25. Irish Make First Trip to Dallas since 1990

DALLAS – If you are a Notre Dame fan in the Dallas area, Tuesday night is your night, for the men’s basketball team will be making its first trip to Moody Coliseum since 1990. The Fighting Irish (11-13, 2-9) will look to turn things around with a potential big win at SMU (16-7, 5-5) Tuesday night at 7 pm ET on ACC Network

The Irish are fighting to build some momentum this month to claim a spot in the ACC Tournament. They are currently in the clump of five teams with two ACC wins apiece. The big thing for Notre Dame is that they will still play three of the four teams they are tied with: Georgia Tech, Pitt, and Boston College. The other team, Wake Forest, is the one team not on ND’s schedule.

Over the last two weeks, SMU has defeated FSU by three, lost back-to-back games to Louisville and NC State, but then bounced back with an 86-67 win at Pitt. The Mustangs are led by Boopie Miller’s 18.1 points and 6.3 assists per game. He’s shot an efficient 46.4% in league play.

Haslam Analytics breakdown:

SMU is rated 23rd in offensive efficiency, scoring more than 124 points every 100 possessions vs. AO (average opponent). SMU is an outstanding shooting team, capable of converting from a variety of locations on the floor and ranking in the top-50 in each of our four most noteworthy field goal categories. The long-ball may be their strength (39.4% from three vs. AO, 14th in the nation), but the team also makes 65.1% of their near-proximity shots (31st), 45.0% of their mid-range chances (20th), and 50.5% of their total shots from the field (15th) vs. AO. Defensively, they rank 74th nationally in efficiency.

If successful, Notre Dame would achieve a Quad 1 win with SMU’s NET at 34. It would mark their third Quad 1 win, joining TCU & Stanford. It would also mark their third true road win of the season, tying last year’s mark.

Last year, the Mustangs visited South Bend and left with a 97-73 win. Braeden Shrewsberry finished the evening with a team-best 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, knocking down 5-8 from deep. In addition, Garrett Sundra tied his career high of 11 points. He was 3-4 from the field, 2-3 from deep and 3-3 from the free-throw line

LAST 2 WEEKS RECAP

FLORIDA STATE

Notre Dame was able to erase an 18-point deficit at home to Florida State, claiming its first lead of the game off a Logan Imes three-pointer with 2:07 remaining. The Seminoles immediately countered with a three, their 15th of the game. Later, the Irish down three with six seconds left, had two cracks at it to tie the game, but both rimmed out as they fell 79-82.

The 15 Florida State three-pointers marked the most drained against the Irish all season. Notre Dame showed plenty of heart in the second half where they outscored Florida State, 47-41, shooting 51.5% from the field.

Braeden Shrewsberry led the Irish with 18 points on his birthday, recording four assists and five rebounds as well. Cole Certa scored 11 of his 14 points in the second half. The two combined for eight made threes. Jalen Haralson also supplied 11 points in the second half, finishing with 15.

VIRGINIA

Let’s start with the 97-100 heartbreaking double overtime loss to #17 Virginia. It was a game in which the Irish tasted victory on multiple occasions: ND built a 19-point first-half lead, fell into a four-point deficit in the second half, rallied back to go up six points with two minutes remaining, had a shot at the end of regulation to walk it off, and then was one defensive stand away at the end of the first overtime.

“Not into moral victories, but we are about the process. We are about using every opportunity to learn and get better,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “These dudes keep coming, keep fighting, keep competing and try to play their best basketball as the season goes on. I wanted this so bad for them with how hard they’re working. They put it out there, all on the line, against a really good team.”

Cole Certa went off with a career high 34 points on 10-19 shooting from the floor, 5-13 from three and 9-11 from the free-throw line. Certa’s 34 points are the most by a Notre Dame player against an AP-ranked team since Nov. 26, 2008, when Kyle McAlarney scored 39 in a loss to No. 1 UNC. His 34 points were also the third most by a Notre Dame player in an ACC game, trailing just Markus Burton (43 vs Cal) and Matt Farrell (37 vs Boston College).

The game also witnessed a tremendous showing from freshman Brady Koehler. The 6-10 forward out of Fishers, Indiana, dropped his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Koehler also recorded a season-high three steals and season-high tying four blocks.

SYRACUSE

At Syracuse on Jan. 31, the Irish just couldn’t get over the hump in the 2nd half, whether it was piecing it together defensively, or a critical error that served as an offensive rally killer.

Case in point, a Certa three-pointer would cut the deficit to eight points, but an Irish technical led to a 5-point Syracuse swing that would balloon into a 14-point Orange lead. Later, another Certa triple brought the Irish within six for the first time since the 11:13 mark of the first half, making it a 60-66 ballgame. Yet the wave of momentum was quickly seized when a Syracuse three at the shot clock buzzer sparked a 9-0 run, resulting in a 15-point deficit.

Jalen Haralson recorded a superb 2nd half, missing only one shot and scoring 19 points. He finished with a career high of 26. He finished with a career high of 26.

LOUISVILLE

Notre Dame showed some grit on the road against a top-25 team, but a late scoring surge from the #24/23 Louisville Cardinals was the difference maker in a 65-76 defeat. The Fighting Irish started hot with an early nine-point lead and trailed by six at the half. Notre Dame fought to pull within four at 9:29, but that’s when the Cardinals produced a 16-1 scoring run.

Cole Certa led the Irish with 18 points, draining five triples on the night. Brady Koehler also secured double-digit points with 11 on 4-10 shooting. The freshman also netted four steals and two blocks.

Coach Shrewsberry:

“I thought we didn’t finish the ball well. We had some turnovers at the wrong opportunities. It doesn’t have to be perfect. We have to take advantage of situations that are advantageous for us.

“The competitive juices were there for us. The competition level was there. We’re doing that, I don’t care about anything else.”

LAST 5 GAME BOX TELL A STORY OF OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT

The Irish offense, which struggled many times to find a groove in January, has shown improvement as of late. What if I told you, without Markus Burton’s 19 ppg, this Irish squad was averaging 76.2 ppg over the last 5 games. In that timespan, Notre Dame’s three-headed monster of Jalen Haralson, Cole Certa and Braeden Shrewsberry are all averaging at least 16 ppg.

Jalen Haralson is currently on the best stretch of his season. The super freshman has totaled 86 points over the last 5 games (17.2 ppg), shooting a hot 57.4% (31-54 FG). He’s also produced a team best 19 assists in that span (3.8 apg)

Jalen highlights include:

• 1st 20-point ACC game with 20 vs. #17 Virginia.
• Followed that with a career high 26 points at Syracuse, with 19 coming in the 2nd half on 6-7 shooting. Not to mention, a dunk worthy of the SportsCenter Top-10

Cole Certa has totaled 82 points over the last 2 weeks (16.4 ppg). Between Cole and Braeden, the two have drained a total of 33 three-pointers in that span.

Cole highlights include:

• Career high 34 points vs #17 Virginia
• 5 made triples at #24 Louisville to total 18 points.

Speaking of Braeden, the junior has amassed 83 points (16.6 ppg) over the last 5 games on 40.6% shooting (28-69 FG).

Braeden highlights include:

• At Syracuse: 17 points behind 3 triples & 3-4 from two.
• #17 Virginia — Scored 15 of his 18 points in the 1st half where he was 4-4 from three, 5-8 overall.
• Team high 18 points vs. FSU.

FRESHMAN STANDOUT JALEN HARALSON

With such a talented ACC freshman class, Notre Dame freshman guard Jalen Haralson has flown a little under the national radar and we are here to sing his praises as to why he should be considered for ACC All-Rookie Team and All-ACC consideration. Haralson is currently averaging 15.2 ppg which ranks fifth amongst ACC freshmen. He’s registered double-digit points in all but three games and has earned five games of 20+ — two in ACC play recently against Virginia & Syracuse.

He averages a team-best 15.7 ppg in ACC play, shooting an efficient 51.2% from the floor – the latter ranks 7th in the league.

Jalen is strong and shifty when attacking the rim, converting 69.5% from within 4.5 feet. The Fishers, Indiana, native shoots 53.0% overall from two-point range, in addition to leading the team in free throw attempts (6.0 per game).

SHREWSBERRY LEADING FROM THREE

Braeden Shrewsberry continues to prove he’s one of the best from deep, ranking 3rd in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 41.4%. That number also ranks 29th in the country. He’s converting 2.8 made threes per game, which ranks 4th in the league.

Shrewsberry’s sweet spot? The corner three – where he’s draining 57.9%, which is 22.2% above the Division I average. 

Against Miami on Jan. 13, Braeden reached the 200 career made threes milestone, becoming the 14th Irish player all-time to do so. He now sits at 217 in his career.

Braeden has drained 67 threes on the year. For comparison, he recorded 78 as a freshman and 72 in a shortened sophomore campaign.

SEEKING RECORD BOOK #1

Notre Dame fans know Cole Certa can get hot from three and light up the scoreboard in multiple fashions, but I bet they don’t know that the sophomore guard is one of the best free throw shooters in the nation. Certa currently ranks 13th in the country & 1st in the ACC from the stripe.

Certa started the year 27-27 from the free-throw line and is now an impressive 61-67 (91.0%).

If he can keep up this pace from the line, he would rank first all-time for a season at Notre Dame. The current placeholder is Steve Vasturia at 91.0%.

KOEHLER SHOWING HIS POTENTIAL

Freshman Brady Koehler produced a career high 17 points at Virginia Tech, pouring in 15 in the 2nd half. Overall, he was 5-7 from the field, plus 2-3 from three & 5-6 from the stripe. Since that performance, Koehler has started in 6 straight.

Fast forward to Virginia on Jan. 27 and the freshman impressed yet again. Koehler was all over the stat sheet, recording his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds (career high). He got it done from the free-throw line, where he was a personal best 9-10. He also tied his career high of 4 blocks and set a new high for steals with 3.

Koehler recently had an 11-point showing at #24 Louisville, where he went 2-5 from three, recorded 4 blocks & set a new high in steals with 4.

Koehler is shooting 50.0% from two-point range, but he’s been at his best in the midrange, where he’s 53.3%.

Lastly, Koehler is averaging 7.3 points in ACC play on 44.6% shooting, plus 9-24 (37.5%) from three.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• The Irish are 11 wins away from 2,000 all-time. They would become the eighth program to achieve this feat.
• Certa is averaging a team-best 17.3 ppg against ranked opposition.
• 3 Irish average double figures in ACC play: Haralson (15.7), Certa (12.9) & Shrewsberry (11.5).
• NET is at 89 — 2-10 in Quad 1 // 1-1 in Quad 2// 2-1 in Quad 3 / 6-1 in Quad 4.
• KenPom is at 83 — ORtg ranked 95 at 113.7 — DRtg ranked 83 at 104.2.
• Haslam Metrics on Notre Dame’s defense: ranked 96th in defensive efficiency and allow fewer than 106 points every 100 possessions vs. AO. Notre Dame does a fantastic job to prevent opposing teams from capitalizing on chances from offensive rebounds. The squad allows AO to convert only 3.6% of all second-chance opportunities (ranked 16th in the NCAA), and with a rating of 11.33, they’re 25th in potential points allowed off of the offensive glass as well. Notre Dame has also had some success this season preventing opponents from converting many of their overall field goal attempts. The team ranks #63 nationally in field goal percentage allowed, as AO only makes good on about 41.9% of their total attempts from the floor.

— ND —