23. 574 Day Returns On Saturday

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – This Saturday against Virginia Tech (10-13, 5-7), the Fighting Irish (10-12, 4-7) will once again look to get a home boost when 574 Day returns to Purcell Pavilion. A season ago, for the program’s first 574 Day, the Irish had a magical performance in which they blew out Virginia 76-54. It marked the most points scored in the all-time series against the Cavaliers; plus, the icing on the cake was that the two players from the 574 were the squad’s top scorers with Burton supplying 15 points while J.R. Konieczny added 17 points.

574 Day celebrates the local community and what makes this area special. The Irish will be breaking out the green jerseys for the third time this season. They are 1-1 in Green Games this season with a win over Syracuse and a one-point loss to UNC.

The Irish and Hokies will tip off at 1 p.m. ET on the CW. Tickets are still available at FightingIrish.com.

Notre Dame looks to even the overall series with Virginia Tech as they currently trail 10-11. The Hokies have had ND’s number as of late, winning seven of the last eight. The last six matchups have all been decided by single digits.

Burton found the most success in two games against the Hokies last season, averaging 20.0 ppg. He was a combined 14-28 from two-point range. As a team, the Irish shot a combined 50.5 percent and averaged 75.0 ppg in those two games.

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 in January, which hadn’t been done by an Irish player since Ben Hansbrough in February of 2011. In fact, Burton has produced 20+ points in seven of his nine games since his return.

With that said, he’s averaging 22.0 ppg in ACC play which ranks second only to Duke’s Cooper Flagg (22.3).

Overall on the year he’s averaging 20.5 ppg which places him eighth nationally. The last Irish player to finish a season with a 20.0+ ppg average was Luke Harangody (21.8 ppg) in the 2009-10 season.

Now 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 21.8 ppg which would rank him third nationally.

CHASING ACHIEVEMENTS

Burton is quickly approaching 1,000 career points for he enters the weekend at 884. He would become the program’s 68th 1,000-point scorer which would move Notre Dame into fourth place for most 1,00 point scorers behind UNC, Duke and Louisville.

Burton is also seeking to be in rare Irish company. He is currently averaging 20.5 ppg and a team best 3.1 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 40.4 percent from deep, which leads all schools. For perspective, the Irish converted 33.4 percent in league play last year.

Overall on the year, the Irish have drained 37.8 percent from deep which ranks 30th in the country and third in the ACC.

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 42.5 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples three times since returning early January. In fact, he’s converted 46.8% from deep since Jan. 4.

Lastly, Burton’s 2.4 threes per game in league play rank eighth while Shrewsberry’s 3.0 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 13th amongst ACC players. The Indy native is also shooting a career best 49.0 percent, which ranks fifth in the league. The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 79-of-117 (.675). He’s also improved from the free-throw line where he’s converted a career best 75.4 percent.

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 14.3 ppg, up from last year’s 10.2. He’s shooting 42.6 percent, which is up from last year’s 39.8.

He’s connecting on 2.8 threes per game this season, with a .367 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 3.0 and fifth in three-point percentage at 40.7.

However, Braeden is more than just a three-point shot, take his floater for instance. He’s added to his arsenal and is shooting 52.5 percent from two-point range. Specifically, he is shooting 47.4 percent from the midrange and he’s 16-22 around the rim.

BEST TWO GUARDS / BEST BIG THREE

With Burton averaging 20.5 ppg and Shrewsberry checking in at 14.3, we were curious where that stacked up amongst guard combos in the ACC. The answer – first. Their combined 34.8 ppg tops Pitt’s 33.5 (Lowe/Leggett) and Duke’s 33.0 (Flagg/Knueppel).

So then that got us thinking, where do ND’s big three of Burton, Shrewsberry and Davis stack up amongst other ACC big threes – regardless of position? The answer was yet again number one. The Irish trio are a combined 50.3 ppg, edging out Stanford’s 49.2 (Raynaud/Blakes/Sellers).

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• Allocco boasts a true shooting percentage of 61.0 on the year.
• Kebba entered the year with just four double-digit scoring performances to his name. He posted two in the month of January, including his first career double-double at NC State.
• Speaking of Kebba, the junior is averaging 2.6 offensive rebounds/game in ACC play, which ranks eighth in the league.
• Burton is shooting 47.1 percent from two-point range. Diving deeper, he’s 48.4 percent in the paint.
• 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 56th after the Florida trip.

— ND —