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    • Notre Dame men’s basketball: Discovering Elon Phoenix
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    Notre Dame men’s basketball: Discovering Elon Phoenix

    Harry Posted on

    Keep a fire extinguisher handy just in case.

    If it may be necessary Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry is doing what he wants. And his word.

    Shrewsberry earlier this week Not satisfied with his team’s overall performance In a 17-point home win over North Dakota. Shrewsberry promised to get better in practice on Thursday and Friday when he planned for his men to play “like their hair is on fire.”

    Injury update: Notre Dame freshman guard Sir Mohammed is sidelined with lower-body injury

    What kind of effort will we see on Friday?

    No! Notre Dame men’s basketball makes this road shakedown at Georgetown look easy

    When does Friday’s game between Notre Dame basketball and Elon start?

    WHO: Notre Dame (4-0) – Elon (2-2)

    WHERE: Purcell Pavilion (9,149).

    WHEN: Friday 19:30 (note special start time).

    TV: None. The game can be watched online on ACC Network Extra (ESPN+).

    RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).

    TICKETS: Available.

    ONLINE: Follow all Notre Dame games with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie (formerly Twitter) at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.

    Three pressing questions for Notre Dame

    Will the Irish show more maturity on Friday than on Tuesday?

    How intense was the weather at the Rolfs Hall training ground on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning/afternoon?

    When does the lack of fan attendance at the Purcell Pavilion become a problem?

    Exploring Phoenix

    Phoenix, which has 7,127 undergraduates in Elon, 20 miles east of Greensboro, North Carolina, is coached by former Irish small forward/assistant coach Billy Taylor, now in his third season. Taylor also served as head coach at Lehigh, Ball State and Belmont Abbey. He was recruited to Notre Dame by former Irish coach Digger Phelps and served as team captain in 1995. His career goes 237-254 as a head coach. … Elon returns three starters and eight players overall from last year’s team that finished 10-22 overall, 7-11 and seventh in the Coastal (formerly Colonial) Athletic Association. Phoenix has a winning record (8-6) at home for the first time in seven seasons. They were 3-12 away from home. …Elon was picked to finish 12th this preseasonhe In the league with 14 teams. … This is the third of eight straight road games for Elon, which hosts Bluefield (W.Va.) on Nov. 9 and won’t play at home again until Dec. 7 against Wofford. … Elon won 75-58 at Northern Illinois on Wednesday. Junior guard TK Simpkins led Phoenix with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Elon finished the match with a 53-25 (+28) rebound advantage. Phoenix was trailing by as many as three points but leading by as many as 30.

    By Numbers

    0: Elon has never played in the NCAA tournament since moving to Division I in 1999-2000. Played in a Division I (CollegeInsider Tournament) postseason in 2013.

    6: Number of conferences Elon men’s basketball has been associated with throughout its history – CAA, Southern, Big South, South Atlantic, Carolinas and North State.

    9: The number of Phoenix averaging double digit minutes on a team averaging xxx points.

    2006: Taylor previously coached at Notre Dame in 2006, losing 93-87 to Notre Dame while at Lehigh.

    2016-17: Last season, Elon had a winning record (18-14).

    Keep an eye out…

    Graduate student Matthew Van Komen, a 6-foot-1, 260-pound center, is the third-tallest player in Division I this season. Van Komen averaged 7.1 points and 7.4 rebounds at Hawaii Pacific last season. He also attended Utah and Saint Mary’s (California) College. Van Komen was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in Lehi, Utah.

    Van Komen recorded 6 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in 24 minutes against Northern Illinois on Wednesday.

    Quote from Phoenix

    “I knew this was going to be a longer process, and since Elon is a higher academic institution, he knew this wasn’t going to be a quick fix. “We are building this with a slightly more traditional model.”

    -Elon coach Billy Taylor in the Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook preview issue

    Series history

    Notre Dame sits at 2-0 all-time with both wins at home. The programs were last collected on December 16, 2006. Irish guard Russell Carter scored 21 points with 6 rebounds and 4 assists, and long forward Rob Kurz won the match 94-63 with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks.

    Discovering the Irish

    Sophomore guard Markus Burton leads the Irish in points (20.5), assists (5.25), steals (1.75) and minutes (32.4). Burton, the preseason top pick of the All-Atlantic Coast Conference, ranks third in the league in points, sixth in assists and seventh in minutes. … Graduate student guard Matt Allocco ranks fourth in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (6.50). Allocco had 13 assists against two turnovers in four games. … The Irish rank seventh in the ACC in offensive scoring (83.5 ppg) and defensive scoring (64.5 ppg). … The Irish rank ninth nationally in defensive rebounds per game (33.0) with 14.he shooting percentage (.530) and 21st defensive field goal percentage (.350).

    By Numbers

    0:27: That’s the amount of time Notre Dame trailed in the second half in its first four games (all against Buffalo).

    7: Notre Dame committed a season-low seven turnovers in its win over North Dakota on Tuesday.

    15: Days between Ireland’s home games – November 22 (Elon) and December 7 (Atlantic Coast Conference opener – Syracuse).

    16: While Notre Dame allowed its first two opponents an average of 5.5 offensive rebounds per game, its last two opponents, Georgetown and North Dakota, averaged 16 offensive rebounds.

    4,388: Notre Dame ranked 15thhe Average home attendance in the 18-team ACC dropped in each of its three home games — 5,121, 4,132, 3,912.

    Keep an eye out…

    Playing at Purcell Pavilion appeals to swing player JR Konieczny. The former South Bend Saint Joseph High School standout scored six, eight and 12 points in his first three home games while increasing his minutes from 14 to 18 in each game to a season-high 19 minutes on Tuesday.

    quote from the irish

    “There. We’ve done this before. I don’t need to instill this. There. I take the blame for this. I can’t take my foot off the gas. Now I know, right? “I’m not worried about Friday.”

    -Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry said his team had a better effort on Friday than what he saw on Tuesday.

    Look ahead

    Notre Dame leaves Sunday for the opening of next week’s Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. There will be three games over five days against Rutgers, starting Tuesday (10:30 p.m. EST., TBS).

    Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at [email protected]

    Harry
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