Tag: Matt zona

Notre Dame forward Matt Zona entering transfer portal

Another veteran is out the door.

The dust still was settling with Notre Dame guard Alex Wade entering the transfer portal when the Irish lost another veteran to that portal. This time, it was forward Matt Zona, who by far received the most playing time of any returning Irish player this past season. Zona, who has one year of eligibility remaining, made the following announcement on social media:

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Zona played every game for the Irish this past season and made six starts, averaging career highs of 2.3 points, 2.3 rebounds and 11.2 minutes a game. In four seasons with the Irish, he averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds over 76 games.

While Zona earned his minutes, he never was going to be ahead of the Irish’s younger players in the rotation. He was a veteran presence on a team that didn’t have much of that, so that’s how he played his part for the 2023-24 Irish. Here’s hoping he can close out his collegiate career with a bang somewhere.

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Photos of Notre Dame’s ACC Tournament second-round loss to Wake Forest

See how the season ended.

There’s no question Notre Dame has a bright future, and that’s evidenced by how well it played late in the season. As of right now though, the Irish are too inexperienced and lacking in talent to pose a serious threat to the ACC. Wake Forest made sure of that by beating them, 72-59, in the second round of the conference tournament.

Not only did this team exceed expectations with a 13-20 record, but it also won more games than last year’s veteran-laden Irish that was one season removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance. That [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] was able to take over the program this season and squeeze this much out of this particular roster is impressive, and he deserves all the time and resources required to make the Irish a winner again.

With [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] the only rotational player to be gone next year barring someone transferring, the Irish’s final game of the season provided one last preview of the future. Here are some photos that captured that:

Tae Davis, Matt Zona speak after Notre Dame beats Clemson

Hear from a couple of key players after the Irish’s latest victory.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame gave its home fans a great sendoff for this season with a 69-62 victory over Clemson. There were several key players involved with the result, but only two of them spoke to the media afterwards.

One was [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag], who scored all 18 of his points in the second half and scored six straight points to break a 50-all tie and give the Irish a lead they never gave back. He stands to be a key part of the future.

The other was senior forward [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], who played his final game at Purcell Pavilion and was named team captain by [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] beforehand. Coming off the bench, he hit two 3-pointers to account for all six of his points and also grabbed four rebounds. Getting to talk to the media was a nice culmination of a memorable day for him.

Here are the questions Fighting Irish Wire asked them:

Micah Shrewsberry speaks after Notre Dame loses to Florida State

Here a few thoughts from the head man.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – If there’s one thing Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry doesn’t do, it’s deflect blame. He understands that whenever his team loses, it falls back to him. He isn’t going to change that mindset anytime soon.

The Irish lost to Florida State, 67-58, and Shrewsberry wasn’t about to throw his players under the bus in his postgame news conference. If anything, he partially blamed not having [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] available because of a sprained ankle he suffered in practice the day before. He said it took all of the energy and emotion out of his team. It always is hard to soldier on when one of your players suddenly isn’t available, but Davis’ absence really seemed to bother Shrewsberry.

It’s unknown if Davis will be available Monday at Boston College in a quick turnaround for the Irish. What is known though is that Shrewsberry wasn’t short on words after this home defeat to the Seminoles. Here’s his opening statement and his answers to the questions asked by Fighting Irish Wire:

Notre Dame unable to keep up with Florida State in loss

Not quite enough to win on a cold and snowy day.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The souls that braved the snowy and icy conditions in South Bend saw a good contest between Notre Dame and Florida State. It was a game that ultimately wasn’t decided until late in regulation. However, the Irish still are a young team learning how to win, and it didn’t happen in a 67-58 Seminoles victory.

The Irish (7-10, 2-4) trailed by four at halftime but have held the lead but for an 0-for-6 showing at the free-throw line from [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] and [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag]. The second half saw the Seminoles (10-6, 4-1) increase their lead to as much as 14.

While the Irish slowly chipped away and were able to cut that deficit to three with 1:25 to play, the Seminoles proved capable of weathering the storm and held on to win a game in which they had more success on offense as well as smothering defense.

Primo Spears led the Seminoles with 13 points off the bench. Jamir Watkins scored 12, and 10 points apiece came from Darin Green Jr. and Jalen Warley.

Despite the loss, [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led all scorers with 20 points. [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] contributed 11 points but also committed five turnovers.

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Notre Dame’s OT win at Georgia Tech first true road win in 23 months

The Irish haven’t had this type of victory in a while.

Notre Dame knows it could have beaten Duke and should have beaten NC State. There’s nothing to do but soldier on though, and that includes facing the next opponent. In this case, it was a road meeting at Georgia Tech, and it turned out successfully.

The Irish beat the Yellow Jackets in overtime, 75-68, for their first true road victory since defeating Clemson in February 2022, during which the only active Irish player who played in that game and only for 46 seconds was [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag].

A game that featured nine ties and 11 lead changes meant this could have gone either way. Overtime was needed after [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] missed a shot at the end of regulation that could have broken a 66-all tie.

The free basketball turned out to be just what the Irish (7-9, 2-3) needed. [autotag]Julian Roper II[/autotag]’s 3-pointer was the Irish’s only field goal in the frame, but it was enough as the value of that basket was only one more point than the Yellow Jackets (8-7, 1-3) scored during that time.

[autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag] was the Irish’s best player as he scored 25 points off the bench, shooting 5-of-9 from 3-point range and making all six of his free throws. Burton scored 12 and dished out seven assists. The Irish got double-doubles from [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] (10 points, 11 rebounds) and [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] (10 points, 10 rebounds).

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J.R. Konieczny, Matt Zona speak after Notre Dame loss to The Citadel

Read the players’ perspectives on the loss.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] is one of the few Notre Dame players who had Elijah Morgan as one of his teammates. He probably didn’t count on seeing Morgan go off when The Citadel came to Purcell Pavilion. Sure enough, that’s what happened as Morgan scored a game-high 19 points in a 65-45 Bulldogs win over the Irish.

Zona grabbed four rebounds but was held out of the scoring column. Most of the Irish’s production came from [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], who had 18 points and 10 rebounds. It looked for a while like Konieczny was going to carry his team to victory. Instead, the Bulldogs took over in the second half after allowing six unanswered points to start.

Zona and Konieczny were the two players selected to speak to the media after the loss under the watchful eye of [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] (more on him later). Konieczny looked emotional as he took his seat, and Zona looked like he was just trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. Here’s what they had to say:

Notre Dame forward Kebba Njie will miss opener with right hand injury

This isn’t ideal.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] followed [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] to Notre Dame, but he won’t officially start the new journey alongside him. The Penn State transfer forward injured his right hand in practice this past weekend and will not be available for the Irish’s season opener against Niagara.

Njie was expected to start against the Purple Eagles, but [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], one of the few incumbents on the Irish’s roster, will do so instead. Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune was the first to report the news:

This is a tough break for the Irish as Njie is one of their more highly touted transfers. Ironically, Njie and Zona both accompanied Shrewsberry at the ACC Tipoff media session. Now, one of those players will have to step up for the other.

Zona’s only career start coming into Monday’s game was a January 2021 road win over Miami during his freshman year. He had two rebounds in the first four minutes. Interestingly, [autotag]Tony Sanders Jr.[/autotag], another Irish returnee, also started that game.

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Photos from Notre Dame’s exhibition win over Hanover

The new-look Irish finally take the court.

Notre Dame’s season officially won’t begin for another week, but Irish fans got a taste of it Wednesday at Purcell Pavilion. The Irish dominated Hanover, a Division III school in the southeastern part of Indiana, in a 96-62 exhibition win. Hanover most likely didn’t expect to come out on top but surely was grateful for the opportunity to come to South Bend.

This was the first time fans saw the new-look Irish in action. Highly touted freshman and Mishawaka native [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] was the game’s high scorer with 18 points. Zionsville native [autotag]Logan Imes[/autotag] and [autotag]Braeden Shrewsberry[/autotag], son of new Irish coach [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag], both had 14 points. [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag] and [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag], two of the few incumbents on the roster, scored 12 apiece.

Don’t let this game fool you. The Irish very much are a work in progress, and the growing pains will be evident throughout the season. For now though, enjoy the photos from the winning exhibition:

Micah Shrewsberry, Kebba Njie, Matt Zona speak during ACC Tipoff

Hear from a team that figures to have many challenges this season.

Notre Dame is facing a challenging season with a new face and a mostly new roster. [autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] fielded questions about that during the ACC Tipoff on Oct. 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Alongside him were [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag], a transfer who came over with Shrewsberry from Penn State, and [autotag]Matt Zona[/autotag], one of the few returnees on this year’s Irish.

Here is what they had to say: