Notre Dame men’s basketball crushes Georgetown in Washington matinee

Terrific afternoon for the Irish.

Even with both teams in similar situation, the Notre Dame men’s basketball team’s game against Georgetown figured to be a real test. After all, the Irish frequently played the Hoyas when they were in the Big East, and this was their first opponent this season from a power conference.

Instead, the Irish came into Washington and did whatever they wanted on this Saturday afternoon en route to an 84-63 victory. It was easily their most complete game of the young season.

The Irish (3-0) went on a 13-0 run early in the first half and never looked back. Although the Hoyas (2-1) cut a 12-point Irish lead to four during that half, it proved to be a minor setback as more Irish runs would occur throughout the rest of the game. The offense was in sync throughout.

Not only did the Irish play tight defense, but they benefited from poor Hoyas shooting from the field at 31.4%. So it should come as no surprise that the Irish pulled away by shooting 59.3% from the floor:

[autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag], who didn’t shoot a single field goal in the Irish’s win over Buffalo, scored 15 of his game-high 17 points in the first half, making four 3-pointers during that time. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] scored 16 points, which included making all eight of his free throws, and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] flirted with a double-double with 13 points and eight rebounds.

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] added nine points, and Lehigh transfer [autotag]Burke Chebuhar [/autotag]scored nine off the bench by making all three of his 3-point attempts.

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Notre Dame defeats Buffalo for second victory in as many games

The Irish gave the right amount of effort in the win.

(This story has been updated to correct a typo.)

A less experienced Notre Dame team might have panicked when a mid-major opponent was making a run. For a while, Buffalo was doing just that at Purcell Pavilion. But the Irish stayed strong, retook control and held onto it just long enough in an 86-77 win.

The Irish (2-0) saw their eight-point lead turn into a seven-point deficit in the first half. A Ryan Sabol 3-pointer in the final seconds gave the Bulls (2-1) a two-point lead going into halftime.

The Irish moved the ball much better at the start of the second half and tightened up their defense, going on a 24-2 run to begin the frame. But the Bulls whittled that 20-point lead down to seven more than once, so this game’s outcome was in doubt up until the final minute.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] capped his career-high 27-point night with four clutch free throws to create enough distance and ensure the victory, one in which the Irish couldn’t take their eyes off the Bulls for very long except for the hot start to the second half. Davis made 12 of 13 free throws during the game.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. He also registered a game-high three steals.

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] also scored 19 points and was the only Irish player to make two 3s on a night the team made only five of 20 attempts from beyond the arc. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] had 12 points with four of his five field goals coming on dunks.

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Notre Dame earns opening-night victory over sister school Stonehill

Great way to start the year.

(This story was updated to add new information).

The Notre Dame men’s basketball team opened its season against sister school Stonehill. Both Notre Dame and Stonehill were founded by the Congregation of the Holy Cross over a century apart, so it was natural they would face each other at some point.

While the Irish are a mainstay in college athletics though, the Skyhawks only are in their third season at the Division I level. Talent likely would have decided this game anyway though as the Irish won, 89-60.

The Irish (1-0) trailed the Skyhawks (1-1) for only the first 100 seconds of the game, then dominated in all aspects soon afterwards, at least once their lead reached double figures in the first half. Though they fell three points short of matching their first-half scoring output (46) in the second half, there were times when the latter frame felt more dominant.

Either way, this looked like a team that knew how to play together throughout. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] was able to empty his bench at the end, which was a sure sign of a good night.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] tied for the game high with 18 points each with Burton also tallying five assists. Princeton transfer [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] scored 10 in his first Irish game. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] scored all nine of his points in the second half and grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

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Jon Rothstein projects Notre Dame to finish 12th in ACC in 2024-25

Is this a fair ranking?

College basketball is a few months away, but that doesn’t mean predictions can’t be made now. Jon Rothstein has taken this to heart and written an early preview for how he things the new-look ACC will shape up during the 2024-25 season. With 18 teams to rank, Rothstein has the Irish finishing 12th, or the tail end of the conference’s middle tier.

Rothstein also highlights a couple of Irish players to watch. He lists [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag], who came over from Princeton, as one of 15 under-the-radar transfers. He also has picked [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] as one of 10 breakout players with the stipulation that players who previously have averaged double figures in scoring are not eligible to be considered breakout players.

Both Allocco and Davis are projected to be starters on the Irish alongside returnees [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag], [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] and [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag]. You won’t get much of an argument with that starting lineup right now. We’ll see how much, if at all, that changes once we’re through training camp.

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Notre Dame falls short in regular-season finale vs. Virginia Tech

The Irish made it interesting until the end.

After being crushed by North Carolina in its last game, Notre Dame hoped for a better showing at Virginia Tech to close the regular season. That was the case, and the possibility existed that the Irish might steal a second game from the Hokies this season. That wasn’t the case with the Irish losing, 82-76.

While the Irish (12-19, 7-13) never led in the second half, they kept the Hokies (18-13, 10-10) on their toes until the final minute, never trailing by more than seven after halftime. It wasn’t until a layup, steal and then another layup by Sean Padulla in the final minute to put the Hokies up six that this game essentially was decided.

Although [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] brought the Irish within three with a layup and free throw after that, little time remained, and the Hokies only had to make their free throws to with the Irish forced to foul, which they did.

A few things could have made this game turn out differently. The Hokies held a considerable 15-5 advantage in offensive rebounds and used that to outscore the Irish in second-chance opportunities, 17-8. They also blocked six shots while the Irish got only one of those from [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag]. It was a hard lesson to be learned for sure.

Pedulla led all scorers with 28 points. MJ Collins had the best all-around game with 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Off the bench, Tyler Nickel scored 15 points.

Burton scored 24 points, giving him 535 for the year and breaking [autotag]Troy Murphy[/autotag]’s Notre Dame freshman scoring record of 519. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored 13 points, which included making all five of his free throws, and grabbed six rebounds. [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag] scored 11 off the bench, and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] added 10.

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Notre Dame nearly completes 29-point comeback against Syracuse

No shame to be had after this one at all.

No coach in any sport at any level will say a loss was a moral victory. If one exists though, Notre Dame certainly had one against Syracuse. On a day the Orange honored legendary coach Jim Boeheim, the Irish should have been a patsy. Instead, they made the Orange earn every bit of their 88-85 victory.

This one should have been over early when the Irish (10-17, 5-11) trailed the Orange (18-10, 9-8) by 29 points late in the first half. But the Irish ended the half on a 9-0 run, culminating in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag]. It proved to be a precursor to what was to come.

The Irish got hot from the field in the second half and cut the deficit to four with eight minutes left. The Orange built that lead back up to 10, and it looked like that was it. Except it wasn’t.

With the deficit still at nine and 2:11 to go, [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] and Roper hit back-to-back 3s to bring the Irish within three. Burton rebounded an Orange miss, and the Irish called a timeout to draw up a play that would tie the game.

A Shrewsberry 3 was short off the rim, and Chris Bell got the rebound and was fouled before hitting two free throws to put the Orange up five. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] then made a layup, and after Quadir Copeland missed a one-and-one, Burton had one more chance to send the game to overtime but missed a long 3. That ended a valiant comeback attempt in which the Irish scored 56 second-half points.

All five Orange starters scored in double figures with Judah Mintz’s 21 points leading the way. Bell scored 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and former Irish guard JJ Starling had 14 along with Maliq Brown.

Burton had perhaps his best collegiate game with 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting along with eight assists. Shrewsberry scored all 18 of his points in the second half on six 3-pointers, and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] had 12 points and seven rebounds.

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Notre Dame defeats Louisville for third straight victory

That’s called a winning streak.

Notre Dame hadn’t won three straight games since opening last season with five consecutive victories. Even though it had the ACC’s worst offense entering Wednesday, it was visiting Louisville, the team with not the only the conference’s worst defense but its worst record. The Irish took advantage of that and earned that coveted third straight win, 72-50.

Despite the weaker competition, it took a while for the Irish (10-16, 5-10) to put the Cardinals (8-19, 3-13) away. In the first half, their 13-point lead was cut to four, but a [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] layup in the last minute before halftime put them back up six. Burton finished with 16 points.

It was an eight-point game with eight minutes to go in the second half when [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] decided enough was enough and hit back-to-back 3-pointers to squash any comeback hopes for the Cardinals. It was the highlight of 23-point night in which he knocked down seven 3s, tying a program freshman record.

Even with a 14-point lead, the Irish added some extra insurance and finished the game on a 13-5 run even with [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] emptying the bench. Of course, the Cardinals helped by making only one of their final 12 shots. It was a fitting finish to a night in which they shot only 33.9% from the field.

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Notre Dame beats Virginia Tech to end seven-game losing streak

A victory!

Notre Dame hadn’t lost eight consecutive games since the 1965-66 season. This season has been bad enough that it wouldn’t have been surprising for the Irish to tie that mark Saturday against Virginia Tech. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case as the Irish beat the Hokies, 74-66, snapping their seven-game skid.

The Irish (8-16, 3-10) trailed by nine late in the first half before turning the tables on the Hokies (13-10, 5-7). They scored 14 unanswered points to take a five-point lead early in the second half.

The Hokies later tied it at 51, and the Irish responded with a 9-0 run. They never led by less than six the rest of the way. While the outcome still was in doubt during the game’s final minute, the Irish made the plays they needed to on both ends to close it out, something they’ve struggled with this year.

In 35 minutes, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led the Irish with 16 points on 6-of-18 shooting, but that only was the beginning. He dished out eight assists to tie his career high, which came during the Irish’s last home victory against Virginia. He also had six steals to not only set his career high but also tie the Irish record for steals in an ACC game, which first was reached by [autotag]Demetrius Jackson[/autotag] in 2016.

All of [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag]’s 12 points came on four 3-pointers. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

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Notre Dame struggles on offense in loss to Duke

Not like this was unexpected, but still.

Notre Dame ending its losing streak at No. 9 Duke was a tall order. Not since the Irish got blown out at Marquette was it so obvious that the Irish did not belong on the same court as their opponent.

Incredibly, the Irish held their own against the Blue Devils much better than against the Golden Eagles. They can at least hang onto that as their skid reached seven games with a 71-53 loss.

Any realistic chance the Irish (7-16, 2-10) had at completing the upset was gone in the first half when the Devils (17-5, 8-3) scored 17 unanswered points over eight minutes. To the Irish’s credit, they kept the deficit respectable enough under the circumstances and got within nine a couple of times during the second half.

Had the Irish shot better than 33.9% from the field, we might be talking about a closer final score. A team that knows how to score, which is not the 2023-24 Irish, certainly would have made things more interesting. It also would have been more of a contest had the Irish not given up a season-high 21 second-chance points.

Mark Mitchell did the most for the Devils with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Caleb Foster scored 13 off the bench, and Jared McCain added 11.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had game highs of 19 points and four assists. He made three 3-pointers, as did [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag], who made the first conference start of his collegiate career and scored 13 points.

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Notre Dame not much of a threat to Virginia in loss

Another dull loss for the Irish.

It would have been nice to see Notre Dame sweep the season series with Virginia. But unlike the first meeting a month ago, Wednesday’s game was in Charlottesville, which alone made it a tall order. Also, the Cavaliers were prepared for the Irish this time and won, 65-53.

The Irish (7-14, 2-8) never led in this game, but they never trailed the Cavaliers (16-5, 7-3) by more than 16, indicating that they could make a run anytime. But they never scored more than four unanswered points and were routinely bullied by a strong defense from the Cavaliers, who scored 20 points off 18 Irish turnovers.

The Cavaliers also made a season-high 13 3-pointers, a far cry from when they tied their season low with two in South Bend. So while the Irish hung around, few if any felt they were going to complete the season sweep. They proved their inexperience yet again in this game by looking completely outmatched. Plus, the moment was just too big for them.

Reece Beekman led the Cavaliers with 21 points. He also had six assists and four steals, showing why he’s the ACC leader in those two categories. Isaac McKneely scored nine of his 11 points on three 3-pointers to prove that he leads the conference in 3-point shooting. Off the bench, Jacob Groves got all 18 of his points on a career-high six 3s.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] paced the Irish with 17 points. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] came off the bench and scored 16 points, including four 3s.

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