Be ready. This league play stuff comes at you fast.
Little time to feel good about a win. Little time to feel sorry about a loss. Another Atlantic Coast Conference game is right around the corner, which means win or lose, you must keep moving forward, something Notre Dame basketball certainly needs to.
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Noie: How did Notre Dame basketball home league opener against Clemson go?
Lesson learned: Notre Dame basketball coach admits that “It’s been a tough two days.”
Needs to do it now. Notre Dame has let two straight wins at home get away, each in their own no-show style. It drifted through the December 21 loss to Purdue Fort Wayne and paid the price. It didn’t match the attention to detail or discipline Saturday against Clemson.
Along comes the league’s hottest team from its warmest climate. Notre Dame could use some home cooking on a cold, January night, don’t you think?
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Notre Dame basketball (10-6 overall; 1-2 ACC)versus Miami (Fla.) (14-2; 3-0)
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Date: Tuesday, January 13
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Site: Purcell Pavilion (9,149)
What channel is Notre Dame basketball versus Miami (Fla.) on?
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Radio: 960 WSBT-AM in South Bend. Also on SiriusXM on ACC Radio and channels 955 and 956. You can also listen live free on Audacy.
Series history between Notre Dame basketball and Miami (Fla.)
Miami leads 18-13 overall, 8-6 at Purcell Pavilion and 9-7 as ACC colleagues. The Hurricanes have won four straight dating back to December 2022 after the Irish had won four straight.
Miami won last year’s lone meeting, 63-57, on February 1, 2025, in Coral Gables, Florida. Guard Markus Burton led the Irish with 17 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals and fellow guard Braeden Shrewsberry added 14 points. Notre Dame led by 13 with 18:45 left in the game but was outscored 38-21 in the second half.
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Notre Dame basketball versus Miami (Fla.) storylines
∎ Conference play opened with such optimism for Notre Dame with a 47-40 victory at Stanford on December 30, 2025. Since then, the Irish have lost two straight league games, to California and Clemson. The 15-point loss to Clemson at home on Saturday was the most lopsided loss this season for Notre Dame, which had lost its previous five games by a combined 25 points.
∎ The Irish opened 7-0 at home for the first time since 2021-22 but have lost their last two home games. Notre Dame is a combined 11-9 at home in league play the last two seasons.
∎ Miami headed north the hottest team in the ACC. The Hurricanes have won nine straight overall and three in a row to open league play. Miami last lost on November 25, 2025, 72-62, to BYU. It also lost to Florida. Miami’s only league road game — a win — was 81-77 at Wake Forest.
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Keep an eye on …
Miami G Tre Donaldson
A wise basketball voice once said that if you have good guards, you always have a chance. Miami has one because it has one of the better guards in the country in two-time transfer Tre Donaldson.
The 6-foot-3, 198-pound senior from Tallahassee, Florida is in his first season at Miami after playing last year at Michigan and the previous two at Auburn. Coming off 27 points, which tied his career high, 10 assists and three steals in Saturday’s 91-81 home victory over Georgia Tech, the 22-year-old Donaldson is averaging 16.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists in 32.4 minutes. He’s shooting .472 percent from the field, .347 from 3 and .764 from the foul line.
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Donaldson leads the team with 110 assists. In comparison, Notre Dame’s entire team has a combined 197. Miami is 7-0 this season when Donaldson scores at least 20 points.
Notre Dame SG Cole Certa
Could the second time to keep an eye on Certa be the charm for the sophomore shooting guard from Le Roy, Illinois?
Last time we highlighted Certa, he was coming off a run of six of eight games scoring in single figures. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Certa then made six 3s and scored 20 points in the December 5, 2025, overtime win at TCU.
Certa’s due for another of those games. He’s scored single figures in four of the last five Irish games and is averaging 8.9 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 20.4 minutes a game. He’s shooting .380 percent from the field, .393 from 3 and a team-best .944 from the foul line.
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Certa is second on the squad at 9.7 ppg., in ACC games. When he’s on, the rest of the Irish seem to follow the lead. Everything flows a lot smoother when Certa’s sneaking out and making shots.
Notre Dame basketball 2025-26 schedule
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Oct. 17 at Butler (W, 77-76) Exhibition
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Oct. 24 DEPAUL (L, 69-62) Exhibition
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Nov. 3 LIU BROOKLYN (W, 89-67; 1-0)
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Nov. 7 DETROIT MERCY (W, 102-70; 2-0)
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Nov. 11 EASTERN ILLINOIS, (W, 78-58; 3-0)
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Nov. 16 At Ohio State, (L, 64-63; 3-1)
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Nov. 19 BELLARMINE (W, 86-79; 4-1)
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Nov. 24 vs Kansas (L, 71-61; 4-2)
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Nov. 25 vs Rutgers (W, 68-63; 5-2)
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Nov. 26 vs. Houston (L, 66-56; 5-3)
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Dec. 2 MISSOURI (W 76-71; 6-3)
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Dec. 5 At TCU (W, 87-85 OT; 7-3)
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Dec. 10 IDAHO, (W, 80-65; 8-3)
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Dec. 13 EVANSVILLE, (W, 82-58; 9-3)
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Dec. 21 PURDUE FORT WAYNE, (L, 72-69; 9-4)
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Dec. 30 At Stanford (W, 47-40; 10-4; 1-0 ACC)
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Jan. 2 At California (L, 72-71; 10-5; 1-1 ACC)
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Jan. 10 CLEMSON (L, 76-61; 10-6; 1-2)
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Jan. 13 MIAMI (Fla.), 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
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Jan. 17 At Virginia Tech, 12 p.m. (ACCN)
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Jan. 21 At North Carolina, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
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Jan. 24 BOSTON COLLEGE, 6 p.m. (ACCN)
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Jan. 27 VIRGINIA, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Jan. 31 At Syracuse, 6 p.m., (The CW)
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Feb. 4 At Louisville, 7 p.m. (ESPN/U)
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Feb. 7 FLORIDA STATE, 4 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 10 At SMU, 7 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 14 GEORGIA TECH, 12 p.m. (The CW)
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Feb. 21 At Pittsburgh, 2 p.m. (ACCN)
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Feb. 24 DUKE, 7 p.m. (ESPN2/U)
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Feb. 28 NORTH CAROLINA STATE, 12 p.m. (The CW)
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March 3 STANFORD, 9 p.m. (ESPNU)
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March 7 At Boston College, 12 p.m. (ESPNU)
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March 10-14 ACC Tournament (Charlotte) TBD.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on X (formerly Twitter): @tnoieNDI. Contact Noie at tnoie@sbtinfo.com
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Atlantic Coast Conference play rolls on for Notre Dame basketball
