The Irish Men's Basketball team looks to get their record back above .500 during tonight's game versus Dartmouth.
Photo by The Irish Tribune
Notre Dame snapped their five-game losing streak this past Saturday in their first ACC matchup of the season against the Syracuse Orange. With just two out-of-conference games remaining on the schedule, the Irish must take care of business as they enter ACC play on Dec. 31.
One of those two final meetings comes against the Dartmouth Big Green tonight, an opponent that has the same number of ACC wins as Notre Dame. Dartmouth, who picked up a road win against Boston College on Nov. 29, enters Purcell Pavilion with a 4-4 record after losing to the University of Illinois Chicago on Sunday.
They are led by senior guard Ryan Cornish who has been with Dartmouth for all four years of his college career. He’s experiencing the best season of his career this season, averaging 14.3 points per game on 39.6% shooting, while grabbing 4.6 rebounds as well as three assists per game. Not only has Cornish scored in double figures in all but the first game of the season, but he’s also proven to be a pesky defender. The Potomac, Maryland native is averaging 2.3 steals per game and has collected eight in his last two games.
While Cornish is not the biggest threat from three-point territory, shooting just 3.8 threes per game, his 6’6” counterpart Cade Haskins is. The senior forward from Minneapolis, Minnesota, is averaging 8.5 three-point attempts per game and knocks down 41.2% of them. Haskins, like Cornish, has spent all four seasons with the Big Green, averaging 13.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. However, since knocking down 13 of his first 23 three-point attempts in the first two games of the season, Haskins has made just 15 of his last 45 attempts from deep, a much less desirable 33%.
As far as size goes, the Irish matchup well with Dartmouth with its tallest player standing at 6’8” in Brandon Mitchell-Day. The junior forward from St. Louis has played in seven games this season, averaging 10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists per game. He has put up double figures in each of his last four games, as well as a nine-rebound performance against UIC on Sunday. Mitchell-Day has also proven to be a capable three-point shooter as well in his last three games, shooting 4-7 from distance.
Offensively, the Irish are coming off arguably their best offensive game since the loss of Markus Burton back on Nov. 26. Braden Shrewsberry stepped up in a big way tying his career-high with 25 points on 8-15 shooting at Syracuse. His six threes were massive for Notre Dame as it squeaked by with a five-point win. The sophomore guard from Granger, Indiana is now averaging 16.2 points per game on 42.6% shooting from the field, scoring in double digits in his last six, dating back to the start of Notre Dame’s five-game losing streak against Elon.
Junior forward Tae Davis, who will have an interesting matchup with Mitchell-Day, also settled in against Syracuse, putting up 15 points on 6-8 shooting. With a field goal percentage hovering above 50%, Davis has stepped up in a big way in the absence of Burton, averaging 16.6 points per game since he went down against Rutgers on Nov. 26. Being the tallest player on the floor against Dartmouth is going to play nicely into Davis’s game with his length and athleticism.
While Shrewsberry and Davis have performed well since the Burton injury, one player who needed to break out off the bench was junior guard J.R. Konieczny. The South Bend native showed promise versus Creighton in his 19 minutes of play, putting up eight points on 3-6 shooting, but followed it up with a 0-3 performance against Georgia on Dec. 3. However, Konieczny found a rhythm in his 29 minutes against Syracuse on Saturday, putting up a season-high 15 points on 6-12 shooting. These outings from Konieczny need to become a regular affair even after Burton returns to the team. Getting this kind of production off the bench is crucial for this team, especially in the ACC.
It'll be an extended break for the Irish after this one as they will have 11 days in between games as they will have one final non-conference meeting with the Le Moyne Dolphins on Dec. 22. As for Dartmouth, the Irish should handle business with their quickness and, for maybe the first time all season, height. Davis should settle in early and get a lot of opportunities around the rim that will prove to be too much for Big Green.
The Irish are favored by 17.5 points as the game will tip off from Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
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