21. Clearing One More ACC Venue

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Fighting Irish (10-11, 4-6) have stayed in the state of Florida to complete a road swing with the Seminoles (13-0, 4-7) on Tuesday night. That matchup will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network. Notre Dame looks to quickly put the Miami loss behind them and refocus on climbing up to .500 in ACC play. After this trip, six of the last nine games are inside Purcell Pavilion.

Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry looks to exorcise one more opposing venue demon on Tuesday night. Coach Shrews already ended the program’s drought in Charlottesville, ending it at 0-9. Now he can do the same in Tallahassee in his first ever trip there. The program is 0-7 all-time inside the Donald L Tucker Civic Center.

Irish are 5-11 all-time against the Seminoles and have lost four straight in the series. Last season, ND fell to Florida State, 58-67, at home. Markus Burton recorded a team-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from three. J.R. Konieczny earned 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Two categories hurt the Irish in that game: second-chance points and free throws. The Seminoles grabbed 10 offensive boards in the first half (finished with 12) and ultimately recorded 16 second-chance points. FSU also went 13-of-15 from the free-throw line compared to Notre Dame’s 3-for-11.

BURTON AMONGST NATION’S TOP SCORERS

After 39 days away rehabbing his knee injury, Burton returned on Jan. 4 and he’s been playing his best ball of his career. The sophomore fired off five consecutive games with 20 or more points, which hasn’t been done by an Irish player since Ben Hansbrough in February of 2011. With that said, Burton averaged a red-hot 22.3 ppg in January, which ranked second in the ACC only to Duke’s Cooper Flagg (25.4). That average ranked fourth amongst all power conference players.

He’s averaging 21.6 ppg in ACC play which ranks second to Flagg (23.3) as well. Overall on the year, he’s averaging 20.1 ppg which places him 12th nationally, but here’s the kicker.

If you take out his two-point Rutgers injury game in which he departed four minutes in, Burton’s average would be 21.5 ppg which would rank him fifth nationally.

CHASING ACHIEVEMENTS

Burton is currently averaging 20.1 ppg and a team best 3.2 apg. If Burton can keep this up, he’ll join David Rivers as the only Irish players to average 20+ points and 3+ assists in a season. He would be just the 15th ACC player since 1996.

However, Burton isn’t the only one who can cement his name in the Irish record books this season. Grad transfer Matt Allocco owns a 3.76 assist-to-turnover ratio – the highest in program history for a season was 3.16 by Martin Inglesby back in 2000-01.

Allocco is also converting a career high 47.3 percent from deep. That number currently ranks second all-time for a season. The top spot belongs to Joe Fredrick who shot 52.1 percent in 1988-89.

THREE BALL HEATING UP

The Irish worked hard in the offseason to improve from beyond the arc and it’s showing. In ACC play, Notre Dame is converting 40.9 percent from deep, which leads all league schools. For perspective, the Irish converted 33.4 percent in league play last year.

Overall on the year, the Irish have drained 37.9 percent from deep which ranks 26th in the country and third in the ACC.

The Irish have connected on double-digit treys three times now over the past six games. They sunk 14 at Duke (which tied their season high), 12 in the win at Virginia and 10 in the win over Georgia Tech.

Allocco, Shrewsberry and Burton have been leading the three barrage, but Burton specifically has stepped up his game. He went from 30.0 percent from three-point range last year to 41.8 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples three times over the last six games.

Lastly, Burton’s 2.4 threes per game in league play rank seventh while Shrewsberry’s 3.1 rank third.

THE TAE-KOVER

Tae Davis should be a candidate for Most Improved. He’s averaging a career best 15.5 ppg, up from last year’s 9.2 ppg. His scoring average ranks 12th amongst ACC players. The Indy native is also shooting a career best 48.7 percent, which ranks sixth in the league.

The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 75-of-111 (.676). He’s also improved from the free-throw line where he’s converted a career best 75.8 percent. Tae ranks fourth in the league in FT attempts.

Tae produced a career high streak of 14 straight games in double figures which game to an end Jan. 28 vs. Georgia Tech.

EVOLVING

When Burton was recovering, other Irish had to step up and evolve. We’ve already mentioned Tae Davis’ emergence but we’ve also seen Braeden Shrewsberry’s evolution.

The sophomore guard is averaging 14.7 ppg, up from last year’s 10.2. He’s shooting 43.9 percent, which is up from last year’s 39.8.

He’s connecting on 2.8 threes per game this season, with a .373 clip from beyond the arc. Shrewsberry’s sweet spot has been the corner three where he’s 14-31 (.452).

Shrewsberry boasts higher three ball numbers in ACC play where he ranks third in threes/game at 3.1 and fourth in three-point percentage at 42.5.

However, Braeden is more than just a three-point shot, take his floater for instance. He’s added to his arsenal and is shooting 50.0 percent from midrange twos.

He’s 54.7 percent overall from two-point range and converting 61.5 percent over the last five games.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Allocco boasts a true shooting percentage of 61.0 on the year.
• Kebba is averaging 2.7 offensive rebounds/game in ACC play, which ranks fourth in the league.
• Burton is shooting 47.8 percent in midrange twos.
• Yes Sir! – The freshman guard impressed at #4 Duke, recording his first double-digit scoring performance with 11 points on 4-7 shooting, plus 2-4 from three.
• The KenPom Offense Adj. Efficiency was as low as 38th but dropped back to 50th after the Miami game.

— ND —