The Notre Dame basketball team has had a rather up and down season so far, though honestly, it's been more down than up. The Fighting Irish are 5-7 on the season and while they're coming off a win against Marist, it's been a while since Micah Shrewsberry's squad has looked particularly good.
That's the bad news. The good news is that having the kind of struggles the Irish have seen so far this season means they can only surprise someone like the Virginia Cavaliers. Shrewsberry's crew isn't expected to win today. In fact they're 9.5-point dogs according to FanDuel.
But what if they could? What if Notre Dame basketball could pull off a victory? There is a trio of players that fans should keep an eye on if they're holding out hope for a Saturday shocker.
The Virginia Cavaliers are where they are in large part thanks to Reece Beekman and his ability to dole out the ball while also being a scoring threat all on his own. Beekman's 5.7 assists per game is close to tops in the ACC and the nation. According to KenPom he's third in the country in ARate.
In other words, Virginia assists divided by the field goals made by the player’s teammates while he is on the court. That's just one of the reasons why he's considered one of the best players in his conference.
Beekman is also scoring 12.9 points per game, making him the Cavs leading scorer. The fact of the matter is that if Notre Dame basketball wants to pull off the upset, they're going to need to find a way to make Reece Beekman a non-factor.
Of course, very few teams have managed to make Beekman a non-factor so far this season. Can Notre Dame basketball somehow manage to do that? Stay tuned.
Markus Burton has been the end-all and be-all for Notre Dame basketball this season. In games where he’s been red hot, the Irish have had a real shot at pulling off big wins. In the games where he was ice cold, Shrewsberry’s crew have barely looked competent.
In many ways, Burton is Notre Dame basketball’s opposite to Reece Beekman. He’s not only the team’s leading scorer with 16 points per game, but he’s also leading the Fighting Irish with 3.6 assists per game.
Where Burton and Beekman diverge is that the Virginia point guard’s first aim is to help his teammates score. Burton’s first goal is to put the ball in the basket.
Burton’s ability to do that is going to be key on Saturday afternoon as he’s shooting 40 percent from the field. The good news for Notre Dame basketball fans is that he’s coming off one of his best games in quite a while.
Against Marist, he scored 21 points and was 8-for-18 from the field.
The Virginia Cavaliers aren’t a high-flying, high-scoring team. Because of that, Notre Dame basketball fans need to ensure they don’t get overconfident if the ACC power gets off to a slow start scoring-wise.
What people need to realize is that guys like Ryan Dunn are able to wear an opponent down until they suddenly realize they’re in real trouble.
Dunn is a good compliment to Beekman because he’s someone who can dole the ball out, score a little bit (9 points per game), and hits the boards harder than most guards in the conference.
Dunn leads the Cavaliers in boards with 6.8 rebounds per contest but he’s not some lumbering big man that the Notre Dame basketball team should expect to be able to run circles around. The guard is also second on the team in steals with 2.3 per game.
Notre Dame basketball has more than two, but at least two multi-talented guards that are going to be a real problem on Saturday. If they both have good games, there’s almost no chance the Irish can win.