UVa (10-2, 1-0 ACC) at Notre Dame (5-7, 0-1 ACC)

Noon, ACC Network

Virginia wrapped up non-conference play on Wednesday night, coasting to a 35-point victory over Morgan State at home. That victory closes one chapter of the season for the Hoos, who went 9-2 in non-league play. And now, all eyes turn to ACC play.

UVa will travel to South Bend for the ACC road opener, taking on struggling Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers already have one ACC win under their belt, having blown out Syracuse at the beginning of the month. Tomorrow’s game against the Irish starts an 18-game stretch of conference games that will lead the Wahoos into the postseason.

Virginia heads to South Bend as a big-time favorite against a Notre Dame team still finding its way. The Irish were picked to finish last in the league in the preseason media poll, which is somewhat astounding given that Louisville is in the conference. And so far, the Irish have looked like a last-place team. They are 5-7 on the season, with just one win over a power-conference foe, an OT victory on a neutral court against a 6-5 Oklahoma State squad.

Notre Dame has suffered its fair share of tough losses too, like a 10-point home defeat to Western Carolina and an embarrassing 20-point loss to The Citadel on December 19. Like UVa, Notre Dame did play one game in conference play this month, losing to a good Miami team by 13 on the road.

Notre Dame’s roster had a lot of upheaval in the offseason, at least partially driven by a coaching change. Mike Brey stepped down from the position, one he held for 23 seasons, helping shepherd the Irish from the Big East to the ACC. With Brey gone, the program turned to Penn State coach Micah Shrewsberry, who quickly turned things around in Happy Valley in just two seasons there, having previously been an assistant at Purdue. One of Shrewsberry’s first moves as head coach came at UVa’s expense, when he hired now former Cavalier assistant Kyle Getter away to join his staff.

Perhaps Shrewsberry will get Notre Dame rolling soon, and perhaps he’ll have better luck against Tony Bennett than his predecessor: The Irish are just 2-12 against UVa since joining the ACC, but they did win in UVa’s last trip to South Bend in 2021-22.

Notre Dame has struggled through its first 12 games, ranking 224th in KenPom in large part due to a struggling offense. The Irish are a woeful 313th nationally in offensive efficiency and have failed to break 60 points in five of their games, having scored just 45 against The Citadel on their home floor.

ND has been a poor shooting team, making just 26.7 percent of its 3-point attempts. The Irish are 317th nationally in effective field-goal percentage, at 45.4 percent. They also don’t get to the free-throw line much and are near the bottom nationally in turnover rate. The Irish should be comfortable playing at UVa’s pace, however, as they are 330th nationally in tempo heading into Saturday’s contest.

The defense has been more respectable. Notre Dame ranks 113th in defensive efficiency and has done a decent job protecting the rim and the glass. The Fighting Irish rank 67th nationally in offensive rebound rate allowed and 99th in two-point field-goal percentage allowed. They don’t force many turnovers though, ranking 208th in turnover rate forced, 214th in steal rate and 238th in block rate.

Markus Burton, Guard

While the Irish have struggled, they have had one big-time bright spot in the freshman guard. A Mishawaka (IN) native, Burton is the team’s top scorer at 16.0 points per game and also averages 3.6 assists per contest. He has recorded four 20+ point performances this season, including a career-high 29 points in his collegiate debut against Niagara. Burton was quite a find for the previous coaching staff, as his offer from the Irish was his only from a major program.

J.R. Konieczny, Guard

After sitting out last season, Konieczny has been counted on to play a big part for Notre Dame this year. He played sparingly as a freshman in 2021-22 but then redshirted last season and is now Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer. The South Bend native is averaging 9.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.

Tae Davis, Forward

Notre Dame does have some decent size and depth in the frontcourt, led by the 6-foot-9 Davis. He began his career at Seton Hall, playing in 32 games for the Pirates, before transferring back to his home state to play for the Irish. With Notre Dame, he is in a starter’s role and is averaging 8.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest. Davis has already shown he can hang in ACC competition; he went for 12 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Miami.

Braeden Shrewsberry, Guard

The son of Notre Dame’s new head coach, Braeden Shrewsberry was initially committed to Penn State until his father switched jobs. He joins Burton in what looks like a young but promising backcourt for the Irish, should they play together for the next few years. Shrewsberry is another three-star recruit, and in his first season with the Irish, has averaged 7.3 points per contest. He hasn’t quite broken out like Burton has in his freshman season but he’s counted on to play starter’s minutes in the backcourt and has four double-digit scoring efforts through his first 12 games.

Road games are always tricky, especially in league play. And for a noon tip against a struggling team while the school is on winter break, it might be a “bring your own energy” type of game for the Hoos.

Still, this is one where they have a few advantages that should be tough for Notre Dame to counter, barring an uncharacteristically good offensive performance.

UVa isn’t a particularly old team but this Notre Dame team is incredibly inexperienced and will take some time to gel as a group, potentially several years. UVa has a veteran guard in Reece Beekman that should be able to give Burton some trouble. And the Cavaliers have a very good defense across the board that might spell big trouble for a struggling Irish offense.

If Virginia can come out and simply play a solid but clean game and avoid a shooting disaster, the Hoos should take care of this one. But as always, they would be smart to take control of the game early, something they struggled with away from home against Florida (trailed 12-4 early), Wisconsin (trailed 18-7) and Memphis (trailed 13-1).

If they can avoid a sleepy start, take care of the basketball and get to 60 points or so, that will probably be enough.