28. Eye of the Tiger

CLEMSON, S.C. – After a crushing loss to SMU on their own home court, Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry met with his guys and asked them all to acknowledge if they were two feet in. If so, let’s ride. The Irish then found their fight and defeated Pitt this past Saturday, 76-72.

However, more tough tests await – two straight road games against NCAA Tournament-caliber teams. Up first is one of the hottest teams in collegiate basketball – No. 13/14 Clemson. The Tigers sit at 22-5 overall and 14-2 in ACC play. They are 13-2 at home this season.

The Irish lead the overall series against the Tigers, 9-3, and are 4-2 at Clemson. One year ago at this exact time, the Irish capped off their home season with two magical victories over Wake and Clemson. Notre Dame emerged with the 69-62 victory a season ago, in which they were led in scoring by Markus Burton and his 21 points. Tae Davis was another star of the match who scored all 18 of his points in the second half.

Can the Luck of the Irish strike again on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network?

BURTON – A WALKING BUCKET

Grab your popcorn because Markus Burton is a walking bucket. After 39 days away rehabbing his knee injury, Burton returned on Jan. 4 and has 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 11 of his 14 games since his return.

Case in point, on Feb. 12 at BC, Burton dropped a career best 32 points, marking the fourth highest point total by a Notre Dame player in an ACC game.

With all that said, Burton is now averaging 21.2 ppg in ACC play which ranks 2nd in the league behind Duke’s Cooper Flagg (21.8).

Overall on the year he’s averaging 20.3 ppg which places him 10th 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.

CHASING ACHIEVEMENTS

Burton is quickly approaching 1,000 career points. He enters Saturday’s matchup with 983. 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:

1. Austin Carr – 35 games
2. Adrian Dantley – 44
3. Tom Hawkins – 44
4. Bob Arnzen- 47
5. John Shumate – 47
6. Troy Murphy – 48
7. Markus Burton – ??? — currently at 53
8. Gary Brokaw – 58

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 20.3 ppg and a team best 3.0 apg. If those averages hold, 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 3.67 assist-to-turnover ratio – the highest in program history for a season was 3.16 by Martin Inglesby back in 2000-01.

BURTON BALLIN’

In ACC play, the sophomore sensation currently ranks second in scoring, sixth in steals (1.7), 10th in threes per game (2.0), 10th in free-throw percentage (.859) and 13th in FG% (.437).

Offensively speaking, Burton worked really hard in the offseason on his three-point shot and it shows. He went from a 30.0 percent shooter from three last year to 36.6 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples three times since returning Jan. 4 In fact, he’s converting 37.3% from deep in ACC play.

With that said, Burton is most dangerous attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He’s shooting 48.3 percent from two-point range overall. More specifically he’s 46.7 percent from the midrange and 46.9 percent from the paint.

Burton is also the team’s best free-throw shooter, converting 85.9 percent from the stripe.

BAD LUCK FOR BRAEDEN

After a zero-point showing vs. Virginia Tech on Feb. 8, Braeden Shrewsberry bounced back with 49 points over the next three games. The sophomore recorded 16 points at BC, 12 points vs Louisville and a team-high 21 points vs. SMU. Braeden averaged 16.3 ppg over that three-game span on 16-39 shooting (.410), plus 11-24 from beyond the arc (.458). And just when Braeden was finding a groove offensively, the injury bug hit with a lower abdomen strain.

CERTA-FIED BUCKET

With both Matt Allocco and Braeden Shrewsberry out with injuries for the Pitt game, Coach Shrews needed some other guards to step up and fill the void. Insert freshman guard Cole Certa who brought the home crowd to its feet when he drained three triples in a 125-second span, including one in which he sent a Pitt defender crashing into the ND bench before draining a corner three. Certa tallied all 12 of his points in the second half.

Speaking of second-half heroes vs. Pitt, you can’t not talk about J.R. Konieczny as well. The senior guard was absolutely clutch from the free-throw line, going 6-6 in the in the final 40 seconds. The Irish needed every single one of them as they ulimately emerged with the 76-72 W. He tallied all 10 of his points in the second half as well.

FINDING A 2ND HALF GEAR

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.

Three losses have been by one possession. Over the whole 2024-25 season, the Irish are 4-6 in games decided by six or fewer points.

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.

BEST TWO GUARDS / BEST BIG THREE

With Burton averaging 20.3 ppg and Shrewsberry checking in at 14.0, we were curious where that stacked up amongst guard combos in the ACC. The answer – first. Their combined 34.7 tops Duke’s Flagg/Knueppel (32.7) and Pitt’s Lowe/Leggett (32.8).

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 50.5 ppg, which tops Stanford’s trio of Raynaud/Blakes/Sellers and their 47.6.

THE TAE-KOVER

Tae Davis should be a candidate for Most Improved in the ACC. 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 shooting a career best 50.2 percent, which ranks fifth in the league in overall games. He’s also shooting a career best 75.2 percent from the free-throw line.

In ACC play, Tae is averaging 15.8 ppg on 49.2 percent shooting – the latter ranks ninth.

The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 96-of-142 (.676).

After recording just 4 points against Georgia Tech on Jan. 28, Tae has responded with seven consecutive games in double figures, including two of 20+. Tae was critical in the 2OT win at BC, dropping 20 points. Also a commonality with the Pitt win was Tae dropping a team-best 21 points.

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• According to Haslam Metrics, Notre Dame has a rating of 10.78 vs. the average opponent in potential points allowed off of second chances (ranked 14th in the country).
• Also according to Haslam, Notre Dame has done a good job preventing opponents from draining threes this year. They rank 42nd in the NCAA in defensive three-point percentage, allowing the ‘average opponent’ to make just 32.1% of their attempts from afar.
• The 14-point comeback at BC was the largest come-from-behind victory in the Coach Shrews era.
• 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.
• 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. .
• Kebba grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in win at BC and recorded the game-winning putback.
• Speaking of Kebba, the junior is averaging 2.6 offensive rebounds/game in ACC play, which ranks eighth.   
• Sir Mohammed has started in six straight games.
• Limited sample size but Sir is shooting 56.3 percent from two-point range.
• Garrett Sundra tied his career high of 11 points vs. SMU on Feb. 19.
• Sundra has made eight of his last 12 from the field, raising his field goal percentage to 60.0 percent.
• Notre Dame earned its first ever win in Charlottesville after a 74-59 victory over Virginia. Coach Shrewsberry has now defeated Virginia twice in three matchups.

— ND —