Miami @ Notre Dame preview
Purcell Pavilion
Last Meeting ( Jan 24, 2021 ) Notre Dame 73, Miami-Florida 59
A pair of 6-foot-5 transfer guards -- Cormac Ryan and Elijah Olaniyi -- are set to take center stage when the Miami Hurricanes visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in an Atlantic Coast Conference game on Sunday in South Bend, Ind.
Notre Dame (8-10, 5-7 ACC) defeated Miami (7-11, 3-10) rather easily, 73-59, when they last played on Jan. 24.
Miami's Olaniyi scored 10 points in that game, and Notre Dame's Ryan scored five. More recently, however, both players -- Olaniyi, who transferred from Stony Brook, and Ryan, who arrived from Stanford -- have played larger roles.
On Tuesday, Ryan led all scorers with a career-high 28 points as Notre Dame earned a big road win at Duke, 93-89. Cormac was 10-for-16 shooting from the floor, including 4-for-7 from the 3-point line.
"Cormac is the consummate all-around guard," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. "He is the total package in terms of skills, basketball IQ and competitiveness."
Ryan, who is making 37.1 percent of his three-point tries, is fourth on the team in scoring (10.8). He averaged 8.7 points in his one season at Stanford, starting 17 of his 24 games. At Notre Dame, he has started 13 of his 17 contests.
Meanwhile, Olaniyi, who has started nine of his 12 games at Miami, is fourth on the Hurricanes in scoring (11.1).
However, Olaniyi has gotten better as this season has progressed. In his first six games, he averaged 8.3 points and 2.3 rebounds while shooting 36.4 percent from the floor, including 16.7 percent on three-pointers.
But in his most recent six-game stretch, Olaniyi averaged 13.8 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 53.4 percent from the floor, including 33.3 percent on three-pointers.
In his two most recent games -- a win over Duke and an overtime loss to Virginia Tech -- Olaniyi averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 36.5 minutes.
Olaniyi's 103 career games is the second most on the Hurricanes, but, even for a veteran like him, the adjustment to Miami has not been easy.
"I didn't feel like I had chemistry with the (Miami) guys at first," said Olaniyi, who played three years at Stony Brook before transferring. "The guys are starting to understand where I want the ball or where I can excel on the court. I'm (also) understanding my role on the team and how I can adjust to fit into this system."
Notre Dame owns a 13-12 lead over Miami in the all-time series, including 6-5 at home.
The Irish, who have won five of their past seven, are led by Nate Laszewski in points (15.6) and rebounds (7.6).
Miami is led in scoring by Isaiah Wong (17.4) and in rebounds by Nysier Brooks (6.4).
The Hurricanes have lost five of their past six games, but a player to watch is Miami guard Kameron McGusty, who has missed seven games this season due to a hamstring injury. However, in his past five games, McGusty is averaging 14.8 points while shooting 50 percent (11-22) on three-pointers.
--Field Level Media