16. Back in the Bend for 574 Night vs. Clemson

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame is hoping to get the local community out in full force for their annual 574 game this Saturday. The Fighting Irish (10-5, 1-1) will host a red-hot Clemson Tigers squad (13-3, 3-0) at 6 p.m. ET, airing live on ESPN2. The first 2,000 fans in the building will receive a black on black 574 hat.

The Irish are coming off a 1-1 California road swing (more on that below) while the Tigers are off to a 3-0 ACC start with wins over Syracuse, Pitt and SMU. Notre Dame is looking to continue its solid start at home, where it is 7-1, with the one blip being Purdue Fort Wayne. The Irish are averaging 82.8 points inside Purcell on 49.0 percent shooting.

Notre Dame is 5-1 all-time against Clemson at home and leads the overall series 9-4. On March 2, 2024, the Irish defeated the Tigers 69-62 inside Purcell. The following year, Clemson earned an 83-68 victory at their place on Feb. 26.

Clemson is ranked 33rd in the NET, which means a potential Quad 2 win for the Blue & Gold. The Irish are up seven spots in the NET to No. 60.

Two Tigers are averaging double-digit points through their three ACC games: RJ Godfrey (15.0 ppg) and Jestin Porter (12.3 ppg). Clemson is powered through their defense, where it is ranked third in the ACC, limiting opponents to 65.9 ppg. They have done a great job of creating havoc around the arc, ranking 16th nationally and 1st in the ACC, in three-point percentage defense (.283).

CALI ROAD SWING

Notre Dame started the West Coast trip with a gritty, not pretty, 47-40 victory over Stanford. The Irish held the Cardinal to their third-lowest scoring output since 1996. They also kept Stanford’s best scorer in check, Ebuka Okorie, who averaged 22.8 points heading into the game, only to be held to a season low of seven points. Keep in mind, Stanford has now gone on to beat Louisville and Virginia Tech in their next two games.

It was two young forwards who stepped up in the second half. First, Brady Koehler recorded a stretch in which he scored seven straight. Then, Garrett Sundra played hero in the final six minutes. When the Cardinal pulled within four late, the sophomore hit clutch back-to-back threes.

And Maples Pavilion has not been an easy place to earn a win – Stanford was 24-5 at home since the start of the 2024-25 season, with just one ACC home loss before that night.

”That was the defensive effort that we’ve put in since we’ve gotten back from Christmas,” said Irish coach Micah Shrewsberry. “That’s how we need to play. If we shoot it well (they didn’t), if we don’t shoot it well, if we guard that way, we’ve got a chance to win every night. We are a full team defense.”

Up next was heartbreak in Berkeley. The Irish built a 12-point lead in the first half and led by four at the halfway point. They later trailed by as much as seven with seven minutes remaining but stormed back to claim a four-point lead with 16 seconds left. Yet, Cal’s Dai Dai Ames hit two three-pointers in that final 16-second timeframe, which included a called foul that resulted in a four-point play, culminating in a 71-72 loss.

Braeden Shrewsberry finished with a team-best 21 points. He was 4-9 from beyond the arc in the second half, where he scored 16 of his points. Jalen Haralson finished with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from the floor, as he also chipped in 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and a block. It marked his 13th straight game in double figures. He was followed by Cole Certa with 16 points.

Unfortunately, in a makes-you-wonder moment, the Cal game marked the second one-point loss of the season, which means the Irish are just two possessions away from a 12-3 record.

WHO’S HOT?

With Markus Burton on the mend, the ball has been put in the hands of freshman Jalen Haralson and he has delivered. Over the last five games, Jalen leads the Irish in scoring, averaging 16.2 ppg on 41.2 percent shooting.  He’s coming off a 17-point performance at Cal in which he scored the first 10 points of the game, which included his first two career three-pointers.

Braeden Shrewsberry is averaging 14. 8 ppg over the last five, which is second best on the team. He’s converting 47.6 percent from three in that span as well. He’s coming off a 21-point performance at Cal.

Logan Imes is fresh off a game in which he achieved career highs in rebounds (8) and assists (6). He currently leads the league in ACC games only in A/TO ratio at 9.0.

Carson Towt has recorded double-digit rebounds in three straight games, amassing 35 boards in that span. He’s averaging 7.3 points in those three games.

MORE ON JALEN

Jalen is currently averaging 14.7 ppg which ranks fifth amongst ACC freshmen. He’s riding a 13-game double-digit scoring streak which includes games against Kansas, Houston, Missouri, TCU, Stanford and Cal.

One of those big-time performances was the TCU overtime victory and it was Jalen himself who hit the buzzer beater in regulation. Down two with three seconds remaining, Haralson hit a step-back fadeaway jumper to tie it at 76-all. Haralson finished the night with 20 points & a career high 9 assists. Other ND greats over the last three decades to match Jalen’s stat line of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 block: Jerian Grant in 2015 / Chris Thomas 3x (twice in 2002 and once in 2005).

Jalen attacks the rim at will, where he’s converting 66.2% (47-71) from within 4.5 feet. He’s shooting 51.0 percent overall from 2-point range.

SHREWSBERRY DIALED IN

Braeden has been pretty dialed in as of late. He’s recorded two 20+ point games in the last four. Against Evansville, Shrewsberry scored a career-high 26 points behind a career-high 8 three pointers, shooting 80% from three (8-10). His 8 made triples tied for the 7th most in a game all-time in program history.

Against Cal, Braeden dropped 16 of his 21 points in the second half, where he drained 4-9 from three.

Braeden shot 51.2% from three over five games in December – that number was the fifth best three point field goal percentage that month for anyone with at least 20 made threes.

Overall on the season, Braeden is converting triples at a 45.6 percent rate, which ranks 2nd in the ACC & 20th in the nation.

He’s converting 3.1 made threes per game, which ranks 2nd in the league as well.

MORE THAN JUST REBOUNDING

Carson Towt is 27-37 (.730) from the floor over the past 6 games. He’s averaging a near double-double in that span at 9.3 points & 10.8 rebounds. During that stretch, the graduate recorded a season high 19 points against Idaho, in what was his third double-double of the season (15 boards). He also scored 13 points in the big road win at TCU, in which he was a perfect 6-6 from the floor, to go with his 9 boards & 4 assists.

Towt has often been praised by Coach Shrewsberry for his vision and passing ability. He currently ranks third on the team in assists, averaging 1.9 per game.

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Towt’s current rebounding rankings:

• 10.5 rpg ranks 12th nationally, 2nd in the ACC
• 3.8 offensive rpg – 1st in ACC/13th in country
• 6.7 defensive rpg – 4th in ACC/20th in country
• 157 total boards – 5th nationally, 2nd in the ACC
• 1,235 career rebounds – leads all active players

CERTA-FIED

Over the last seven games, Certa has averaged the third most points on the team at 11.7 ppg. He’s converting 42.6 percent from the field and 41.9 percent from three.

Furthermore, Certa has been hot from the corner where he is 12-28 (42.9%) from three. Overall, he’s averaging 2.1 made threes per game.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Braeden is three triples away from 200 in his career. He would become the 14th Irish player all-time to reach that milestone.
• Braeden is shooting 50 percent from corner threes.
• Sir Mohammed dropped a career-high 21 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor in the win over Evansville.
• The Irish are 12 wins away from 2,000 all-time. They would become the eighth program to achieve this feat.
• Logan Imes earned a career high 12 points vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (12/21). He shot 5-10 from the floor, including 2 triples. He also grabbed a career best 4 steals. He followed that with his first start of the season with his primary duty of shutting down a top-5 scorer in the country in Ebuka Okorie.
• Certa started the season 27-27 from the FT line, as the streak ended at Cal on Jan. 2. He’s now 94.1% (32-34) on the season.
• Brady Koehler has drained a triple in three straight games. He’s now 7-17 (.412) on the season.
• In the last two Notre Dame wins, Njie has amassed 19 rebounds, including a season best of 10 against Evansville.
• Kenpom Rating: Overall – 57 // Offense 113.1 (98th) & Defense 99.6 (40th).
• NET is at 60 — 2-4 in Quad 1 // 1-0 in Quad 2// 2-0 in Quad 3 / 5-1 in Quad 4.

— ND —