19. Irish Wear Green

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Eight full days of non-competition. On Wednesday, Jan. 24, the wait is over and Notre Dame men’s basketball returns to the court, hosting Miami at 7 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion. When the Fighting Irish (7-11, 2-5) clash with the Hurricanes (12-6, 3-4) on Wednesday on ESPN2, it’ll be the annual Irish Wear Green game. That means green jerseys, green shorts and all Notre Dame fans in attendance wearing green.

FIRST ACC RETURN MATCH

This week in South Bend, the Fighting Irish will have an opportunity to get back two road losses by welcoming Miami (Wednesday) and Boston College (Saturday) to Purcell Pavilion. This Wednesday marks the first time Notre Dame will challenge a repeat opponent in league play.

The first time around, Miami escaped with a 62-49 victory. While the Irish struggled to convert on the offensive end at times, Notre Dame’s defensive efforts limited the Hurricanes to a season-low in points. The Irish forced 13 Miami turnovers and dominated the offensive boards, 15-6. Where Miami got the best of ND – they scored 16 points in transition. The Irish had good looks, but just couldn’t capitalize offensively as they finished the day shooting 18-63 (.286) from the floor and 6-32 (.188) from beyond the arc.

Miami enters the game ranked 10th in the country in three-point percentage (.393), 26th in offense (82.4), 16th in effective field goal percentage (.567) and 24th in free-throw percentage (.767).

FIRST YEAR STAMP ON THE PROGRAM – DEFENSE

The year one Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program has been the vast improvement defensively from this young Irish squad. The Irish have held all seven of its ACC opponents to under their season averages, with Miami and Duke being held to season lows then.

Furthermore, an Irish opponent has not recorded 70 points or more since Georgetown on Dec. 16 (eight-game streak). With that said, Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 65.1 ranks 2nd in the ACC and 38th in the country. According to KenPom, Notre Dame’s defensive efficiency ranks 43rd nationally.

In ACC play only, Notre Dame leads the league in defense (62.1) and ranks second in both field goal percentage defense (.373) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.302).

Lastly, how does this year’s defense match up historically? According to Stats Inc which goes back to the 1996-97 season, ND’s 65.1 ranks 4th.

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 16.3 ppg leads all ACC freshmen and ranks 4th nationally amongst DI freshmen.
• He is 1-of-4 players in the ACC averaging over 15 points and 3.5 assists.
• If the season ended today, Burton’s 16.3 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).
• Double-digit points in all but two games. He’s riding a current 11-game streak
• Burton picked up his 5th game of 20 or more points against Florida State on Jan. 13. 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 10th in the ACC in scoring, 8th in Assists (3.9), 15th in steals (1.4) and 12th in FT% (.813).
• Averaging 4.9 assists in ACC play which ranks 4th. Also averaging 15.4 points in league action.

THIS CLOSE

Consider this note a part two to the defensive note earlier. For Notre Dame’s last four losses – so looking at BC, FSU, Duke and NC State – the average margin of defeat was 5.8 points.

In both the NC State and Boston College games, Notre Dame boasted a lead as large as 12 points in the first half. Against Duke, the  Irish built a lead as large as nine.

Ultimately second-half starts or finishes have been the difference maker. NC State ended the game on a 19-6 run to win by two. Duke started the second half on a 12-6 run. Both FSU and BC started the second half on identical 8-0 runs.

SHREWSBERRY’S HOT HAND

Braeden Shrewsberry has been hitting his stride as of late. Over the last four games, he’s averaging 14.3 points, shooting 13-of-26 (.500) from three. He’s shooting 19-of-39 overall (.487). Shrewsberry has produced three double-digit scoring games in that span.

One of those double-digit scoring games was when Shrewsberry put the team on his back with a season-best 25 points in the OT win at Georgia Tech. He connected on a season-high five made three pointers.

He’s now averaging 10.1 points in ACC play (2nd most on team), shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from deep. Shrewsberry is averaging 2.4 made threes/game in league play which ranks 10th.

BOARDS BATTLE

Team-wise, ND’s rebounding numbers and rankings have risen as of late. In league play, the Irish rank 2nd in rebounding (41.1), and overall they rank 5th (37.8) in the ACC.

Kebba Njie has been a beast on the boards as of late. Over the last five games, he’s reeled in 48 rebounds (9.6 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.

Njie leads the team in rebounding (6.3), O-Boards (2.2) and D-Boards (4.1). Plus, his numbers are higher In ACC play, where he ranks 9th in rebounding (8.0), 8th in O-Reb (2.4) & 11th in D-Reb (5.6).

Next, Carey Booth has been a rebounding machine as well. He reeled in a career best 13 rebounds at Boston College on Jan. 15, which included 10 defensive boards. It marked his first double-digit rebound game of the season. In addition, Booth now averages 4.0 defensive rebounds/game, which ranks as the second most on the team.

— ND —