The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-19, 2-16 ACC) will try to break down one of the top shooting defenses in the Atlantic Coast Conference when they welcome the No. 25 Pittsburgh Panthers (21-8, 14-4 ACC) on Wednesday.
Pittsburgh defeated the Syracuse Orange 99-82 at Petersen Events Center on Saturday. With 22 points, Blake Hinson was the scoring leader. Nelly Cummings added 14 points and 13 assists. The Panthers remain first in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Notre Dame dropped their seventh in a row on Saturday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, falling to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 66-58. Ven-Allen Lubin had 19 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in the losing effort to lead the team. The Fighting Irish remain 14th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The teams are meeting for the only time this season. Notre Dame won both matchups between the teams last season, the last of which was a 78-54 triumph at Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center in March 2022, their fourth straight head-to-head victory.
Nate Laszewski led the Fighting Irish with 17 points, while Cormac Ryan was a key contributor with 15 points and six rebounds. Mouhamadou Gueye had 13 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks in defeat. Hinson and Jamarius Burton, averaging 15.8 and 14.4 points per game, respectively, are leading the Panthers in scoring this season.
Hinson also has grabbed 6.2 rebounds per game. Meanwhile, Cummings is dishing 5.0 assists per game. Laszewski’s 14.1 points per game have powered the Fighting Irish on offense. Laszewski also has posted 7.1 rebounds per game.
Trey Wertz has doled out 3.2 assists per game. The Panthers rank as one of the conference’s toughest FG% defenses, holding foes to to a third-lowest rate of 41.5%.
In the last 10 games, Pittsburgh is 8-2 with an average margin of +7.8 (77.9-70.1). Notre Dame has gone 1-9 over the last 10, allowing 72.9 points per game on average while scoring only 68.5 (-4.4 margin).
PANTHERS HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Federiko Federiko: 19.2 | 13.1 | +6.1
Jorge Diaz Graham: 1.6 | 4.6 | -3.0
Rebounds per game:
Federiko Federiko: 7.2 | 5.7 | +1.5
Assists per game:
Nelly Cummings: 7.8 | 5.0 | +2.8
FIGHTING IRISH HOT/COLD
(Last Five | Season Average | Differential)
Points + Rebounds + Assists:
Ven-Allen Lubin: 13.4 | 9.9 | +3.5
JJ Starling: 7.8 | 14.6 | -6.8
Points per game:
JJ Starling: 5.6 | 10.8 | -5.2
SportsTips’ College Basketball Pick:
Notre Dame (+150)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
