Tag: Braeden Shrewsberry

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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Notre Dame drops another close contest to Boston College

The Irish still can’t win a close game with the Eagles.

When Notre Dame lost a close road contest to Boston College over a week-and-a-half ago, much of it had to do with Quinten Post getting hot. When the teams met again Saturday in South Bend, Post scored 10 points before fouling out with 4:03 left.

Despite losing Post for the stretch run, the Eagles had their biggest lead at seven, and it proved to be just enough to deal the Irish a 61-58 loss. Devin McGlockton led the Eagles with 15 points.

Neither team shot the ball well in the first half, but when points started coming more frequently in the second half, the Irish (7-13, 2-7) simply didn’t score enough. Although they only trailed, 57-55, in the final minute, Jaeden Zackery made a close shot with 30 seconds left to put the Eagles (12-8, 3-6) up four. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] missed a 3, and Zackery got the rebound before being fouled by [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] and making two free throws.

Surprisingly, that didn’t end the game. A Shrewsberry 3 cut the Eagles’ six-point lead in half with barely any time remaining. The Eagles then couldn’t inbound the ball cleanly, and a replay review gave the Irish a chance to send the game to overtime with 0.8 seconds left. [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] got an open look from 3-point range at the very top of the key, but he missed at the buzzer.

Konieczny flirted with a double-double by virtue of 15 points (13 in the first half) and eight rebounds. Shrewsberry scored all of his 14 points in the second half with 12 of them coming on four 3-pointers. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had 10 points (eight in the second half) and a game-high seven assists, but he also committed a game-high five turnovers.

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Notre Dame slips up late against Miami

Experience beats inexperience in a battle of struggling teams.

The one thing Notre Dame and Miami have in common is that both have struggled lately. Both teams came into Purcell Pavillion on Wednesday having lost four of their past five. For a game like this, one typically might expect experience to win out. That’s exactly what happened in a 73-61 Irish loss.

This contest featured five ties and 10 lead changes, but that all happened while over 80% of game time elapsed. With the Irish (7-12, 2-6) in front by three during the latter portion of the second half, the Hurricanes (13-6, 4-4) went on a 19-2 run to go up by double digits. The Irish never seriously threatened after that as they were outplayed and outclassed by a better and more experienced team.

It was the Norchad Omier show from beginning to end, and that shouldn’t be a surprise given the type of player he is. Back from an ankle injury, he scored 33 points on 12-of-14 shooting, only two points off his collegiate high and his most since joining the Hurricanes from Arkansas State. He also grabbed 10 rebounds to complete a double-double, another hallmark of his game, and recorded three steals.

Of course, Omier got a little help. Kyshawn George scored 11 points while also getting three steals. Nijel Pack had 10 points despite shooting 3 of 10 from the field, and he also dished out a game-high five assists. Off the bench, Bensley Joseph contributed 10 points.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led the Irish with 15 points but also committed a game-high eight turnovers. [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] had 13 points and six rebounds, and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] scored 10 off the bench.

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Notre Dame drops tough one at Boston College before weeklong break

They’ll win games like this down the road, but not this year.

Before taking a week off from games, Notre Dame had to play twice in three days. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] lamented this schedule quirk after the loss to Florida State, but the Irish had no choice but to travel to Boston College. It almost was worth the trip as the Irish stayed in it throughout a 63-59 loss.

The Irish (7-11, 2-5) led the majority of the game and were up by as much as 12 in the first half. They were up by six with over five minute left when Quinten Post scored eight unanswered points to put the Eagles (11-6, 2-4) up two. After [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] hit free throws to tie it at 57 with 3:10 left, neither team scored for the next 2:20.

Post hit a 3 with 50 seconds remaining to put the Eagles back up. Konieczny was whistled for an offensive foul, which was followed by Claudell Harris Jr. splitting free throws. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was fouled on a layup that made it 61-59, and he missed the ensuring free throw, but the Irish got the rebound and called a timeout with 11.7 seconds left to draw a play that could tie or win the game.

[autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] quickly found an open corner 3 that missed, and Chas Kelley III got the rebound, which led to him icing the game with two free throws. So close, and yet, so far.

Jaeden Zackery led all scorers with 20 points, but it was Post who stole the show for the Eagles with 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including three 3-pointers.

Burton led the Irish with 19 points but committed seven second-half turnovers. In all, the Eagles scored 22 points off 19 Irish turnovers. That negated Burton’s scoring performance along with that of reigning ACC Rookie of the Week [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] (12 points).

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Notre Dame sweeps ACC Rookie of the Week awards

Great times are ahead for hoops fans who support the Gold and Blue.

Notre Dame is a very mixed bag when it comes to basketball. The women are nationally ranked, and the men are rebuilding. One thing they have in common though is a plethora of young talent. Now, both programs have been recognized by the ACC at the same time as they both had players named the ACC Rookie of the Week.

The less surprising selection was [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag], who extended her program conference rookie of the week record to eight. In two Irish wins, she averaged 26.0 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.5 steals. She figures to win this award a few more times before the season ends.

For the men, [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] earned his first such honor. While his team split two games, he averaged 16.5 points a game and shot of 14 from 3-point range. He is the second player on his team to win the award this season after [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag].

The future of Notre Dame basketball indeed is looking bright.

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