FACTS & STATS: Site: Joyce Center (11,418) -- South Bend, Indiana. Television: Local. Home Record: Stony Brook 1-4, Notre Dame 9-0. Away Record: Stony Brook 4-2, Notre Dame 0-0. Neutral Record: Stony Brook 0-0, Notre Dame 2-1. Conference Record: Stony Brook 0-0, Notre Dame 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The 19th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish plan to add another non- conference win to their resume as they host Stony Brook this afternoon. Stony Brook owns a 5-6 record through 11 outings, and while most teams would be disappointed with those results, the Seawolves have reason to be proud considering they finished 4-24 overall last season. They are 0-4 all-time against Division I opponents, and clearly enter this afternoon's contest as decided underdogs. Stony Brook has been idle since December 16th when it recorded an impressive 82-58 decision over Fairleigh Dickinson. Notre Dame stretched its winning streak to 10 games on Thursday with a staggering 101-51 romp over Rider, and the team is now shooting for its first 11-game winning stretch since the 1986-87 campaign. The Fighting Irish are a perfect 9-0 at home and have yet to play a true road game. They have scored at least 80 points in eight straight outings, so generating offense is clearly a strength. This game marks the first-ever meeting between Stony Brook and Notre Dame on the hardwood.

Stony Brook is only averaging 62.0 ppg this season on 41.3 percent shooting from the floor, so there is plenty of room for improvement offensively. As for the other end of the floor, the Seawolves are limiting foes to 64.8 ppg on 42.0 percent overall shooting. Ricky Lucas is the top offensive performer for Stony Brook, as he is scoring 16.8 ppg despite his 38.7 percent efficiency from the field. Mitchell Beauford is the only other double-digit scorer in the lineup, as he is posting 13.5 ppg on 38.8 percent shooting. In the blowout victory over Fairleigh Dickinson two weeks ago, Mike Popoka paced the Seawolves with 21 points, while Lucas contributed 18 points. Stony Brook connected on 51.7 percent of its field goal attempts in the contest while limiting the Knights to 29 percent shooting from the floor.

Everything seemed to go right for Notre Dame in the blowout victory over Rider last time out. The Fighting Irish finished the contest with 23 assists against 10 turnovers and shot 51.5 percent from the floor, including 13-of-31 from three-point range. They also earned a 20-13 edge in points from the foul line and a 44-34 rebounding advantage. Defensively, they limited Rider to 31 percent shooting from the field. Kyle McAlarney was sensational in the win, as he nailed 7-of-9 shots from behind the arc en route to 21 points. Rob Kurz scored a team-high 23 points, and Russell Carter netted 15 points to go along with five steals. Carter leads the team with 17.4 ppg, and Kurz is netting 15.9 ppg to go along with 8.8 rpg. Colin Falls checks in with 13.8 ppg, while Luke Harangody (12.4 ppg) and McAlarney (10.3 ppg) add further balance to the lineup. Notre Dame averages 88.2 ppg on 50 percent shooting from the field, and the club is limiting opponents to 62.6 ppg on 39.8 percent efficiency from the floor.

This appears to be a considerable mismatch, as Notre Dame is far superior to Stony Brook. The Fighting Irish will light it up early and earn some rest time in the second half.

Predicted Outcome

Notre Dame 94, Stony Brook 63