On Saturday, the Notre Dame men’s basketball team will take on the Boston College Eagles on the road in its final game of the regular season. Having lost on Wednesday night against Stanford, Notre Dame’s ACC tournament hopes now hinge on both a win and a Pittsburgh loss to Syracuse. In other words, the Irish cannot independently secure their spot in the conference tournament, but with a loss, they would officially count themselves out of it.
Boston College falls into the same boat as Notre Dame in terms of their own chances at the ACC tournament: if Boston College wins and Pitt loses, the three-way tie breaker would go to Boston College, as they would have the best record among that group of three at 1-1 against Notre Dame and 1-0 against Pitt.
Notre Dame and Boston College will square off at noon on Saturday, and Pitt will not face Syracuse until 4:30, so at the time of tip off, both Notre Dame and Boston College will have every reason to fight for their respective seasons.
The Irish last met the Eagles on Jan. 24, when they eked out a 68-64 win. Junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry led all scorers in that contest, and freshman guard Jalen Haralson was another key contributor. Haralson has returned from his ankle injury, and he has picked up right where he left off as one of Notre Dame’s best offensive threats, scoring 25 and 19 in his two appearances since the injury, against NC State and Stanford, respectively. The Irish will need Haralson on Saturday as much as ever.
Notre Dame’s defense has a few important matchups to focus on if they are going to win on Saturday. Boston College’s forward Boden Koepke has been the leading overall scorer in each of the Eagles’ last two games, but back in January, the Irish managed to restrict him to just 6 points. If the Notre Dame defense can hold down his opportunities again, that could be a key ingredient to their success on Saturday.
Other key Boston College players for Notre Dame to address include Fred Payne, who tallied 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the previous matchup, and Donald Hand Jr., who has struggled with consistency all season, but who has the capacity to be a real offensive weapon on any given day. The Irish defense was its saving grace earlier in the season. However, they have let up 80 or more points in seven of their last 10 matchups, so their defensive performance against Boston College will be critical.
On the offensive side, in addition to Jalen Haralson, sophomore guard Cole Certa is going to be a critical piece for the Irish. In their two most recent wins, Certa has contributed 30 or more points. Whether or not he puts up another 30-point performance on Saturday, he will need to be a major contributor. Indeed, Certa’s relative offensive absence in most of the game against Pittsburgh a few weeks ago contributed heavily to the loss, and that loss is the main reason that the last spot in the ACC tournament is so tangled up in the first place. Certa and Haralson will certainly have essential roles in this game, but truly, the Irish will need everybody to be at their best. With the future of the season on the line for both teams, Notre Dame must be all-hands-on-deck.
The fact that Notre Dame might be one of the three teams to fall short of the ACC tournament is more than a little alarming — even in the absence of Preseason All-ACC First Team junior guard Markus Burton, few people expected the season to come down to Notre Dame not even in control of its own destiny on the final day of the season. On Saturday, the Irish will be playing not only for a chance to compete in Charlotte next week, but also for their pride.
