Tag: Tae Davis

Notre Dame’s season ends with ACC Tournament loss to Wake Forest

Still a good year all things considered.

Even with how well Notre Dame had played lately, even the most ardent members of the fan base knew this year’s team only could go so far. Getting to the second round of the ACC Tournament against Wake Forest was more than anyone could have hoped for at the start of the season. A year many will call a success ended with a 72-59 Irish loss to the Demon Deacons.

The Irish (13-20), never led in this contest or even tied it, but that shouldn’t have been a surprise. The Deacons (20-12), once considered a lock for the NCAA Tournament, now are fighting to get in and had a lot more to lose here. Losing in South Bend recently didn’t help their cause, and falling to the Irish again would have killed their March Madness dreams.

This game showed which team is more season right now, and you can see it in the various scoring stats. The Deacons held considerable advantages in points in the paint (38-14), fast-break points (15-5), second-chance points (16-7) and points off turnovers (15-7). All of that meant a team that knew how to hustle and find easy shots. The Irish might get there more consistently one day, but that wasn’t going to happen this year.

Kevin Miller led the Deacons with 17 points. Hunter Sallis, the ACC’s minutes leader, scored 12 of his 14 points in the first half. Andrew Carr achieved a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Cameron Hildreth added 10 points.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] finished his ACC Rookie of the Year campaign with a game-high 21 points, which included make all 12 of his free throws on a day he shot 4 of 16 from the field. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half, and [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] got nine of his 11 points, all in the first half, on three 3-pointers.

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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 annihilated by North Carolina in worst loss of season

Glad this one is over with.

North Carolina hopes to win a national championship, and it didn’t care how well Notre Dame played lately before Tuesday’s game. While the Irish weren’t expected to beat the Tar Heels, there was at least the hope that they could make it a game as they have every game for the past few weeks. Instead, the Tar Heels dealt the Irish their worst defeat of the season, 84-51, to clinch a share of the ACC regular-season title.

Even though the Irish (12-18, 7-12) never led, there was a brief moment in which it appeared they might actually go in front of the Tar Heels (24-6, 16-3). They kept it close during the first 11 minutes of the first half, culminating a potential go-ahead 3-pointer from Markus Burton. But Burton didn’t get the friendly roll, and the floodgates opened from there.

After Burton’s miss, the Tar Heels outscored the Irish, 23-9, before halftime. The break in the action did nothing for the Irish as the Tar Heels scored 16 unanswered points over the first five minutes of the second half. From there, it was just a big senior night party in Chapel Hill for the departing players who were playing their final home game.

Leading ACC scorer RJ Davis played his part with 22 points as well as a game-high six assists. Armando Bacot, the conference’s top rebounder, had 14 points and was one of four Tar Heels with five boards. Former Irish guard Cormac Ryan scored 14 of his own points, and two other Tar Heels off the bench also reached double figures.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] being the only Notre Dame player in double figures with 11 points said it all. Still, even if the Irish had made more than 18 field goals and shot better than 30.5% from the field, it’s unlikely they could have done much to stop the Tar Heels, who are on a level with the best teams in college basketball.

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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:

Notre Dame victorious over Clemson in final home game of season

Hopefully, there are many of these at Purcell Pavilion next year.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame has been playing better late in the season, and the future appears to look bright. Saturday presented the final opportunity to give the fans at Purcell Pavilion a glimpse of that future.

In front of a loud crowd in their home finale against Clemson, the Irish continued to compete well and hard as they have lately. It paid off as the Irish beat their second straight NCAA Tournament-bound opponent, 69-62, after topping Wake Forest earlier in the week. That’s their fifth win in their past six games.

The Irish (12-17, 7-11) and Tigers (20-9, 10-8) showcased a battle that saw six ties and 11 lead changes, mostly in the second half. The Tigers held the lead for much of the game, but everything changed over the final eight minutes with the game tied at 50.

[autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] went on a personal 6-0 run with a high-jumping two-handed dunk and four free throws. The Irish never let the lead slip away again, going up by as much as nine. The Irish faithful in attendance made their appreciation known late in the game and once the clock ran out.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] continued to make his case for ACC Rookie of the Year with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, six rebounds and four assists. Davis scored all 18 of his points in the second half, which included making all eight of his free throws, and [autotag]Carey Booth[/autotag] got nine of his 11 points on three 3-pointers.

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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 sweeps season series with Georgia Tech

Good matchups have been hard to come by for Notre Dame this season. Even when the Irish get them, wins aren’t guaranteed.

Good matchups have been hard to come by for Notre Dame this season. Even when the Irish get them, wins aren’t guaranteed. Georgia Tech is the exception to that rule this season as the Irish beat the Yellow Jackets, 58-55, to complete a season sweep in the series.

Neither team led by more than six the entire game, during which there were nine lead changes. The Irish (9-16, 4-10) didn’t go into the lead for good until [autotag]J.R. Konieczny[/autotag] hit a jump shot inside the baseline with 3:12 left to put his team up one. It still was a one-point game when [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] had a chance to milk the clock with 38 seconds left.

Burton indeed took his time and waited until only a few seconds remained on the shot clock to fire a shot. He missed, and the ball was loose momentarily, but it ended up in the hands of [autotag]Logan Imes[/autotag]. He got the ball back to Burton, who was fouled with 1.2 seconds left and sank two free throws.It was reflective of the Irish having significant advantages in offensive rebounds (16-5) and second-chance points (20-9).

A last-second half-court heave for the Yellow Jackets (10-15, 3-11) didn’t get off in time, and the Irish had the win. It marked their first season sweep of an ACC opponent in two years.

Burton again contributed in a matter similar to [autotag]Hannah Hidalgo[/autotag] with game highs of 18 points, five assists and five steals. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored 17 on 6-of-12 shooting from the field.

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Notre Dame’s struggles continue in loss to Pittsburgh

Another road defeat for the young Irish.

Notre Dame has had great recent success against Pittsburgh, winning eight of the previous nine meetings entering Saturday. For much of the first half in the Steel City, it looks like that success would continue. But the Irish were reminded that this is a rebuilding season, and the Panthers recognized that early enough to come away with a 70-60 victory.

Neither team shot well at first, and the Irish (7-15, 2-9) took advantage of that by going up seven a couple of times in the opening half. But the Panthers (14-8, 5-6) overcame missing their first nine 3-point shots and found their stroke, which contributed to them going into halftime on a 16-3 run.

The Irish bounced back from a six-point deficit to tie it early in the second half. The Panthers responded to that by making three consecutive 3s, proving that their early struggles from that distance were ancient history.

The Irish kept the deficit from reaching double digits for a little bit longer, but the deficit did get to that point, there was no recovering. The saving grace is that once they got down 17, they outscored the Panthers, 16-6, over the final few minutes.

Blake Hinson led the Panthers with 17 points with all four of his field goals coming from 3. Carlton Carrington was just behind with three 3s as part of the 16 points he scored before fouling out. Ishmael Leggett scored 12 points off the bench, and Jaland Lowe added 11 points as well as a game-high five assists.

[autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] led the Irish with 17 points and three steals. [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] scored 16 on 6-of-8 shooting from the field. But the Irish couldn’t counter the Panthers’ 3-point attack as they shot 5 of 19 from that range.

[autotag]Micah Shrewsberry[/autotag] picked up a technical foul late after coming onto the court to yell at the officials.

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Full list of 2024 Panthers free agents

The Panthers currently have 26 players slated for free agency in 2024.

Things have changed a bit since the last time we brought you this free agent list.

A few weeks back, the Carolina Panthers held on to a few of their own—re-signing tight end Stephen Sullivan and defensive linemen Nick Thurman LaBryan Ray to fresh deals.

So, let’s take an updated look at the team’s pending 2024 free agents.

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: