Robby Carmody leads Le Moyne in his return to Notre Dame

Way back on Nov. 6, 2018, shooting guard Robby Carmody played his first game at Notre Dame. The four-star recruit started for the Irish and produced 11 points in 14 minutes as Notre Dame defeated Illinois-Chicago by 17.

Now, flash-forward six seasons and a similar number of injuries for Carmody -- including a torn labrum in his shoulder, a torn ACL in his left knee and a broken kneecap. The seventh-year graduate student will return Sunday to South Bend, Ind., as he and Le Moyne (5-8) take on Notre Dame (6-5).

Carmody played in just 22 games during his five injury-interrupted years at Notre Dame before spending last season at Mercer. He has started six of the past eight games for the Dolphins and scored in double figures in each of his past six. He'll likely play more minutes on the Joyce Center floor tonight than he did in any appearance for Notre Dame -- his career-high of 22 set in November 2019.

Carmody paces Le Moyne in scoring (11.8 points per game) and 3-point percentage (44.8).

Forwards Ocypher Owens (11.7 points, 7.9 rebounds) and Dwayne Koroma (11.5 points, 6.5 rebounds) also average double figures.

But this is more than a homecoming for one Le Moyne player. The Dolphins, who are in their second year of transitioning to Division I, are hunting for their first win over a power-conference team.

Last season, Le Moyne fell to Georgetown, Villanova and Penn State. This season, the Dolphins opened with a four-point loss at Syracuse before losing by 41 at UConn. Sunday's game is their last chance until the 2025-26 campaign.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, plays its final nonconference contest before spending the rest of the season tangling with Atlantic Coast Conference teams. The Irish beat Dartmouth by 12 in their most recent outing on Dec. 11. While the Irish were taking finals last week, Le Moyne won 80-76 at Dartmouth.

Notre Dame continues to try to figure out how to operate without do-everything point guard Markus Burton. Since Burton injured his knee six games ago, Braeden Shrewsberry has averaged 18.3 points and hit 21 3-pointers while junior forward Tae Davis has averaged 17.2 points.

"The thing I'm proud about (Braeden's) last two games is he has been efficient," said head coach Micah Shrewsberry, noting his son's 16-of-29 shooting over the past two games. "That's been a product of cleaning up some things offensively for all of us -- and some of his teammates finding him and getting him open shots."

--Field Level Media