CBB
- Thread starter IE
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After suffering a bad loss at home to the Radford Highlanders last week and then righting the ship against the William & Mary Tribe on Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men?s basketball team continues its season-opening home-stand against the Duquesne Dukes tonight as the Gotham Classic wraps up with its ?Showcase Game.?
The Dukes come into this one sporting a 3-0 record that includes wins over 3 of Notre Dame?s 4 first opponents ? they?ve topped William & Mary, UIC, and most recently, Radford.
Now, the Irish hope to use some positive momentum from Saturday to take down probably the best team in the Gotham Classic. After the rough loss to Radford, the Irish bounced back against William & Mary thanks to strong contributions from a few veterans (FINALLY), as TJ Gibbs scored 18, DJ Harvey dropped in 15, and John Mooney added 13 to power a 2nd half 17-6 run that put enough distance between the two teams to clinch it.
Duquesne Dukes (3-0)
As stated above, the Dukes come into this one playing good basketball, having won all of their first 3 matchups in the Gotham Classic, looking like a strong contender from the A-10 conference after a losing season in 2017-2018.
The team is led by sophomore guard Eric Williams Jr., who is a tough guy to guard at 6?6?. He?s essentially averaging a double-double on the season through 4 games (16.3 points and 9.7 rebounds), and is a good three-point shooter, knocking down 40% of the 20 threes he?s taken to-date.
He?s joined in the backcourt by Sincere Carry, a freshman point guard with an unbelievable name and with the all-around skills to score (14 ppg), distribute (7.3 apg), and defend (2.7 spg). Carry can knock it down from deep as well, shooting 44% from long range so far this year.
After Williams Jr. and Carry, the Dukes have a smattering of guys who contribute on the scoreboard and on the glass. Providing the heft down low are 6?8? C Michael Hughes (9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 bpg), 6?10? F Austin Rotroff (6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg), and 6?5? F Marcus Weathers (8 ppg, 6 rpg), while guards Mike Lewis II and Frankie Hughes (combined 16 ppg, Hughes shoots 45% from 3) provide some more firepower on the perimeter.
Overall, this should be a tough, balanced test for the Irish, as the Dukes have talent on the inside and the outside and have shown they can win high-scoring affairs (beat UIC 89-88, scored 84 vs. UIC) as well as more defensive-minded efforts (69-64 win over Radford).
Duke to Watch
Eric Williams Jr., Guard, Sophomore
At 6?6? and shooting 40% from deep, Williams Jr. is a tough guy to guard because of his size/rebounding ability and scoring skills from all over the floor. It will be a TALL task (pun intended) for the Irish wings (Pflueger, Harvey, Carmody/Goodwin) to try to guard this guy tonight, as he is dangerous and can beat you in a lot of different ways.
The Dukes come into this one sporting a 3-0 record that includes wins over 3 of Notre Dame?s 4 first opponents ? they?ve topped William & Mary, UIC, and most recently, Radford.
Now, the Irish hope to use some positive momentum from Saturday to take down probably the best team in the Gotham Classic. After the rough loss to Radford, the Irish bounced back against William & Mary thanks to strong contributions from a few veterans (FINALLY), as TJ Gibbs scored 18, DJ Harvey dropped in 15, and John Mooney added 13 to power a 2nd half 17-6 run that put enough distance between the two teams to clinch it.
Duquesne Dukes (3-0)
As stated above, the Dukes come into this one playing good basketball, having won all of their first 3 matchups in the Gotham Classic, looking like a strong contender from the A-10 conference after a losing season in 2017-2018.
The team is led by sophomore guard Eric Williams Jr., who is a tough guy to guard at 6?6?. He?s essentially averaging a double-double on the season through 4 games (16.3 points and 9.7 rebounds), and is a good three-point shooter, knocking down 40% of the 20 threes he?s taken to-date.
He?s joined in the backcourt by Sincere Carry, a freshman point guard with an unbelievable name and with the all-around skills to score (14 ppg), distribute (7.3 apg), and defend (2.7 spg). Carry can knock it down from deep as well, shooting 44% from long range so far this year.
After Williams Jr. and Carry, the Dukes have a smattering of guys who contribute on the scoreboard and on the glass. Providing the heft down low are 6?8? C Michael Hughes (9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.7 bpg), 6?10? F Austin Rotroff (6.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg), and 6?5? F Marcus Weathers (8 ppg, 6 rpg), while guards Mike Lewis II and Frankie Hughes (combined 16 ppg, Hughes shoots 45% from 3) provide some more firepower on the perimeter.
Overall, this should be a tough, balanced test for the Irish, as the Dukes have talent on the inside and the outside and have shown they can win high-scoring affairs (beat UIC 89-88, scored 84 vs. UIC) as well as more defensive-minded efforts (69-64 win over Radford).
Duke to Watch
Eric Williams Jr., Guard, Sophomore
At 6?6? and shooting 40% from deep, Williams Jr. is a tough guy to guard because of his size/rebounding ability and scoring skills from all over the floor. It will be a TALL task (pun intended) for the Irish wings (Pflueger, Harvey, Carmody/Goodwin) to try to guard this guy tonight, as he is dangerous and can beat you in a lot of different ways.
I had Duquesne too, what a bad loss after having the lead 52-51,couldn't even keep it within the number.
