The particulars for Notre Dame at Howard in men's basketball
Tom NoieMEN’S BASKETBALL
► WHO: Notre Dame (10-6 overall) vs. Howard (6-7)
► WHERE: Burr Gymnasium (2,700), Washington
► WHEN: Monday at 2:30 p.m.
► TV: Fox Sports
► RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
► ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.
► NOTING: Kyle Foster scored 22 points with nine rebounds and Tai Bibbs added 14 points and rebounds Saturday for Howard in a 77-74 home loss to Norfolk (Va.) State. The Bison are 3-2 at home this season … It was Howard’s first game since Dec. 21 after having three games canceled because of COVID-19 health/safety protocols. … Located northeast of downtown Washington, Howard is a school with an undergraduate enrollment of 9,600. … Burr Gymnasium sits right across Georgia Street from the History of Cannabis Museum. … Former Notre Dame assistant/associate head coach Rod Balanis, who spent 21 seasons with Mike Brey, is in his first season as associate head coach at Howard. Also on coach Kenny Blakeney’s staff is former Duke point guard Tyler Thornton. … This game wraps a two-game homestand for Howard, which plays four in a row and five of six on the road. … Howard returned five starters off last year’s team that finished 1-5 overall, 0-0 in MEAC competition. The Bison were shut down numerous times for COVID health/safety concerns and were sidelined for seven straight weeks before the school canceled the rest of the season Feb. 9. … Howard was picked this preseason to finish fifth in the eight-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). ... Junior power forward Dontarius James, who played previously at Xavier and at Jacksonville, was a second team all-league preseason pick. Redshirt sophomore forward Steve Settle III was a third team selection. James has not played this season; Settle is second on the squad in scoring (13.5 ppg.). … Notre Dame leads the all-time series 1-0 with that meeting, a 79-50 Irish win, on Nov. 12, 2019 in South Bend. ... Notre Dame is 8-0 all time against MEAC schools. … Notre Dame saw its six-game win streak snapped Saturday with a 79-73 loss at Virginia Tech. The Irish led for 32:39 and committed a season-low three turnovers. Paul Atkinson, Jr., led Notre Dame with 19 points and nine rebounds. Freshman guard Blake Wesley added 15 points. … The Irish are 0-1 this season on Fox with the loss to Indiana in the final Crossroads Classic. … Notre Dame looks to avoid losing consecutive games for only the second time this season. … This is the second of three straight on the road for Notre Dame, which jumps back into Atlantic Coast Conference play Saturday at Louisville.
► QUOTING: “It’s the capital of the country, so it’s awesome just being there. That will be cool.” — Notre Dame graduate student/power forward Paul Atkinson, Jr., on playing in Washington
— Tom Noie
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI