25. Sunday Night Showdown with the Cards

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Fighting Irish (11-13, 5-8) men’s basketball team will look to build on the confidence gained when they flipped the script at Boston College. Notre Dame can certainly send a message by knocking off a projected NCAA Tournament team on Sunday in Louisville.

Feb. 16 will mark the 46th rendition of Notre Dame vs. Louisville. The Irish trail in the overall series 19-26 but have won four straight. Furthermore, the Irish boast an 11-8 record against the Cardinals when playing at home. Sunday will mark the first rendition of Micah Shrewsberry vs. Pat Kelsey.

Before the BC game, Coach Shrews addressed the team and said, “Hunt adversity, love the challenge. That’s us right now. Love the challenge.”

Here’s the challenge — the Irish have the toughest remaining schedule of any ACC team. Louisville, Clemson and Wake Forest are all projected in the 2025 NCAA Tournament field, while Pitt and SMU are amongst the first eight out according to ESPN. With that said, what an absolutely great opportunity for this young Irish squad.

FLIP THE SCRIPT

Notre Dame men’s hoops developed a certain narrative over the ACC season of building double-digit first-half leads, only to falter down the stretch and lose close. Virginia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Syracuse and NC State all followed the same script.

Now, the Irish have been in every ACC game. Case in point, their average margin of defeat has been just 5.5. Overall on the year, the Irish are 3-6 in games decided by six or fewer points. But to Coach Shrews’ point it’s about putting 40 minutes all together.

What was great to see in the Boston College double-overtime win on Feb. 12 was the fact that Notre Dame flipped the script. They trailed the Eagles by 14 points with 14 minutes left in the game. However, this time around they were the team clawing back, they were the team giving the other fits. Even in double OT when a player was ejected and BC retook the lead, the Irish remained calm, dug deep and gutted out the 97-94 win.

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 since. 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 nine of his 11 games since his return. He’s coming off a career high 32-point performance at BC on Feb. 12. It marked the fourth-highest point total by a Notre Dame player in an ACC game.

With that said, he’s now averaging 23.0 ppg in ACC play, surpassing Duke’s Cooper Flagg for tops in the league.

Overall on the year he’s averaging 21.3 ppg which places him fifth nationally. For perspective, 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 22.5 ppg which would rank him second nationally.

CHASING ACHIEVEMENTS

Burton is quickly approaching 1,000 career points. He enters Sunday’s Louisville matchup with 939. He is currently on pace to become the seventh fastest Irish player to reach 1,000 career points, putting his name alongside the all-time greats:

Austin Carr – 35 games

Adrian Dantley/Tom Hawkins – 44

Bob Arnzen/John Shumate – 47

Troy Murphy – 48

Markus Burton – ???

Gary Brokaw – 58

Chris Thomas – 60

He would become the program’s 68th 1,000-point scorer which would move Notre Dame into fourth place for most 1,000 point scorers behind UNC, Duke and Louisville.

There’s another rare list Burton can write his name on as well. He is currently averaging 21.3 ppg and a team best 2.9 apg. If Burton can get the assist average above three, he’ll join David Rivers as the only Irish players to average 20+ points and 3+ assists in a season.

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.

BURTON BALLIN’

With Burton, we’ve talked about his scoring prowess and what records await, but let’s dive a little deeper. In ACC play, the sophomore sensation currently ranks first in scoring, second in steals (2.0), eighth in threes per game (2.2) and 10th in free-throw percentage (.845).

Defensively speaking, Burton leads the Irish in 2.0 steals per game. He’s recorded three consecutive games with a minimum of three steals.   

Offensively speaking, Burton worked really hard in the offseason on his three-point shot and it shows. He went from a 30.0 percent from three shooter last year to 38.8 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples three times since returning Jan. 4 In fact, he’s converting 40.7% from deep in ACC play.

Burton is also the team’s best free-throw shooter, converting 84.5 percent from the stripe. In ACC play, Burton ranks seventh in free throws made per game (4.5).

THE TAE-KOVER

Tae Davis should be a candidate for Most Improved. He’s averaging a career best 15.8 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 49.1 percent, which ranks fifth in the league in overall games.

The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 86-of-128 (.672). He’s also improved from the free-throw line where he’s converted a career best 75.5 percent.

In ACC play, Tae is averaging 15.7 ppg on 47.1 percent shooting.

After recording just four points against Georgia Tech on Jan.28, Tae has responded with four consecutive games in double figures in which his points total has increased in each. The most recent being a 20-point performance at Boston College on Feb. 12.

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 13.8 ppg, up from last year’s 10.2. He’s shooting 41.5 percent, which is up from last year’s 39.8.

He’s connecting on 2.6 threes per game this season, with a .356 clip from beyond the arc. Shrewsberry’s sweet spot has been the corner three where he’s 14-31 (.452).

Shrewsberry is connecting on 38.0 percent from deep in ACC play, which ranks sixth.

However, Braeden is more than just a three-point shot, take his floater for instance. He’s added to his arsenal and is shooting 50.9 percent from two-point range. Specifically, he is shooting 46.3 percent from the midrange.

BEST TWO GUARDS / BEST BIG THREE

With Burton averaging 21.3 ppg and Shrewsberry checking in at 13.8, we were curious where that stacked up amongst guard combos in the ACC. The answer – first. Their combined 35.1 tops Pitt’s Lowe/Leggett and Duke’s Flagg/Knueppel.

So then that got us thinking, where do ND’s big three of Burton, Shrewsberry and Davis (15.8 ppg) stack up amongst other ACC big threes – regardless of position. The answer was yet again number one.

The Irish trio are a combined 50.9 ppg, which tops Stanford’s trio of Raynaud/Blakes/Sellers and their 48.4.

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• The 14-point comeback was the largest come from behind win in the Coach Shrews era.
• The Irish completed a season sweep against Boston College for the first time since 2019.
• Burton’s 32-point performance at BC was not only a career high but the fourth highest point total for an Irish player in an ACC game.
• Burton has been ramping up his defensive pressure. He now ranks second in the ACC in steals/game at 2.0.
• Notre Dame was a perfect 16-16 from the free-throw line against Virginia Tech on Feb. 8. It marked the third best free-throw shooting percentage game in program history.
• Allocco boasts a true shooting percentage of 61.0 on the year.
• Kebba grabbed a career high 12 rebounds in win at BC and recorded the game-winning putback.
• Speaking of Kebba, the junior is averaging 2.9 offensive rebounds/game in ACC play, which ranks fifth.

— ND —