Keep a fire extinguisher handy, just in case.
It might be needed if Notre Dame men’s basketball head coach Micah Shrewsberry has his way. And his say.
Earlier this week, Shrewsberry was unhappy with his team’s overall effort in a 17-point home win over North Dakota. Shrewsberry promised that the effort would be better in practice on Thursday and Friday when he planned for his guys to play as if their “hair was on fire.”
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What kind of effort will we see Friday?
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When does Friday’s game between Notre Dame basketball and Elon begin?
☘ WHO: Notre Dame (4-0) vs Elon (2-2)
☘ WHERE: Purcell Pavilion (9,149).
☘ WHEN: Friday at 7:30 p.m. (note special start time).
☘ TV: None. The game can be seen on-line at ACC Network Extra (ESPN+).
☘ RADIO: WSBT (960 AM).
☘ ONLINE: Follow every Notre Dame game with live updates from Tribune beat writer Tom Noie at X (formerly Twitter) at twitter.com/tnoieNDI.
Three pressing questions for Notre Dame
☘ Will the Irish show more maturity Friday than they did Tuesday?
☘ How intense was it Wednesday and Thursday and Friday morning/afternoon on the Rolfs Hall practice floor?
☘ At what point does the lack of fan attendance at Purcell Pavilion become an issue?
Scouting the Phoenix
A school of 7,127 undergraduates located 20 miles east of Greensboro, North Carolina in Elon, the Phoenix are coached by former Irish small forward/assistant coach Billy Taylor, now in his third season. Taylor also has 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. He’s a career 237-254 as a head coach. … Elon returned three starters and eight players overall from last year’s team that finished 10-22 overall, 7-11 and seventh place in the Coastal (formerly Colonial) Athletic Association. The Phoenix had a winning home record (8-6) for the first time in seven seasons. They were 3-12 away from home. … Elon was picked this preseason to finish 12th in the 14-team league. … This is the third of eight straight games away from home for Elon, which hosted Bluefield (W.Va.) on November 9 and won’t play at home again until December 7 against Wofford. … Elon won Wednesday at Northern Illinois, 75-58. Junior guard T.K. Simpkins led the Phoenix with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Elon finished with a (+28) rebounding advantage, 53-25. The Phoenix trailed by as many as three and led by as many as 30.
By the Numbers
0: Elon has never played in the NCAA tournament since jumping to Division I in 1999-2000. It has played in one Division I postseason – the CollegeInsider Tournament – in 2013.
6: Number of conferences Elon men’s basketball has been associated with in its history – CAA, Southern, Big South, South Atlantic, Carolinas and North State.
9: Number of Phoenix averaging double figures for minutes on a team that averages xxx ppg.
2006: Taylor previously coached against Notre Dame at Notre Dame in 2006 while at Lehigh, which lost to Notre Dame 93-87.
2016-17: Last season Elon posted a winning record (18-14).
Keep an eye on …
Graduate student Matthew Van Komen, a 7-foot-4, 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’s also attended Utah and Saint Mary’s (Calif.) College. Van Komen was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in Lehi, Utah.
Van Komen had six points, nine rebounds, and five blocks in 24 minutes Wednesday against Northern Illinois.
Quoting the Phoenix
“I knew it would be a longer build, and Elon being a higher academic institution, knew it wouldn’t be a quick fix. We’re building it with a little more of a traditional model.”
-Elon coach Billy Taylor in Blue Ribbon college basketball yearbook preview issue
Series history
Notre Dame leads 2-0 all-time with both wins at home. The programs last met on December 16, 2006. Irish guard Russell Carter scored 21 points with six rebounds and four assists and power forward Rob Kurz added16 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks in a 94-63 win.
Scouting the Irish
Sophomore guard Markus Burton leads the Irish in scoring (20.5), assists (5.25), steals (1.75) and minutes (32.4). A first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference preseason pick, Burton ranks third in the league in scoring, sixth in assists and seventh for minutes. … Graduate student guard Matt Allocco is fourth in the ACC for assist/turnover ratio (6.50). Allocco has 13 assists to two turnovers through four games. … The Irish rank seventh in the ACC for scoring offense (83.5 ppg.) and scoring defense (64.5 ppg.). … The Irish are ninth in the nation in defensive rebounds per game (33.0), 14th in field goal percentage (.530) and 21st in field goal percentage defense (.350).
By the Numbers
0:27: Amount of time that Notre Dame has trailed in the second half (all against Buffalo) in its first four games.
7: Notre Dame committed a season-low seven turnovers in Tuesday’s win over North Dakota.
15: Days that will elapse between Irish home games – Nov. 22 (Elon) and December 7 (Atlantic Coast Conference opener vs. Syracuse).
16: After allowing its first two opponents an average of 5.5 offensive rebounds a game, Notre Dame has seen its last two opponents − Georgetown and North Dakota – grab an average of 16 offensive rebounds.
4,388: Notre Dame ranks 15th in the 18-team ACC for average home attendance, which has decreased in each of its three home games – 5,121, 4,132, 3,912.
Keep an eye on …
Something about playing at Purcell Pavilion appeals to swingman J.R. Konieczny. The former South Bend Saint Joseph High School standout has scored six, eight and 12 points in the first three home games, while increasing his minutes each game from 14 to 18 to a season-high 19 minutes on Tuesday.
Quoting the Irish
“It’s in there. We’ve done it before. I don’t have to instill it. It’s there. I’m taking the blame on this. I can’t let my foot off the gas. So, now I know, right? I ain’t worried about Friday.”
-Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry on seeing a better effort from his team Friday than what he saw Tuesday.
Looking ahead
Notre Dame leaves Sunday for next week’s inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. It will play three games over five days beginning Tuesday against Rutgers (10:30 p.m., EST., TBS).
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame men’s basketball: Scouting the Elon Phoenix
