It’s been eight years since the Marist Red Foxes men’s basketball team played an ACC opponent. It’s been even longer since the Red Foxes traveled to South Bend, Indiana, to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Purcell Pavilion, dating back to December 23, 2004, 19 years to the date of the faceoff tonight.
This will be the third time Marist plays Notre Dame in men’s basketball (the first matchup dating back to 1983), and the matchup comes when the Red Foxes are starting 7-2 for the third time in their Division I history. Marist is rolling into the Bend on a five-game win streak, including the victories of their first two MAAC conference games against Iona and Manhattan College.
Furthermore, they caught the Fighting Irish in the midst of a three-game losing streak, most recently losing at home to The Citadel four days ago by a whopping 20 points. This puts the Red Foxes in an interesting situation: a fighting chance to beat an ACC opponent before the New Year begins, which would continue to propel their unprecedented piping-hot start.
Last game, Marist took care of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, with a 20 point victory in the McCann Center propelled by junior forward Jackson Price (coincidentally, a transfer from the Citadel, who handed the Irish their most recent 20-point loss). The Shore Hawks mark the only like opponent between Marist and Notre Dame this season, both winning by exactly 20 points.
While ranked last in the ACC in total offense, assistant coach Dalip Bhatia views the Fighting Irish with caution.
“They have a good motion offense, they run a lot of great sets, and they put their better offensive players in proper scoring positions,” said Bhatia.
To this point, the Notre Dame offense revolves around freshman guard Markus Burton, an Indiana native and the top-scoring ACC freshman with 15.5 points-per-game, ranked sixth in the nation in points for freshman.
“Averaging 16 points as a freshman at any level is high level, and doing that in the ACC,” said Bhatia. “One of his best attributes is attacking the paint and getting to the rim… the point of emphasis we have to keep him out of the paint.”
Bhatia pointed out their reliance on Burton is a potential reason for the team’s low assist total compared to the rest of the conference. Despite their conference-low shooting percentage (39%) and three-point percentage (26.1%), Bhatia sees that the Irish still have shooters to rely on–freshman Braeden Shrewsberry, junior JR Koniezcny, and junior Julian Roper II as examples–that can change the nature of their poor shooting thus far.
While the Irish have yet to solve their shooting woes this season–shooting 17-for-64 (26.6%) against the Citadel, Marist has relied on several different scoring options to propel them towards victories. While Price led the team the last two victories for the Red Foxes, they have had five different leading-game scorers this season.
The offensive stat sheet doesn’t tell the tale of their booming run, shooting 41% as a team (eighth in the MAAC) with a 32.8% on the three-point shot (fifth in the MAAC). Defensively, Marist ranks ninth in the entire NCAA in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 60.4 points-per-game and a 39% opposing field goal percentage.
The team’s play, highlighted by various players’ high-scoring games and group effort for a top-10 defense in the nation thus far, thrives off its biggest strength: selflessness.
“I think that’s one of the hardest things as a coach to do is to get your guys to play at an unselfish mindset,” said Bhatia. “Coach [John] Dunne has done a great job of building a selfless culture. It’s about winning and our guys have bought into it.”
“We’re looking at this as the trial to get us ready for conference,” said graduate student forward Javon Cooley. “It’s good to get rolling early on and have a good chemistry early on so that you can be prepared,” said Cooley.
The Notre Dame matchup represents a unique “homecoming” for Cooley, the longest tenured player on the Marist roster. The Chicago native saw some of his hometown when the team flew into Chicago yesterday afternoon. It’s the only game in Cooley’s career where his family can watch his game in-person, only being a couple hours out from Chicago.
Cooley’s final year on the Marist roster marks the best start to a season he’s been a part of. Taking a veteran role this year with a new-look roster has been a highlight to Cooley’s season.
“It feels good to kind of be that on court coach,” said Cooley. “Just guide guys in the right direction and be that leader.”
In 2013, Notre Dame was 29-1 at home against MAAC teams all-time. When still a part of the conference, Monmouth had the last victory against the Fighting Irish, with a 70-68 upset when Notre Dame was ranked no. 17 in the country. Marist has lost both matchups against the team in the 2004-05 and 1983-84 seasons.
A win against a high-major opponent can set the tone for the Red Foxes before the test of MAAC opponents. This unique start to the Marist men’s basketball season warrants attention to the team’s conference play. First, they’ll test their luck against the Irish tonight at 8 p.m.
Edited by Jimmy Tsiantoulas
Photo From Marist Athletics
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