Virginia feels optimistic at home against Notre Dame

Now that Virginia has ended a five-game losing streak, it hopes to keep its momentum Saturday when Notre Dame visits Charlottesville in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

The Cavaliers (9-10, 2-6 ACC) escaped their slide with a 74-56 win over visiting Boston College on Tuesday. The team's leading scorer, Isaac McKneely, netted 21 points and is optimistic the team can build off that win.

"Obviously, we've lost a few games in a row, but the message we wanted to send was get this one and this can carry us in the next few games and, hopefully, we can get a little win streak going," McKneely said after the victory.

The bonus for Virginia on Saturday is it will play on its own court, where it is 8-3.

"We got a few home games coming up," McKneely said. "If we can get the crowd behind us, we can continue to play well at home."

McKneely went 7-for-10 from the field on Tuesday and is averaging 12.3 points this season. He has made 54 of 127 3-point attempts (all team highs) while starting all 19 games.

"I tell him, ‘I don't care how many you've missed, if you are open, Mac, shoot the ball,'" Virginia interim head coach Ron Sanchez said after McKneely shot just 1-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-6 from deep in a 54-52 loss to SMU in Jan. 15.

Notre Dame (8-10, 2-5) is coming off a 77-69 loss to Syracuse and has yet to win a conference game on the road. The Irish are 1-5 overall in road games this season.

The Irish have also never won inside Virginia's John Paul Jones Arena, sitting 0-9 all-time.

But the good news is they have received great play out of Markus Burton since his return from his knee injury.

Burton came back Jan. 4 and is averaging 21.8 points per game this month and 19.8 points per game on the year. He scored 28 in the loss to Syracuse, marking his third consecutive game with 20 or more points.

--Field Level Media