17. Saturday with the Seminoles

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team has said they let two go on their home court in ACC play so they had to go on the road and get one back. At Georgia Tech in overtime, they did just that, and now the Fighting Irish are riding that momentum into Saturday’s contest against Florida State. The Irish look to protect the home court against the Seminoles at 2:15 p.m. ET on Jan. 13. The game will air live on the CW with tickets still available.

SATURDAY WITH THE SEMINOLES

The Irish will look to halt a three-game skid against the Seminoles while trying to even their ACC record back to .500. A win on Saturday would also already match the number of league wins achieved by Notre Dame last season.

Florida State enters with a 9-6 record and the winners of three straight. The Seminoles are 3-1 in league play with wins over Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest, and a loss to North Carolina.

Darin Green Jr. averages 12.9 ppg and is FSU’s deep threat. The senior guard ranks 35th in the country in three-point shooting percentage, converting 41.7 percent from deep.

As a team, FSU ranks highly in free throw attempts per game (23.7 – 27th nationally), steals (9.2 – 29th) and turnovers forced (15.7 – 27th).

ROAD KILL + SHREWSBERRY BREAKS OUT

In just his second attempt, Coach Shrewsberry and company got their first ACC road win – and did it by persevering through overtime. After Georgia Tech hit a dagger of a three with five seconds left to send the game to overtime, the Irish outscored the Yellow Jackets 9-2 to seal the win.

Braeden Shrewsberry put the team on his back with a season-best 25 points. He connected on a season-high five made three-pointers.

Marcus Burton added 12 points and dished out seven assists. Plus, Tae Davis (10p/10r) and JR Konieczny (10p/11r) each recorded double-doubles.

Notre Dame also converted a weakness from last week into a strong point tonight, converting 19-of-21 from the free-throw line. The Irish also outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 48-33, as the 48 boards were the most since ND grabbed 54 against High Point on Nov. 16, 2021.

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.

Because of the defensive effort, Notre Dame’s 2-3 ACC record could easily be 4-1.  The Irish held all five of its ACC opponents to under their season averages, with Miami and Duke being held to season lows at the time.

Furthermore, an Irish opponent has not recorded 70 points or more since Georgetown on Dec. 16 (six-game streak). With that said, Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 65.1 now ranks 2nd in the ACC and 47th in the country. According to KenPom, Notre Dame’s defensive efficiency ranks 50th.

In ACC play only, Notre Dame ranks 2nd in scoring defense (61.0), field goal percentage defense (.369) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.290).

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 15.9 ppg leads all ACC freshmen and ranks 4th nationally amongst DI freshmen.
• He is 1-of-2 players in the ACC averaging over 15 points and 4 assists. 1-of-3 freshmen nationally.
• If the season ended today, Burton’s 15.9 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 leads the team with 14 double-digit scoring games.
• Ranks 12th in the ACC in scoring, 7th in Assists (4.1), 15th in steals (1.4) and 10th in FT% (.828).
• Averaging 5.8 assists in ACC play only which ranks 3rd.

#TRENDING

Burton has produced 9 straight games in double figures, totaling 151 points (16.8 ppg).  He’s also averaging 4.6 assists in that span.

Braeden Shrewsberry has produced back-to-back games in double figures, averaging 18.5 points. He’s 9-of-16 (.563) from three in that span. Ultimately, Shrewsberry is averaging 10.2 points in ACC play as well.

Both J.R. Konieczny and Tae Davis are coming off double-doubles. It marked the first time 2 Irish earned double-doubles since Paul Atkinson and Dane Goodwin at NC State on Feb. 5, 2022. Konieczny leads the team in double-doubles with four this season, followed tightly by Davis with three.

NJIE HO

Kebba Njie has been a rebounding machine the last three games, reeling in 30 boards (10.0 rpg). That stretch includes a career high 11 rebounds vs. NC State. He also nearly achieved his first career double-double when he had nine points and 10 rebounds against #14/13 Duke.

— ND —