26. No Love Lost With Georgia Tech This Saturday

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s basketball is coming off its first trip to Dallas since 1990. On Saturday, the Fighting Irish (11-14, 2-10) will face a team that hasn’t defeated them inside Purcell Pavilion since 1990. Notre Dame will clash with Georgia Tech (11-14, 2-10) on Valentine’s Day with a Noon tipoff on the CW.

The Irish lead the overall series 19-14, but are an impressive 13-2 at home. In fact, the Blue & Gold have won 11 straight against the Yellow Jackets inside Purcell, with the last loss being an 80-88 OT defeat on 2/24/90.

Last season, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech played twice, with each side winning on their home court. The Yellow Jackets won 86-75 in Atlanta, before the Irish got revenge a month later with a 71-68 victory in the Bend.

In that win, Markus Burton popped off for 26 points and Kebba Njie led the team in rebounding with nine. In two games vs. Georgia Tech, Braeden Shrewsberry averaged 13.5 points with a 6-13 effort from three. Coach Shrewsberry will have to rely on this young crew coming together (without Burton & Njie) to put together stops along with points on the board. Offensively speaking, the Irish have found success as of late, but more on that later.

The implications for Saturday’s game loom large – the Irish need to secure a win to push toward claiming a spot in the ACC Tournament. A win would certainly build with ND heading into a bye followed by another pivotal matchup vs. Pitt. momentum this month to claim a spot in the ACC Tournament. Important to note that Notre Dame does not play Wake Forest this season.

Georgia Tech has lost six straight since earning a tough road win at NC State on Jan. 17. They are coming off a 67-83 defeat to Wake Forest at home. Offensively speaking, Georgia Tech’s five starters lead a fairly balanced attack with all five averaging points in the 9-15 range. Baye Ndongo nearly averages a double-double at 12.7 points & 8.2 rebounds.

An interesting matchup to watch – Georgia Tech’s three point shooting vs. Notre Dame’s three point defense. GT’s highest statistical ranking is their 36.8% from three – 46th nationally & 4th in the ACC. On the flip side, ND ranks 5th in the league in 3PT FG% defense in ACC play, holding opponents to 31.7%.

LAST 5 GAMES BOX TELL A STORY OF OFFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT

The Irish offense, which struggled many times to find a groove in January, has shown improvement over the last five games. Over the first six ACC games, Notre Dame averaged 69.0 ppg on 41.4% shooting. Over the last five games, a different story – 78.8 ppg on 46.0% shooting.

In that five-game timespan, Notre Dame’s three-headed monster of Jalen Haralson, Cole Certa and Braeden Shrewsberry, are all averaging at least 15 ppg.

Jalen Haralson is playing his best basketball of the season. He’s produced three game of 20 or more points over the last five. He’s averaging 18.4 points, 4.0 rebounds & 3.5 assists in that timeframe, shooting a hot 59.3% from the field. There are only 3 players averaging 18 points, 4 rebounds & 3.5 assists since Jan. 27 (last 5 games):

– Jalen Haralson

– Cameron Boozer

– Mikel Brown Jr.

Jalen’s top game – 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

Then there’s the three point barrage duo of Cole Certa and Braeden Shrewsberry, who  average 17.8 points and 15.4 points, respectively. over the last five. The duo have combined for 39 three-pointers in that span.

Cole’s top game – a career high 34 points vs #17 Virginia. For Braeden, he’s coming off back-to-back games in double figures (18 vs FSU & 16 at SMU), totaling 34 points on a combined 9-21 from three.

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 averaging a team best 15.7 ppg in ACC play. That number ranks 4th amongst ACC freshman, just ahead of De Ridder. He’s registered double digit points in all but 3 games and has earned six games of 20+ — three in ACC play over the last five games.

He shoots an efficient 51.2% from the floor in league play – which ranks 7th amongst ACC players.

Jalen is strong and shifty when attacking the rim, converting 69.3% from within 4.5 feet. The Fishers, Indiana, native shoots 53.9% overall from two-point range, in addition to leading the team in free throw attempts (6.0 per game).

Two performances in particular have stood above the rest, starting with his career high 26 points at Syracuse. Jalen only missed one shot in the 2nd half where he totaled 19 of those points.

Then back on December 5, Jalen played hero at TCU, hitting a buzzer beater to force overtime. Down two with three seconds remaining, Haralson hit a step-back fadeaway jumper to tie it at 76-all. Haralson finished the night with 20 points & a career high 9 assists. Other ND greats over the last three decades to match Jalen’s stat line of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists and 1 block: Jerian Grant in 2015 / Chris Thomas 3x (twice in 2002 and once in 2005).

SHREWSBERRY LEADING FROM THREE

Braeden Shrewsberry continues to prove he’s one of the best from deep, ranking 2nd in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 42.1%. That number also ranks 28th in the country. He’s converting 2.9 made threes per game which ranks 4th in the league.

Shrewsberry’s sweet spot? The corner three – where he’s draining 55.0%, which is 19.3% above the Division I average. 

His best performance from beyond the arc came against Evansville when Shrewsberry scored a career-high 26 points behind a career-high 8 three pointers, shooting 80% from three (8-10). His 8 made triples tied for the 7th most in a game all-time in program history.

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

BRAEDEN CAREER ACCOLADES

Junior guard Braeden Shrewsberry reached the 1,000-point career milestone at SMU on Feb. 10, doing so in 84 games. He became the 69th Notre Dame player all-time to reach the milestone. That number ties

Louisville for 3rd most all-time behind Duke (70) & UNC (81).

Braeden also enters Saturday’s matchup with 222 career made threes, which ranks 14th all-time. 15 more made threes (237) would move him into the program top-10.

LAST TIME OUT

Notre Dame looked offensively sound but dropped an 81-89 shootout to SMU in Dallas on Tuesday night. The Fighting Irish erased a 10-point first-half deficit and claimed a three-point lead in the second half. That’s when the Mustangs fired off a 19-2 run, but even then, the Irish battled back within six multiple times, but just couldn’t get over the hump by the final buzzer.

Notre Dame shot over 50 percent in each half, finishing the game 31-58 from the field. SMU countered with a strong shooting performance as well, finishing 32-61. The Mustangs used their size as a major strength, outrebounding ND, 38-26, to boast a 17-8 advantage in second-chance points.

Four Irish finished in double figures, led by Jalen Haralson’s 23 points on 9-13 shooting. Braeden Shrewsberry and Cole Certa each supplied 16 points, combining for a 9-18 night from three-point range. Lastly, Brady Koehler posted 11 points on 4-5 shooting, plus six rebounds.

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 7 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 had 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.

Overall, Koehler has recorded 3 double-digit scoring performances over the last 5 games — 16 points vs. Virginia; 11 points at #24 Louisville; 11 points at SMU.

Koehler is shooting 51.9% from two-point range, but he’s been at his best in the midrange where he’s 58.8%.

Lastly, Koehler is averaging 7.6 points & 4.0 rebounds in ACC play on 47.5% shooting, plus 10-25 (40.0%) from three.

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Towt’s current rebounding rankings:

• 9.3 rpg ranks 28th nationally, 4th in the ACC
• 3.5 offensive rpg – 2nd in ACC/20th in country
• 5.8 defensive rpg – 5th in ACC
• 1,310 career rebounds – leads all active players
• His 1,310 career rebounds have pushed him into the top-100 all-time list at #81.

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.
• Shrewsberry has produced back-to-back games in double figures (18 vs FSU & 16 at SMU), totaling 34 points on a combined 9-21 from three.
• Shrewsberry is also finding tremendous success in the midrange, where he’s 46.2% (12-26).
• Koehler boasts the 2nd-best three-point shooting percentage on the team at 38.5%.
• Certa has produced 3 straight games in double figures, tying his career best mark. He’s totaled 48 points behind 13-34 shooting from three.
• Certa is 61-68 from the free-throw line. His 89.7% would rank 3rd for a season at ND. Steve Vasturia holds the top spot at 91.0%.
• NET is at 88 — 2-10 in Quad 1 // 1-2 in Quad 2// 2-1 in Quad 3 / 6-1 in Quad 4.
• KenPom is at 81 — ORtg ranked 86 at 114.0 — DRtg ranked 94 at 104.3.

— ND —