15. Wednesday With The Wolfpack

RALEIGH – The Notre Dame men’s basketball squad heads to the state of North Carolina for a double dip of ACC basketball. The first will be NC State on Wednesday night inside the Lenovo Center. Then the Fighting Irish (7-7, 1-2) will make the short bus trip to Durham for #4/4 Duke on Saturday. The Irish will tip against the Wolfpack (8-6, 1-2) at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU on Jan. 8.

For starters, the Irish will look to take the lead in the overall series against the Wolfpack. The series is tied at 10-10, with both sides finding success on the road. ND is 6-3 in Raleigh.

Since Notre Dame joined the ACC in 2013, they are 6-7 against NC State. Out of those 13 matches, eight were decided by single digits. Five of those were decided by five points or less, including the last two matchups. Last year, DJ Burns made a last-second layup to give NC State a 54-52 victory inside Purcell Pavilion. Markus Burton was the lone Irish player in double figures with 18 points.

Next, the Irish in year two of Coach Shrewsberry want to prove they can win ACC road games. Last season, ND went 7-13 in league play with road wins at Georgia Tech and Louisville. Setting the new tone starts with NC State on Wednesday.

TAKING THE POSITIVE WITH THE NEGATIVE

Obviously, the negative last Saturday was that the North Carolina match did not end as planned. The Irish fought hard and erased a 12-point deficit to claim a three-point lead with under 20 seconds to go. That’s when Elliott Cadeau converted a four-point play to give UNC the eventual 74-73 win. The returning Markus Burton drove the length of the court with four seconds left but couldn’t convert a very tough contested driving layup.

But the positive is that the Irish will be back at full strength moving forward, and what a gutsy return it was for Burton. Playing in his first game back since injuring his knee against Rutgers on Nov. 26, the All-ACC guard registered 23 points in 23 minutes. Burton scored 17 of his 23 points in the second half. He shot 7-of-14 overall and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Another positive was that during Burton’s absence, both Tae Davis and Braeden Shrewsberry stepped up their play and that carried over into the UNC game with Burton back on the court. Davis and Shrewsberry each made big plays down the stretch. Davis scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half. Shrewsberry had eight points each half and finished with four triples and a team-high six rebounds.

GETTING OVER THE HUMP

A trend from year one of Shrewsberry that has carried over to year two is that these Irish will always fight. Yes, they have suffered back-to-back ACC losses but they erased double-digit deficits and had a chance for victory late in both – either up one possession or down one possession. At Georgia Tech, the Irish cut a 19-point deficit to three with under six minutes remaining, but a late 10-2 Yellow Jackets surge was the difference maker. And of course, we already covered the UNC game.

Last year, the Irish lost 13 ACC matches and if you throw out the lopsided UNC result, the average margin of defeat was just 8.0 points (with UNC it was 9.9). Now back at full strength, Coach Shrews and company look to turn some of those results in 2025. As Coach said to the media after UNC, “17 games is a lot of season left.”

THE TAE-KOVER

Tae Davis has balled out as of late, emerging as one of the top talents in the ACC. Scoring-wise, Davis had the fourth-best December in the ACC, averaging 20.0 ppg on last month. He’s produced 20+ points in three of the last four games – and even in the one he didn’t he still dropped 17 points against UNC.

Over the last four games, Tae is averaging 22.0 ppg on 56.6 percent shooting (30-53). He’s also averaged 6.5 rpg and 2.0 apg.

Furthermore, he’s ultimately riding a career-best eight straight games in double figures.

With all that said, Tae is now averaging a career-best 16.6 ppg, which ranks 10th in the ACC. More on Tae below.

EVOLVING

Before Vegas, Burton was the only player in the country averaging 20+ points, 5+ assists, and 5+ rebounds. When he went down, the Irish not only had to make up his 20+ points per game but also his ability to create shots for his teammates.

Three players in particular stepped up to fill the void. Both Tae Davis and Braeden Shrewsberry are posting career highs in both points per game and shooting percentage. Then there’s Matt Allocco who is on pace to have the highest assist-to-turnover ratio in program history.

Davis is averaging 16.6 ppg, which is up from last year’s 9.2 ppg. He boasts the third-best shooting percentage in the ACC at 52.7 percent. Diving deeper, he’s 57-of-85 (.671) at the rim.

Tae, who very much like Markus Burton, has this explosiveness and innate ability to attack the rim. He’s been using that to his advantage and getting to the foul line. He’s averaging 6.9 FD/40 which ranks 29th nationally according to KenPom. The Indy native ranks second in the league in FT attempts and fifth in makes. He’s shooting a career-best 75.3 percent from the stripe.

Next is Braeden Shrewsberry, who is averaging 16.1 ppg (11th in the ACC). He’s shooting 43.4 percent, which is up from last year’s 39.8. His 3.0 threes per game rank second in the league, while his .372 clip from three ranks fourth. In particular, Shrewsberry is hot from corner threes this year, knocking down 48.1 percent (13-for-27), which is 13.2 percent above the D1 average.

However, it’s important to point out that he’s added to his overall arsenal. He’s developed a dangerous floater that keeps defenders guessing. He’s shooting 46.9% from the paint and he’s 12-15 around the rim. He’s 52.6 percent overall from two.

Last but not least is grad transfer Matt Allocco. The 6-4 guard is averaging 10.0 ppg on 44.7 percent shooting from the floor and 46.3 percent from beyond the arc. His 3.6 assists per game rank 11th in the ACC.

Allocco owns a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio which ranks 10th in the nation and second in the ACC. It’s obviously way too early for comparisons, BUT, the highest A/TO ratio in program history for a season was 3.16 by Martin Inglesby back in 2000-01.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Notre Dame’s three-point percentage defense sits at .301 which ranks 4th in the ACC.
• According to Haslam Metrics, Notre Dame’s mid-range percentage vs. the average opponent (.477) ranks 24th nationally – the highest its been since the 2014-15 season.   
• Freshman guard Sir Mohammed made his return from injury in the Georgia Tech game on Dec. 31. He had been out since the second game of the season back on Nov. 11.
• Tae Davis and Braeden Shrewsberry are averaging 19.7 and 17.7 ppg, respectfully, in ACC games.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR BURTON

Point guard Markus Burton looks to continue his ascent in collegiate basketball for his sophomore season. He went from winning Mr. Indiana Basketball as a high school senior to stepping on his home court in Purcell Pavilion and making an immediate impact with the Irish. He won the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year Award (the first ND player to do so) and also took home Third Team All-ACC honors.

Before the 2024-25 season has officially gotten underway, Burton has collected more awards/recognition. First, the ACC named him a Preseason First Team selection. Burton’s 17.5 ppg is the third highest returning scoring average in the ACC behind North Carolina’s RJ Davis (21.2) and Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis (18.0 ppg).

Next, it was the Naismith Starting 5 – Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. This prestigious award honors the best point guards in men’s college basketball and is presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Burton is the first Irish point guard to be named to the Bob Cousy Top-20 Preseason Watch List since Matt Farrell (2017-18 Watch List).

Shortly after, ESPN.com announced its top-100 players ahead of the 2024-25 season. Burton landed at No. 40. They stated: “(Burton) averaged 17.5 PPG as a freshman, finishing with 20 points or more in 11 games. If he can become a consistent threat from the 3-point line (30%), the All-ACC third team pick could mature into one of the expanded conference’s best players.”

Last but not least, the Naismith Trophy added Burton to their College Player of the Year Watch List. A total of 50 players were named to the preseason list.

— ND —