25. A Date With Georgia Tech

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team looks to recapture lightning in a bottle in more ways than one on Wednesday when they host Georgia Tech. There will be no love lost between these two sides on Valentine’s Day as the Irish tip off against the Yellow Jackets inside Purcell Pavilion at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

During Wednesday’s matchup, we will also be celebrating the award-winning Together Irish campaign. Through Together Irish, Notre Dame has focused its efforts on embracing and embodying inclusive excellence for the following areas: race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, spirituality, citizenship and ability. The initiative directly led to more than 30 campuswide activations during the 2022-23 academic year alone and featured participation by each of the school’s 26 varsity sports.

LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE

On Wednesday, it’ll be another return opponent for Notre Dame and it’ll be one in which they’ve defeated. The Irish will not only look to recapture lightning from a bottle from their previous gritty 75-68 overtime victory at Georgia Tech, but also grow from their 74-66 win over Virginia Tech this past Saturday.

Back on Jan. 10, the Irish earned their first true road victory and did it in overtime in Atlanta no less, outscoring the Yellow Jackets 9-2 in OT. In fact, the Irish are 2-1 in overtime games this season. It marked the Braeden Shrewsberry breakout game and he’s had a hot shooting hand ever since. Shrewsberry poured in a season high 25 points behind a season best five made three-pointers. In addition, Tae Davis and J.R. Konieczny provided the power in the paint, each recording double-doubles on the night.

Georgia Tech (10-14, 3-10 ACC) remained winless in the month of February after falling late at Louisville, 79-67, Saturday. The Yellow Jackets also lost 82-76 at NC State and 80-51 at home to Wake Forest since knocking off No. 3 North Carolina to close out the month of January. Georgia Tech’s three ACC wins have come against the ACC’s three highest-ranked teams in the NCAA’s NET rankings North Carolina (10), Duke (20) and Clemson (29). Nine of Georgia Tech’s 13 ACC games have been decided by single digits.

The Irish have claimed eight victories over the last 10 contests against Georgia Tech in the all-time series. Irish are a strong 11-2 at home against the Yellow Jackets.

LOOKING TO BUILD

Coach Shrewsberry saw the growth in his young team, just not the results yet. But on Feb. 10 vs. Virginia Tech, it clicked for the Irish and they battled past adversity to end the seven-game skid and emerge with the 74-66 win. Before the game, Coach Shrewsberry talked about how every player had a small role, how if every player did their job, all those small parts would add up to a win over the Hokies.

The Fighting Irish rallied down four at the half to outscore the Hokies 39-27 in the second half. They turned what had been a problem for most of January, which was second half starts, into a strength, starting the second on a 9-0 run. Notre Dame shot 54.2 percent in the second half and finished with their second highest assist total on the year with 14. They also tallied their second lowest turnover total at eight and out-rebounded Virginia Tech 34-28. Lastly, all nine guys who checked into the game recorded points.

BURTON JOINS ELITE COMPANY AND WINS ACC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

For the second time this season, the Atlantic Coast Conference has named Notre Dame guard Markus Burton as its Rookie of the Week. Burton joins Blake Wesley as the only other multi-time ACC Rookie of the Week winner. Burton earned the honor after pouring in a team best 19 points then posting an incredible stat line in the win over Virginia Tech.

Markus Burton balled out with an impressive stat line of 16 points, a season high tying eight assists and a season best six steals – as the latter tied for the third most steals in a single game in program history.

Burton joined very rare company with that performance. Since 1996, only two other Irish have finished with at least 16 points, eight assists and six steals in a game – Chris Thomas in 2001 and Jerian Grant in 2013.

Burton’s 12 total assists tied for the most in the ACC in that past week. His seven steals were the second most and his 35 points were the 10th most.

1ST YEAR STAMP ON THE PROGRAM – DEFENSE

The year one Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program has been the defensive intensity. 12 games and 9 different ACC opponents – all held under their season averages in every single contest, with Miami and Duke being held to season lows at that point in time.

Of the 13 ACC matchups that have already happened, only three opponents have reached the 70-point park against the Irish defense.

Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 65.8 ranks 2nd in the ACC and 37th in the country. According to KenPom, Notre Dame’s defensive efficiency ranks 43rd nationally.

In ACC play only, Notre Dame ranks 2nd in scoring defense (64.7) and 2nd in field goal percentage defense (.406).

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 16.2 ppg leads all ACC freshmen, with the next highest being Pitt’s Carlton Carrington at 13.6.
• Ranks 4th nationally amongst DI freshmen.
• 1-of-2 ACC players averaging over 16 points and 4.0 assists.
• Double-digit points in all but 2 games. He’s currently riding a 17-game streak – He’s scored at least 16 points in 4 straight games.
• Ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring, 6th in Assists (4.2) and 4th in steals (1.8).
• Averaging 4.9 assists in ACC play which ranks 4th. Also averaging 15.5 points & 2.1 steals, as the latter ranks 3rd.
• If the season ended today, Burton’s 16.2 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).
• Two-time ACC Rookie of the Week

SHREWSBERRY’S HOT HAND

Braeden Shrewsberry is really hitting his stride over the past month . The freshman has secured 8 double-digit scoring performances over the last 10 games, averaging 13.0 points – 2nd highest to Burton in that span. He’s 32-of-68 from three in that span as his 47.1 percent ranks 4th in the league in that timeframe.

Get this – since Jan. 6, Shrewsberry is averaging 3.2 made threes per game, which ranks 2nd in the ACC in that timeframe. He’s hit multiple treys in 10 straight games. Furthermore, he’s produced at least four made three-pointers in three of the last five games.

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 11.1 points in ACC play (2nd most on team), while shooting 43.2 percent from the field & 43.4 percent from beyond the arc – ranks 4th in ACC. Lastly, he averages 2.8 made threes/game in league play, which ranks 5th.

FRESHMAN RECORD WATCH

Burton still has a ways to go but it’s never too early to speculate on whether he could claim the Notre Dame freshman scoring record. The freshman guard enters Wednesday’s matchup with 388 points on the season – which would already put him in the No. 7 spot. Next up – Jerian Grant’s 418. No. 1 on the list is Trophy Murphy at 519.

From a scoring average perspective, Burton’s 16.2 ppg ranks 3rd all-time behind Troy Murphy (19.2) and Adrian Dantley (18.3).

ANOTHER FRESHMAN TRENDING

He might be flying under the radar right now but keep an eye on another freshman in Logan Imes. The Indiana native made his first collegiate start on Jan. 31 at Virginia, recording a stat line of three points, five rebounds, three assists and one turnover. In his second start at Pitt he notched four points and a season high six rebounds.

Coming off the bench on Feb. 10, Imes scored all 8 of his season high points in the 2nd half in the win vs. Virginia Tech. He went 3-fof-4 from the line (final 1:14 of the game) and hit a pivotal three-pointer with 7:23 left.

IN YOUR BAG

Markus Burton has been leading this young Irish squad all season offensively. As of late, he’s ratcheted up the defensive intensity. The starting point guard has collected 16 steals over the last 4 games. He now averages a team best 1.8 steals per game, which ranks 4th in the ACC. His 2.1 steals/game in league play ranks 3rd.

BOARDS BATTLE

One of Notre Dame’s greatest strengths this season has been its rebounding. In ACC play, the Irish rank 2nd in rebounding (36.9) and 4th in rebound margin (+2.9). In addition they rank 4th in both offensive (10.0) rebounds per game and defensive (26.9).

The Irish are 7-6 this season when out-rebounding their opponent.

SECOND HALF SURGE

Burton has had a knack for surging at the right moments in the second half. Nine times this season, Burton has scored double-digit points in the second half alone, including three times over the last four games.

Burton is averaging a team best 8.4 points in the second half.   

— ND —