to punch their ticket to a Wednesday night matchup against North Carolina, and here is why the Notre Dame Basketball team will be that team.
Wake Forest is too slow out of the gate
One big problem the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have had during this terrible 6-14 season is that they just do not get out of the gate fast enough on offense. That leads to this team falling behind early, and they just do not have the talent on both ends of the floor to make up for what has been insurmountable deficits early on.
Against Notre Dame, that is going to be a problem, because as we saw against Florida State, if this offense can get rolling early on, they are tough to stop. You can expect Prentiss Hubb to push the envelope early in this matchup to put the Demon Deacons in an early hole, and with how much more talent this Irish team has than the Wake Forest squad, it could get ugly early.
Wake Forest is terrible against the three-point shot
The Notre Dame Basketball team has players up and down the roster who can get hot from three-point land, and it does not matter if it is a forward or a guard. From Nate Laszewski to Hubb, this is an Irish team that can get really hot from outside the three-point line, and that is going to play a big role against a Wake team who is terrible at defending it.
We have seen on numerous occasions different members of this team get hot from beyond the arc, and it is not only the starters. Guys like Dane Goodwin and Cormac Ryan had gotten the job done coming off the bench and heating up from beyond the arc, and if the Irish play an unselfish brand of basketball, and work the ball around the arc, there is certain to be someone open on each play.
That could lead to the Irish forcing the Demon Deacons to come out and play the perimeter, leaving Juwan Durham open down low to operate. Overall, there is too much firepower on offense for Wake Forest to contend with, and if they get it going from beyond the arc, we could be in for another blowout victory against the Demon Deacons.
Notre Dame Basketball has the confidence needed in a must-win game
In their last time out, the Notre Dame Basketball team took care of business against arguably the best team in the conference, defeating No. 11 Florida State. Sure, the Seminoles had already wrapped up an impressive regular season, but these are the kind of wins right before a conference tournament that could go a long way in terms of the team’s confidence.
Against Wake earlier in the season, Notre Dame Basketball utilized a 16-point run to start the second half, cruising to an easy victory. That kind of win also helps in terms of the confidence heading into this matchup.
Notre Dame has veteran players on this roster, including the likes of Laszewski and Hubb, two juniors who were honored by the conference in the yearly awards this week. They are going to be heavily leaned upon during this ACC Tournament run, and on Tuesday night, the offense is certainly going to run through them.
Confidence is a huge part of the equation this late in the season, and a run through the ACC Tournament may not lead to an NCAA Tournament spot, but it does set the program up for a bounce-back season in 2021-22. Notre Dame should have no problem getting out to an early lead on Tuesday night, and putting the Demon Deacons away early, giving them a chance to rest their starters in preparation for a huge matchup on Wednesday against the Tar Heels.