What you need to know as Notre Dame returns to league play at Pittsburgh
Tom Noie
MEN’S BASKETBALL
► WHO: Notre Dame (6-5 overall; 0-1 ACC) at Pittsburgh (5-7; 0-1)
► WHERE: Petersen Events Center (12,508), Pittsburgh.
► WHEN: Tuesday at 8 p.m.
► TV: ACC Network
► RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
► ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.
► NOTING: Femi Odukale made a career best five 3-pointers and scored a career high 28 points and Mouhamadou Gueye had 15 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in Pittsburgh’s 64-55 home victory Dec. 21 over Jacksonville. The Panthers led by as many as 17, shot 37.7 percent from the field, 33.3 percent overall and tallied one bench point. … Pittsburgh has won two straight and three of four since opening Atlantic Coast Conference play Dec. 3 with a 58-57 loss at Virginia. Jayden Gardner’s rebound basket with 0.9 seconds remaining ruined Pitt’s upset bid. … Pittsburgh is 4-5 at home this season, where average attendance is 7,484. … The Panthers average an ACC low 60.6. ppg., and allow 63.8, fourth best in the league. … Nine Panthers average at least 10-plus minutes per game. … Power forward John Hugley (6-foot-9, 240 pounds) ranks 16th in the league in scoring (14.5 ppg.) and is tied for fourth in rebounding (8.08). … Four starters returned off last season’s team that finished 10-12 overall, 6-10 and 12th place in the ACC. The Panthers went 2-10 over the final eight weeks of the season. … Pittsburgh has not had a winning season or advanced to the NCAA tournament since 2015-16, the last year in Oakland for former coach Jamie Dixon. … Pittsburgh was picked this preseason to finish 14th in the 15-team ACC; Notre Dame was picked eighth. … The Panthers have the fewest wins (five) among all ACC teams. … Notre Dame leads the all-time series 35-31, 14-19 at Pittsburgh. The schools have split their first eight meetings as ACC colleagues. … The Irish have won two straight and five of the last six, including last year, 84-58, at The Pete. … Pittsburgh is one of six repeat league opponents for Notre Dame. This is the first time the teams repeat as ACC colleagues. … Notre Dame looks to win a third straight game for the first time since February 2020. … The Irish were 3-7 on the road in league play last season. … Senior guard/captain Dane Goodwin ranks ninth in the ACC in scoring (15.2), fourth in 3-pointers made (2.36) and 10th in minutes (33.6). … Senior power forward Nate Laszewski is 10th in rebounding (7.2).
► QUOTING: "We've shown that we can really guard teams, guard individual players and we've got guys who can really lock up. When we do that, almost kind of take it personally on the defensive end, dig in, we've got unbelievable potential."
— Notre Dame senior guard/captain Cormac Ryan
— TOM NOIE
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI