15. Dance With The Devil

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Three straight ACC games to kick off non-stop league play concludes on Saturday when a ranked Duke squad rolls into town. The Fighting Irish (6-8, 1-2) are coming off a heartbreaking last-second loss to NC State and will look to take that out on a No. 14/13 Blue Devils (10-3, 1-1) squad. That matchup will tip at 6 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion with tickets still available for purchase. It will also air live on the ACC Network.

HOMESTAND CONCLUDES

Duke’s 1-1 league record consists of a 72-68 loss at Georgia Tech back on Dec. 2 and an 86-66 victory over Syracuse at home on Jan. 2 They enter Saturday’s matchup riding a five-game win streak.

Duke is led by seven-foot sophomore center Kyle Filipowski, who is averaging 17.5 ppg and 8.7 rpg. Furthermore, all five of Duke’s starters average double figures. The team as a whole averages 83.5 ppg on .497 shooting from the floor and .372 from beyond the arc. Thus, it’s a matchup between a top-3 ACC scoring offense against a top-3 ACC scoring defense in Notre Dame.

Duke’s best two statistical categories – assist/turnover ratio and turnovers per game – they rank 7th in the nation in both.

Notre Dame trails the overall series 29-8, with just a 4-8 record inside Purcell. The last win at home – when #8 Notre Dame def. #4 Duke, 77-73, on 1/28/15.

Important to note after the Virginia win – since joining the league for the 2013-14 season, the Irish have never beaten both Virginia and Duke in the same regular season. They’ll have that opportunity on Saturday.

1ST YEAR STAMP ON THE PROGRAM – DEFENSE

If you are looking for an early Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program, look no further than the defensive effort by this young Irish squad.

Despite the 1-2 ACC record, the Notre Dame defense has done its part in the three games. The Irish held Miami, Virginia and NC State to under their season averages, all by double-digit points. In fact, Miami and NC State were in the negative twenties. For more details please reference the full chart below.

Furthermore, in 10 of the last 11 games, the Irish have allowed 65 points or fewer in regulation. With that said, Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 64.8 now ranks 2nd in the ACC and 44th in the country.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

It was starting to feel like a 2-1 start to league play inside Purcell on Jan. 3 when the Irish hosted NC State. The Wolfpack shot 28.8 percent from the field and finished with 54 points – just two more than their season high. On the flip side, Notre Dame had a six-point lead with 2:10 left on the clock. Then adversity hit. The next four possessions consisted of two turnovers and two misses on the front end of a one-and-one from the free-throw line. It all resulted in a Wolfpack 8-0 run to end the game and escape with the win.

HITTING THE MARK

Point guard Markus Burton has put his name amongst the top freshmen in the country with his stellar play thus far. For those who aren’t acquainted with the local standout from Mishawaka, here are some quick hitters:

• His 16.1 ppg leads all ACC freshmen and ranks 3rd nationally amongst DI freshmen.
• He is 1-of-2 freshmen in the country averaging over 15 points and 3.5 assists.
• If the season ended today, Burton’s 16.1 ppg would rank 3rd all-time in the ND freshman record book. The two in front of him – Adrian Dantley (18.3) and Troy Murphy (19.2).
• Burton started his career with five straight games in double figures. He now leads the team with 12 double-digit games.
• Burton picked up his 4th game of 20 or more points against Marist on Dec. 22. The following is a list of the most 20-point games by an Irish freshman: Adrian Dantley (13 in ‘73-74), Troy Murphy (10 in ‘98-99) and David Rivers (10 in ‘84-85).
• Ranks 12th in the ACC in scoring, 9th in Assists (3.9), 12th in steals (1.4) and 10th in FT% (.824).

FIRST SIGNATURE WIN

It took just the second ACC game of his career but Coach Shrewsberry delivered that first signature win in Notre Dame’s 76-54 victory over Virginia. What Shrews’ crew accomplished had never been done by an Irish crew against Virginia .. ever. It was the largest margin of victory against the Cavaliers in the all-time series. In addition, the 76 points were the most scored by an Irish squad against the Cavaliers in regulation in program history. Furthermore, the Irish handed Virginia its biggest loss to an ACC opponent since 2017 (65-41 loss to No. 10 UNC on Feb. 18, 2017).

574 BOYS BALL OUT ON 574 DAY

It was just meant to be. It was 574 Day when Notre Dame hosted Virginia, celebrating the combination of the local 574 community and our two local players on the team. And it just so happened that the 574 boys went off. South Bend native J.R. Konieczny posted 17 points and eight rebounds, shooting 6-of-8 including a 4-for-5 mark from three. Konieczny made his first six shots from the field and scored all his points in the first half. Then there was Mishawaka native Markus Burton, who earned 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, plus a career high eight assists. Burton is the first player to dish out 8 assists against Virginia since Virginia Tech’s Justyn Mutts on Feb. 4, 2023.

TABLE OR BOOTH

The correct answer – always booth, but back to basketball. Booth has started three straight games and the Irish have gone 2-1 with a near 3-0 record. The freshman is averaging 11.0 points and 6.7 rebounds over the three-game span.

Booth was a man possessed in the second half of the Virginia contest. The 6-10 forward scored 14 points from the 11:11 mark to 4:54 on the clock. He finished with a team-high 17.

SECOND HALF SURGE

As previously alluded, Burton has had a knack for surging at the right moments in the second half. Five times this season, Burton has scored double-digit points in the second half alone: Niagara, Oklahoma State, Western Michigan, Marquette and Marist.

Burton is averaging a team best 8.3 points in the second half.

#TRENDING

Burton has produced a stellar seven-game stretch in which he’s scored double-digits in every game, totaling 121 points (17.3 ppg).

In addition, he has dished out 46 assists over the last 10 games (4.6 apg).

J.R. Konieczny has been a great storyline of this season. The junior has recorded double-digit points in 7 of the last 12 games. If you take out those first two games of the season and look at this 12-game stretch, Konieczny is averaging 11.3 points.

As previously mentioned, Carey Booth has made 3 straight starts and it’s been a 2-1 Irish record. Booth is averaging the 2nd most points over the last 3 games at 11.0 ppg.

Honorable mention to Matt Zona who played 10 minutes against NC State and went 2-for-2 from three-point range.         

HOME BOOST

Call it a home bonus, but Markus Burton has thrived inside Purcell Pavilion. The Mishawaka native is averaging 17.7 points on 45.4 percent shooting, with 4.3 assists. The team as a whole is shooting better at home as well – .435 compared to .323 on the road.

— ND —