Tag: Markus Burton

Notre Dame battles from behind against Georgia Tech, then wins

The Irish finally made their move towards the end.

Notre Dame never quit against Georgia Tech, even as its inability to go in front undoubtedly was frustrating. Still, the Irish fans who came to Purcell Pavilion for the late tipoff had to think a happy ending was in store. That was the case as the Irish completed a come-from-behind victory, 71-68.

The Irish trailed the Yellow Jackets for almost 37 of the game’s 40 minutes, but they never faced more than a seven-point deficit, the last of which came with 5:35 left. But that’s when they got their chance with the Jackets starting a lengthy scoring drought.

After a [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] 3-pointer, more than three minutes passed before anymore points were scored. Then, within 36 seconds, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] made back-to-back 3s to give the Irish their first lead.

A short time later after Shrewsberry missed the front of a one-and-one, [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] got the rebound but had the ball swatted out and was ruled to have touched it last after a replay review. It didn’t matter because the Yellow Jackets were whistled for a five-second violation:

[autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] put the nail in the coffin with a layup as he was fouled. Though he missed the subsequent free throw, Davis made two free throws on the next possession to complete a 13-0 Irish run.

Burton led all scorers with 26 points and four 3s. He also paced the Irish with three steals. Shrewsberry scored 15 points.

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Notre Dame earns first true road victory of season over Virginia

Nice victory in every sense.

Notre Dame had not won on the road yet this season, nor had it won any of its previous nine games at John Paul Jones Arena. Saturday’s game at Virginia offered the Irish a chance to end both droughts. This they did to the tune of a 74-59 decision.

The Irish (9-10, 3-5) led the Cavaliers (9-11, 2-7) wire-to-wire, and this one never was in serious doubt. They were completely in sync on offense, and their defense held the Cavaliers in check until the deficit was at 27. Although the Cavaliers cut that lead almost in half late in the second half, there simply was too little time left on the clock for the run to make a difference.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led all scorers with 21 points, including four 3-pointers in the first half. Although he went back to the locker room with an apparent injury as the Cavaliers were surging, he quickly reemerged and appeared no worse for the wear when he returned to the court.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored 16 points and dished out a game-high five assists. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] added 13 points.

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Notre Dame loses 17-point lead; ex-Irish guard leads Syracuse comeback

That one hurt.

Not along ago, JJ Starling was the top-rated commit for Notre Dame since recruiting rankings began in 2000. When [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] left the Irish after his first season, he transferred to Syracuse. So what happened Saturday had to feel especially good for him.

Starling scored 16 of his 21 points in the second half of a game that the Irish led by 17 with 4:55 left in the first half and then slowly but surely lost control of. That was enough to give the Orange their largest comeback win of the season, 77-69, during which they never led until less than four minutes remained.

Despite the collapse, the Irish (8-10, 2-5) had a chance out of a timeout with 19.5 seconds to tie or take the lead on the Orange (9-9, 3-4). [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] made a clean dribble to the basket, but that only was possible because an illegal screen by [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] that was called, thus wiping out that opportunity.

Starling then split two free throws, Burton drove for a layup, and Kyle Cuffe Jr. made two more free throws, bringing the score to 72-69. With the final seconds ticking away, Burton launched a game-tying 3-pointer that missed, and the Irish collapse was complete.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] suddenly exploded right before the clock ran out, running onto the court in heated fashion. He quickly was whistled for two technical fouls and had to be restrained by his assistant coaches before heading into the tunnel to serve his ejection. Cuffe made all four technical free throws to cap a 13-point game, tying teammate Eddie Lampkin for the day.

Burton scored a career-high 22 first-half points but wasn’t nearly as much a factor in the second half, and he finished with 28. [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] finished with 14 points, and 11 each came from Davis and [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag].

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Notre Dame snaps losing streak with big second half vs. Boston College

Back in the win column.

(This story has been updated to add a video.)

Notre Dame had lost all four games since they began their full-time ACC schedule. With luck, the skid wouldn’t have lasted that long, but the Irish instead had to try to get back on track against Boston College. This they did to the tune of a 78-60 victory.

Up until the midway point of the second half, the Irish (8-9, 2-4) and Eagles (9-8, 1-4) were locked in a tight battle where offense was at a premium at times. All signs pointed to this game coming down to the wire. That turned out not to be the case.

With the game tied at 48, [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored five consecutive points, [autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] hit two free throws, and the Eagles didn’t get much closer the rest of the way. That’s because the Irish played aggressively on offense and made often impressive stops on defense. They held a 30-12 scoring advantage over the final 10:08.

Davis was the man of the hour, throwing down four of his game-high 26 points on two impressive dunks that greatly impressed the Purcell Pavilion crowd. [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] scored 20 points and collected four steals:

Allocco scored 13 points, and [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] nearly completed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards, not to mention overcoming a second-half ankle injury. Both players also had three steals.

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Notre Dame doesn’t quit in loss to Duke despite falling in 14-0 hole

While there technically are no moral victories, this might as well have been one.

Typically, a team like Notre Dame that falls behind, 14-0, to a team like Duke rolls over without a fight. That’s not what happened at Cameron Indoor Stadium though. The Irish kept their cool and made the Cameron Crazies feel uncertain about the outcome up until the final minute of their 86-78 defeat.

The Irish (7-9, 1-4) stayed within striking distance of the Blue Devils during the first half until [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] beat the buzzer to get within eight going into the locker room. They cut that deficit to six early in the second half, which is as close as they got until the Blue Devils woke up and eventually built their lead up to a game-high 18 with just over six minutes left.

That should have been it for the Irish, but they refused to go away. Taking advantage of some poor Blue Devils shooting, they went on a 15-1 run and got within four with 32 seconds left. Had more time been on the clock, they might completed an improbable comeback. But the Blue Devils made their late free throws, and that proved just enough to seal the win:

No team would have stopped Cooper Flagg in this game. He set an ACC freshman record with 42 points and became the first Blue Devil to score at least 40 since JJ Redick in 2006. He also dished out a game-high seven assists and grabbed six rebounds.

The Blue Devils also got help from their two other projected 2025 NBA first-round picks. Khaman Maluach achieved a double-double of 19 points and 10 boards, and Kon Knueppel scored 13 points.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led the losing effort for the Irish with 23 points, five rebounds and the team’s only block. Shrewsberry had 14 points before fouling out, and 11 points each came from [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] and [autotag]Sir Mohammed[/autotag], the latter of whom achieved a career high.

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Notre Dame falls to NC State in second straight tough defeat

Another win that should have been.

After Notre Dame lost in heartbreaking fashion to North Carolina at home, it hoped for a better outcome on the road at NC State. If these past two games are any indication though, Irish fans are going to experience a lot of pain during the ACC schedule.

The Irish held a 10-point lead late in the first half and a seven-point lead with 3:39 remaining. They stopped scoring field goals after that though, and the Wolfpack mounted their largest comeback win of the season, 66-65.

[autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] made two free throws with 2:06 left to give the Irish (7-8, 1-3) a 65-61 lead. But the Wolfpack (9-6, 2-2) cracked down defensively and shined in both the full-court and half-court offense until they tied the game up and then had a chance to take the lead after [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] fouled Ben Middlebrooks.

Middlebrooks split a pair of free throws, so a one-point game meant the Irish had a chance to salvage the victory. Out of a timeout with 8.3 seconds remaining [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] fired a shot that hit the room shortly before the clock hit zero and left the Irish wondering what could have been.

All five Irish starters scored in double figures, led by Burton with 15 points. Davis had 14 points and six assists, and [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. That should have been enough to top the Wolfpack, who saw Marcus Hill score 15 points to lead four starters with double figures. And somehow, it wasn’t.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Irish, who now have to go to Duke after seeing two straight winnable games slip away. This season could get ugly fast if they let things spiral further.

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Notre Dame loses to North Carolina on four-point play in final seconds

Terrible way to lose.

With [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] back in the lineup from injury, Notre Dame had enough to beat North Carolina. This was an opportunity to let a network TV audience know good things were happening in South Bend. But all of it was undone by one ill-timed foul that led to a heartbreaking 74-73 loss.

The Irish (7-7, 1-2) had trailed the Tar Heels (9-6, 2-1) by as much as 12 earlier in the game and dealt with 27 points from Ian Jackson. Yet they held a 73-70 lead with 14 seconds left.

[autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] found himself in the corner guarding Elliot Cadeau, who put up a 3 and was fouled by Allocco while still in the active shooting. The game-tying 3 went through, and Cadeau hit the go-ahead free throw, prompting [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] to call a timeout and draw a game-winning play with 4.8 seconds remaining.

Burton drove the length of the court and put up a layup with time set to expire. Contact may have been made against him, but it wasn’t called, and the layup missed the rim. Although [autotag]JR Konieczny[/autotag] successfully put back the rebound, time already had run out, and the Irish were left to wonder what could have been:

Burton scored 23 points off the bench in his return. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] had 17 points, and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] added 16.

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Reigning ACC Rookie of the Year returns from injury to Notre Dame

Welcome back, Markus!

When Notre Dame guard [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] went down with a knee injury right before Thanksgiving, Irish fans held their breath. Him being out for the season would have been devastating to a team that was hoping to take another step forward under second-year coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag].

Burton, who won ACC Rookie of the Year a season ago, ended up missing only seven games, which mostly consisted of the entire December schedule. The Mishawaka native finally suited up for the Irish’s home game against North Carolina, which was broadcast for a network TV audience.

Burton didn’t start the game but entered as a substitute with 12:19 left in the first half. If Irish fans had been told in the immediate aftermath of his injury that he would be back this quickly, they gladly would have taken it. Knee injuries in sports are no joke, especially for a player as explosive as Burton.

In six games before the injury, Burton averaged 18.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.3 steals. He scored on back-to-back possessions for his first four points against the Tar Heels in the first half.

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Notre Dame has highest-scoring game of season in win over Le Moyne

As easy a win as it gets.

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

With [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] out indefinitely with an injury, Notre Dame has had to look elsewhere to find its scoring. That proved not to be a problem against Le Moyne, a program in its second season at the Division I level.

The Irish’s 91-62 victory over the Dolphins accounted for the most points they have scored in a game this season. The last time they scored at least that many points was a 99-95 win against Boston College in February 2022.

The Irish (7-5) led the Dolphins (5-9) wire-to-wire in their nonconference finale, even as they looked a little rusty at the start having not played in 11 days. But they slowly found their groove, and a 16-2 run past the midway point of the first half blew what had been a three-point game wide open. The contest was smooth sailing from there.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] led all scorers with 24 points, three off his career high. Exactly half of those points came on 12-of-14 shooting from the free-throw line:

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] scored 14 points, and [autotag]Logan Imes[/autotag] had 11 off the bench to go with a team-high two steals.

This game also marked the return of former Irish guard Robby Carmody to Purcell Pavilion. He scored 13 points, eight of them coming on a perfect showing from the charity stripe.

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Notre Dame losing streak at five after loss to Georgia in ACC/SEC game

The Irish are struggling right now.

Notre Dame still is adjusting to life without [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] as he recovers from his knee injury. It’s unknown whether he would have made a difference against Georgia in the ACC/SEC Challenge. What is known is the Irish’s 69-48 loss means they now have lost five straight after winning their first four.

The Irish (4-5) had an early 6-0 lead when the Bulldogs (8-1) missed their first nine shots. However, the Bulldogs followed that with an 18-3 run, which included 13 unanswered points, and they never trailed again after that.

Although the Irish cut the deficit to six midway through the second half, they got no closer and ended with a scoring drought that made the game look less competitive than it was a lot of the time. But they made only 19 field goals, shot 36.5% from the floor, and were crushed in the assists column, 19-5. So it’s not like they did themselves any favors.

Future NBA first-round pick Asa Newell achieved a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Dakota Leffew scored 16 points, and Silas Demary Jr. had 11 points along with five of the Bulldogs’ seven steals.

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] were the only two players to score in double figures for the Irish with 14 points apiece.

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