Notre Dame men host Wake Forest Saturday. Here's everything you need to know
Tom Noie
MEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL
∎ WHO: Notre Dame (10-12 overall; 2-9 ACC) vs. Wake Forest (14-9; 6-6)
∎ WHERE: Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
∎ WHEN: Saturday at 1 p.m.
∎ TV: Regional Sports Network (Marquee Sports Network, locally)
∎ RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
∎ TICKETS: Plenty available.
∎ ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at twitter.com/tnoieNDI
∎ NOTING: Guard Tyree Appleby scored 27 points with five rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes and power forward Andrew Carr added 11 points and five rebounds in Tuesday’s 75-73 loss at Duke. The Demon Deacons trailed by 12 with under five minutes remaining before closing on a 12-2 run. They finished with nine turnovers, the sixth straight game of 10 or fewer turnovers. … Wake Forest is 3-5 overall on the road this season, 2-4 in league play with wins at Boston College and at Louisville. ... Wake Forest’s roster features six transfers, including Appleby, who previously played at Jacksonville and Florida and Carr, who played last season for Delaware and head coach Martin Ingelsby, a former Irish guard and assistant coach. Notre Dame never contacted Carr when he entered the offseason transfer portal. … Nine Deacons average at least 10.6 minutes per game while four score double figures, led by Appleby (18.1). … Wake Forest returned one starter off last year’s team that finished 25-10 overall, 13-7 and fifth place in the ACC. The Demon Deacons did not make the NCAA tournament before losing in the NIT quarterfinals. It won six games the previous season. Wake Forest was picked this preseason to finish ninth in the 15-team ACC; Notre Dame was picked sixth. … Wake Forest enters the weekend tied for eighth place with Syracuse; Notre Dame is alone in 13th … If the ACC Tournament were held today, Notre Dame would play the first game of the tournament (Tuesday, March 7 at 2 p.m.) against No. 12 Virginia Tech. … Wake Forest is one of six repeat opponents for Notre Dame. The teams meet Feb. 25 in Winston-Salem. Notre Dame is 1-7 against repeat opponents with the win over Georgia Tech. It has been swept in season series by Boston College, Florida State and Syracuse. … Notre Dame leads the all-time series 8-6, including 5-1 at home and 7-4 as ACC colleagues. The Irish have won three of the last five and eight of the last 11. … Appleby is second in the league in scoring (1.81 ppg), assists (6.0) and minutes (35.88). Swingman Damari Monsanto is first in 3-pointers made (3.09 per game). Irish guard Dane Goodwin leads the ACC in minutes played (36.21). … Notre Dame is coming off a week away from game action following last Saturday’s home win over Louisville, which snapped a four-game league losing streak. The Irish look to win consecutive conference games for the first time this season and consecutive wins overall since opening the season with five straight victories.
∎ QUOTING: “There’s no moral victories in this.” — Wake Forest coach Steve Forbes, whose team has lost four straight, including the last three each by two points.
—Tom Noie