10. Irish Embark on First Ever Trip to TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas – Finals might not be for another two weeks, but this big test week for the Irish continues on the road Friday night. Notre Dame men’s basketball will look to ride some momentum after its ACC/SEC Challenge win, when they travel to TCU for an 8 p.m. ET tip on ESPN+. It’ll mark the last road non-con of the season, as ND will have three more non-cons at home before the Christmas break and the ACC season.

The TCU matchup marks the start of a home-and-home, with the Horned Frogs returning the trip to Purcell in 2026, same as Ohio State.

It’ll be the program’s first trip to Fort Worth, despite a 5-0 mark in the all-time series. The two have not clashed on the hardwood since March 18, 1997.

TCU is off to a 5-2 start. They suffered a tough 78-74 loss to New Orleans and a 67-63 heartbreaker to No. 6 Michigan. They have since bounced back and have won three straight, including an 84-80 victory over No. 10 Florida.

With a win on Friday night, the Irish would earn a coveted Quad 1 win, with TCU’s current NET rating coming in at 46.

The Horned Frogs rank highly in blocks per game (21st in the country with 5.6) and turnovers forced per game (16th with 17.1). They are led by Brock harding who ranks 8th in the country in steals per game (3.3) and 20th in assists per game (6.1). Harding (10.0), Jayden Pierre (11.7) and David Punch (12.7) all average double figures.

NEEDED IT

“Believe.” A word that was said after every huddle in the preseason and the start of the 2025-26 campaign. Belief that Notre Dame could get over its hump of finishing on the wrong side of close games. Coach Shrewsberry stated during the preseason that if this program wanted to turn a corner, it had to be mentally tougher in close games down the stretch. “Fight. Compete.”

Last season, the Irish were involved in 10 games that were decided by one possession. They were 5-5 in those instances and 0-3 in games decided by one point. Fast forward to this season and ND suffered a heartbreaking 63-64 loss at Ohio State in game four. The Irish had two chances to extend the lead late, and another chance at the buzzer for the win; but couldn’t convert.

Against Kansas, the Irish fought to cut an 11-point deficit to four, and against No. 3 Houston, they cut a 22-point deficit to four as well. Versus both, however, they couldn’t push past that final hump.

Those learning lessons bubbled to a boiling point against Missouri. The Fighting Irish battled back down 12, traded 11-0 runs in the second half, endured seven ties and eight lead changes, and with the game tied in the final minute, they pushed through with a game-winning three to take down Mizzou 76-71.

“Our guys have a lot of belief,” Coach Shrewsberry said. “In order to keep that belief, something good has to happen for them. They earned the right for something good to happen to them. Our guys earned it by doing things the right way. We needed to win a close game. We needed to go through these tough moments and come out on the right side.”

The game had it all and had that compete level Coach was asking for. It also had 16 assists on 25 made field goals – team basketball. More on that next.

MARKUS BURTON, POINT GUARD

Markus Burton had his best, if not most complete game of his career in the Missouri win. The junior point guard recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and a career high 10 assists.

Burton assisted or scored on eight of the team’s final nine made baskets.

“He creates so much havoc when he drives,” Shrewsberry said. “Just making the right play every time. Ten assists, 2 turnovers is big-time for him. … I thought he was really aggressive, driving to score. But I thought when people came over to help, he made the right play each time.”

CERTA-FIED

Cole Certa flashed it in the season opener when he dropped 22 points on a career best 6-9 night from three-point range. He flashed it last season in the win over Stanford when he drained a corner three with 18 seconds left for the 56-54 win. The sophomore guard delivered in a major way in the win over Missouri, recording the game-winning three with 17 seconds left.

In fact, Certa converted three triples in the final 4:35 of the game, ultimately finishing with 14 points.

FEED THE HOT HANDS

Two Irish are currently churning along offensively and riding long scoring streaks heading into TCU. For Burton, he hasn’t scored below 13 points this season and has registered five games of 20+. His 19.9 ppg currently ranks sixth in the ACC.

Burton is one of the best in the country from the midrange. The Mishawaka native is shooting 53.1 percent in the paint, which is 10.8 percent above the Division I average. Over the last five games, Burton has converted an impressive 64.7 percent from two.

Then there’s freshman guard Jalen Haralson, who gives this Notre Dame offense a new look and feel. He’s another ball handler who can attack the paint, or post up or get to the front of the rim. Plus, he takes pressure off Burton and gets him off the ball. He also provides length on the defensive end.

Haralson has produced seven consecutive games in double figures, averaging 14.4 points in that span on 53.6 percent shooting. Haralson gets to the rim at will, where he converts a whopping 75.7 percent – that’s 13.1 percent above the D1 average.

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Coach on Towt: “He’s energy personified. There have been a ton of transfers that transferred up and there scoring output doesn’t necessarily follow. Rebounding translates at every level. It’s heart and it’s effort. That’s what he does. Carson is just max effort, man. He just plays really hard. His effort on the glass on both ends, his physicality. He’s a big brother to these dudes. He’s feeding their belief because of the energy and the confidence that he gives them.”

Last year’s NCAA rebounding leader Carson Towt has been a high-level impact transfer from Northern Arizona. To start, he tied his career-high 19 rebounds in the season opener, which also set a new record for an Irish debut. He produced two double-doubles in the first five games. He then became the first Irish player in the conference era (1995-present) to start the season with six straight games with double-digit rebounds.

Towt’s current rebounding rankings:

• 10.2 rpg ranks 17th nationally, 1st in the ACC
• 3.3 offensive rpg – 36th nationally, 4th in the ACC
• 6.9 defensive rpg – 22nd nationally, 3rd in the ACC
• 1,170 career rebounds – leads all active players

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Notre Dame currently boasts a perfect 5-0 record at home, where they are averaging 86.2 points per game. They are shooting 50.5 percent inside Purcell. They are also averaging 11.0 made threes per game at home.
• The Irish are 16 wins away from 2,000 all-time. They would become the eighth program to achieve this feat.
• Certa is a perfect 16-16 from the FT line.
• Irish defense doing its part against P4 teams – held OSU to 64, Kansas to 71, No. 3 Houston to 66, Mizzou to 71.
• For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Fighting Irish opened the season with three straight 20+ point victories.
• Notre Dame’s 42.8 mid-range field goal percentage vs the average opponent ranks 36th in the country.
• According to Haslam Metrics, Notre Dame’s defensive proximity allowed is 2.13 which ranks 12th nationally. Rating: 1.0=near proximity; 3.0=all threes.
• Kenpom Rating: Offense 113.1 (80th) & Defense 100.5 (56th).