Both are very deliberate, which will limit possessions. Neither is above average offensively or at the free-throw line, and both possess excellent defensive units.
The faction of the betting public that favors low points, long scoring droughts and defense are going to relish watching Notre Dame and Virginia scrap and scrape for every basket inside John Paul Jones Arena.
In what is akin to an Excitement-Ometer, stats guru Ken Pomeroy ranks a day’s games in order of entertainment level — the Thrill Score — and on this day’s slate he projects Navy-Lehigh, American-Lafayette and USC Upstate-Presbyterian to be more interesting than this one.
Just what we’re seeking, a sluggish, sloppy affair filled with inconsistency.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Wednesday on ESPN2.
Notre Dame vs. Virginia odds: Point spread, moneyline, total
Here are live college basketball betting odds for Irish vs. Cavaliers:
Notre Dame betting news: Irish offense is offensive
Fifteen of Notre Dame's 20 games have finished UNDER their totals, the third-highest frequency in the game, including eight of its past 10 tilts.
Virginia games are a top-30 13-7 to the UNDER.
Viewers who tune in had better appreciate every point they witness, because there will be few and a decent stretch of time might pass between buckets.
These two did joust, in South Bend, Ind., on Dec. 30, when Notre Dame (7-13 SU, 10-10 ATS) won, 76-54. Since then, the Irish have struggled to crack 60, doing so just twice in seven occasions.
The Cavs answered that effort with 60- and 47-point outings, both defeats, and tallied 69, 65 and 59 points in triumphs.
And in seven of his past eight games, 5-foot-11 freshman guard Markus Burton, the Irish’s best player, has failed to tally 20 points.
Notre Dame’s offense is truly offensive. In effective field-goal percentage and turnover percentage, it ranks in the 300s of the country’s 362 Division-I programs.
Virginia combats those two figures with the nation’s 23rd-best effective field-goal percentage defense and the 18th-best turnover-percentage defense.
The Irish hit 3-pointers at a 29.8% clip, No. 322 in the land, and shoots 48% inside the arc, No. 266. The Cavs counter with 31.4% (57th) and (22nd), respectively.
Notre Dame also hits freebies at a mediocre 71.6%.
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Virginia betting news: Cavaliers offense not much better
Free throws? They’re hardly free in Charlottesville, too, where Virginia (15-5 SU, 11-8-1 ATS) is a woeful 65%. Only 22 programs shoot more poorly at the stripe.
Within the arc, Virginia connects on 48.5% of its attempts, which is among the bottom-third of D-I teams. But the Irish excel at clogging this area, letting foes sink only 45.4% of their shots, 29th best in the land.
Where the Cavaliers will likely win this game is from long range, where they can 36.2% of their shots. That’s among the top quarter-percentile, but Notre Dame yields 32.7% of those attempts; in the top third of all teams.
The Irish must blanket 6-4 sophomore guard Isaac McKneeley, who is a lethal 47.6% (49-for-103) from distance, and 6-9 senior Jake Groves (24-for-54, 44.4%) must also be hounded.
It can be done, as in recent games both Virginia Tech and Wake Forest limited that hot-shot duo to just a single 3-point shot, and that was produced by Groves in his lone attempt against the Demon Deacons.
Since last playing Virginia, Notre Dame has failed to hit 50% of its 2-point shots in seven consecutive games. It collected 11 in one, 12 in another and 13 twice; if the Irish aren’t careful, they’ll wind up with single-figure 2-point shots and fewer than 50 points.
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Notre Dame vs. Virginia prediction
What solidifies this low final score is how both teams play such deliberate styles on offense. Both are among the 30 slowest squads in the country, Virginia right at 30 and Notre Dame, well, only eight teams play slower.
Finally, we might have saved the best for last. Among teams with 200 lined games since 2009, when coach Tony Bennett took over at Virginia, only New Hampshire (59.4%), St. Peter’s (57.9%) and Jackson State (57.1%) have played in more UNDER games than the Cavaliers’ 56.6%.
This will be Snails vs. Slugs, The Battle of the Mollusks, and the victor might not hit 50.
Pick: UNDER
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