2. Welcome to The Bend

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – ‘The Bend’ takes center stage under the Friday night lights inside Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame men’s basketball will take to the hardwood floor in their new Black and Gold The Bend jerseys for the first time when they host Detroit Mercy at 7 p.m. ET. The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a black The Bend rally towel. In addition, The Bend merch line will be available for purchase inside the Varsity Shop.

For those who can’t make it, Friday night’s game will be streamed on ACCNX.

TYING IN TO OUR TOWN

The “Bend” script across the chest, which was inspired by the marquee “South Bend” wall on the side of Madison Oyster Bar in the heart of downtown.

The numbers – a custom font inspired by classic Studebaker cars, which got their start here in South Bend.

The side of the shorts – the lines running up the side of the uniform pull directly from the South Bend flag, which gives a nod to the St. Joseph River.

IRISH FLEX DEPTH IN OPENER

Notre Dame kicked off its 122nd season with an 89-67 victory over Long Island. Markus Burton did Burton things and led all Irish with 24 points on 7-13 shooting from the floor, plus 8-9 from the charity stripe. But what was ultimately great to see was the huge depth they flexed in the win.

The Irish finished with 11 different players in the box score, with 52 of their 89 points coming from the bench.

Sophomore Cole Certa exploded for a career high 22 points, draining six triples. Freshman Ryder Frost scored all 15 of his points in the second half. Kebba Njie supplied eight points off the bench.

Coach Shrewsberry in Post-Game Presser:

“We have 11 capable guys. Sometimes in practice, you’ll have separation, but there hasn’t been much separation in practice. Every day, a different player plays great, and we have so many guys. So we don’t have that ‘ok, you’re doing this and this is your spot.’ We have options now, so we can keep mixing. If it’s not your night, that’s fine, we can go with someone else and that’s ok. We are going to keep trying to press the right buttons.”

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Graduate transfer Carson Towt picked up right where he left off as the country’s leading rebounder last season, as he tied his career-high 19 rebounds in the win over LIU. That number set a new record for an Irish debut performance. He also becomes the 16th different Irish player all-time to record at least 19 rebounds in a game.

In addition, his six offensive boards played a major role in the team’s 21 second-chance points.

“He’s energy personified. There have been a ton of players who transferred up, and their scoring output doesn’t necessarily follow. Rebounding translates at every level. It’s heart and it’s effort. That’s what he does,” Coach Shrewsberry said.

Towt now has 1,097 career rebounds, which leads all active players. In fact, the next highest player has 909 (Rienk Mast, Nebraska). Towt’s 8.8 career rebounding average ranks 5th amongst active players.

SHARPSHOOTERS

The Irish had plenty of them in the opener vs. LIU but two in particular shone bright. First up, Cole Certa. The sophomore guard exploded from beyond the arc, converting 6-9. His six threes tied for the fourth most on opening day. Then there was Ryder Frost. The freshman didn’t miss a single shot in the second half, going 4-4 from deep (5-5 FG overall).

Markus Burton drained two, while Garrett Sundra and Sir Mohammed each netted a triple. Overall, the squad shot 51.9 percent (14-27) from three, including a blistering 64.3 percent (9-14) in the second half.

Notre Dame’s 51.9 percent from three-point range tied for the 11th highest in Division I after two days.

GAME 2 – DETROIT MERCY

Detroit Mercy started the season in Chicago where they suffered a 71-91 loss at the hands of UIC. The Titans shot 31.2 percent from the field and 20.0 percent from three. They did tie UIC in rebounds, 44 apiece. Detroit Mercy were led by Ayden Carter who totaled 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals.

With six letterwinners back and arguably five starters, UDM returns the most players and starters in the Horizon League, accounting for 68.8% of its offense. The red, white and blue return the league’s top scorer in senior Orlando Lovejoy, who was named Preseason All-Horizon League First Team after finishing fourth in the conference at 16.3 points per game.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR BURTON

The collegiate landscape is starting to pick up on what Notre Dame fans already knew – Markus Burton is a special player. The junior guard picked up two major preseason accolades

First Team Preseason All-ACC – last Irish player to garner Preseason First Team honors was senior forward John Mooney in 2019.

Bob Cousy Award Watch List – recognizing the top-20 point guards in the country.

Naismith Trophy Watch List – recognizing the top men’s collegiate player.

CORE NUCLEUS INTACT

For Notre Dame and Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry, retention and player development has been key. For the second consecutive year, the Fighting Irish return the highest scoring by percentage of any ACC school.

Notre Dame – 55.1%

Virginia Tech – 44.9%

BC 39.5%

SMU 39.2%

Stanford 39.2%

Leading those returners is one of the best backcourt duos in the ACC – junior guards Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry. Approaching their third year together on the court, the duo combined for a league best 35.3 ppg.

KNOW THE NAME – MARKUS BURTON

If you don’t know the name Markus Burton, you should. The 6-0 junior guard, who is playing in front of his home town, recorded a sensational sophomore season and is poised to have an even bigger junior campaign.

Burton averaged 21.3 ppg last year, which ranks third nationally amongst returners.

1. PJ Haggerty, Kansas State – 21.7

2. Jaron Pierre Jr., SMU – 21.6

3. Markus Burton, ND – 21.3

4. Terrence Brown, Utah – 20.6

5. Nick Martinelli, NW – 20.5

The last Irish player to average 20+ points in a season was Luke Harangody (21.8 ppg) in the 2009-10 season.

Burton continued to write his name in different areas of the record book, alongside the all-time Irish greats. Here’s one for example – Burton joined David Rivers as the only Irish players to average 20+ points and 3+ assists in a season. He averaged a team best 3.0 apg last season.

He averaged 23.5 ppg in conference play which led all ACC players. His 423 points in ACC play broke the program record he set his freshman season. He now boasts 722 career ACC points which already ranks him fifth all-time at ND.

Furthermore, Burton finished last year as one of the hottest shooters in the country. Over his last four games of the regular season – 31.5 ppg on 46.9 percent shooting, 11-22 (.500) from three & 39-46 (.848) from the line.

MASTER OF THE MIDRANGE

Burton is most dangerous attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He shot 46.9 percent from two-point range overall. More specifically he was 44.6 percent from the midrange and 46.4 percent from the paint.

Burton’s true shooting percentage climbed to 54.8 percent and his turnover rate dropped to 14.7 percent.

And more likely than not, Burton will get fouled attacking the basket and last season he was the team’s best free-throw shooter. He converted 84.8 percent from the stripe, which ranked 6th in the ACC. He drew 5.3 fouls per 40 minutes.

If that wasn’t enough, Burton improved from beyond the arc from year one to year two. He went from a 30.0 percent shooter from three as a freshman to 37.5 percent as a sophomore. In ACC play, Burton converted 40.2 percent from deep.

BRAEDEN, YEAR ‘3’

Braeden’s sophomore campaign was shortened by seven games with a lower-abdomen injury, but he certainly showed the world that he added to his game. He averaged 14.0 ppg, which was up from his freshman year’s 10.2. He also shot 41.3 percent from the floor, which also marked an improvement.

The 6-4 guard connected on 2.8 threes per game on a .369 clip – both ranked third in the ACC. In ACC play, he knocked down 40.0 percent from deep which ranked fifth. Shrewsberry’s sweet spot? He converted 45.5 percent from corner threes (15-for-33).

Furthermore, Braeden shot 48.7 percent from two-point range. Specifically, he shot 43.2 percent from the midrange and 44.9 percent from the paint.

Like Burton, Shrewsberry ended on an extreme high note. He totaled 49 points over the last three games before his injury.

He netted 16 points at BC, 12 points vs Louisville and a team high 21 points vs. SMU. Braeden averaged 16.3 ppg over that three-game span on 16-39 shooting (.410), plus 11-24 from beyond the arc (.458).

BIG PRESENCE INSIDE WITH THE ADDITION OF TOWT

The nation’s top rebounder from last year transferred to South Bend and will be paired with a top-5 scorer in the country in Markus Burton. Transferring in from Northern Arizona, Carson Towt led the nation with 12.4 rebounds per game last season. Notre Dame is the only school in the country to have players on the top-10 returning scorers and rebounders list.

Towt was a 2025 Second Team All-Big Sky selection and a unanimous Big Sky All-Defensive Team member.

Towt set a Big Sky conference single-season rebounding record, grabbing 423 rebounds across 34 games. The 423 rebounds also led the country.

The 6-8 forward averaged a nation’s best 8.9 defensive rebounds per game and 3.5 offensive boards per game – latter ranked 14th nationally.

Towt broke a 63-year record reeling in a career 1,044 rebounds. He also amassed 1,199 career points.

Last season, Towt averaged 13.4 points per game and produced 20 double-doubles which ranked sixth in the nation. He shot .569 overall from the field which ranked second in the Big Sky and 26th nationally

A KEY FOR THE SEASON

One of the major keys for a turnaround season for the Irish, as stated by Coach – gotta be better in close games; being mentally tough down the final stretch.

Last season, the Irish were in 14 games that finished by six points or less (two possessions). They went 7-7 in those games. They were 5-5 in one-possessions and 0-3 in games decided by one-point.

— ND —