29. Senior Day vs. the Wolfpack on Saturday

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Three guaranteed games remain for the Fighting Irish (12-16, 3-12), with the next two being inside Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame will host NC State (19-9, 10-5) on Saturday, Feb. 28, at Noon ET on the CW, followed by Stanford on Wednesday, March 4, at 9 p.m. The Irish will conclude the regular season on the road at Boston College on March 7.

The Wolfpack enter the matchup tied for 4th place in the ACC standings after losing three of the last four: Louisville, Miami, and Virginia, but with a win vs. UNC.

NC State is fueled by an impressive offense that ranks 18th in A/TO ratio (1.71), 22nd in threes/game (10.5), 11th in 3PT FG% (.390) and 29th in scoring offense (84.0). Their attack is evenly balanced as well, with four players averaging 13 points in ACC play: Ven-Allen Lubin (13.9), Darrion Williams (13.7), Paul McNeil Jr (13.3) & Quadir Copeland (13.2).

Now obviously this is the first time a Coach Shrews-led Irish squad will face off against a Coach Wade-led Wolfpack team; however, with that said, the last 3 matchups between these 2 programs have been incredibly close:

– L, 65-66, on 1/8/25

– L, 52-54, on 1/3/24

– L, 82-85, on 1/24/23

Notre Dame trails the all-time series, 10-11, and will look to garner their first win against NC State since Feb. 5, 2022.

On Saturday, the program will honor its three seniors: Kebba Njie, Carson Towt and Matt MacLellan. No better trio exemplifies what it means to be a great teammate and to bring joy on & off the court daily.

Kebba has played in 77 games in an Irish uniform, with 57 starts. He’s accumulated 484 and 524 rebounds over his 4-year career. He’s currently working toward completing his undergraduate degree in Sociology.

Carson enters Saturday’s matchup boasting 1,339 career rebounds, which ranks 59th all-time in Division I. The graduate has played in over 151 games, totaling 1,375 points.

After a successful career at the NAIA level with Madonna, Matt joined the Irish for his graduate season. He’s appeared in 8 games and is closing in on his Master’s of Science in Business Analytics.

CERTA-FIED

Cole Certa has been playing the best basketball of his collegiate career over the past month. The sophomore sharpshooter is riding a career-best 6 straight games in double figures, totaling 115 points behind 38-95 shooting (40.0%).

His 19.2 ppg in February ranks 6th amongst ACC players.

Cole is also converting 4.0 made threes per game in February, which ranks 3rd amongst Power Conference players.

On Feb. 14 vs. Georgia Tech, Cole went off for a career high 37 points in the 89-74 win over Georgia Tech. The 37 points tied Matt Farrell for the second most in an ACC game (most in regulation), trailing only Markus Burton’s 43 points in 2OT game against Cal a season ago. Cole drained a career-best seven threes, finishing 7-11. He was 12-20 from the field overall. Certa dropped 21 points in the first half, marking the first time an Irish player has done so since Markus Burton’s 22 at Syracuse on Jan. 18, 2025.

Lastly, the sophomore has recorded two 30+ point games over the last month and some change. His 2 30-burgers in ACC play trail only Ebuka Okorie’s 4. In fact, Cole owns the 3rd and 5th highest scoring performances in league play with his 37 and 34 points.

3-HEADED ATTACK

For the Notre Dame offense to find a way without its floor general Markus Burton, it’s got to lean on its three-headed attack of Jalen Haralson, Cole Certa and Braeden Shrewsberry. The last two losses have been tough with Haralson’s 16.3 ppg on the sideline. Cole and Braeden are averaging 15.0 and 11.2 ppg, respectively, in ACC play.

The note prior talked about Cole Certa’s offensive surge, so let’s discuss Braeden and Jalen.

Braeden will look to get back in a groove on Saturday, the same groove that saw him post 3 straight games in double figures in early February. That 3-game stretch consisted of 20 points vs. Georgia Tech, 16 at SMU and 18 vs. Florida State. He was 13-29 from three in that span.

Jalen Haralson was playing his best basketball of the season before an ankle injury sidelined him for 3 straight games. He had produced three games of 20 or more points over the last five he played: 20 vs Virginia, career high 26 at Syracuse and 23 at SMU. From Jan. 24-Feb. 10, Jalen averaged 18.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, shooting a hot 59.7%.

FRESHMAN STANDOUT JALEN HARALSON

Jalen Haralson is in a loaded ACC Rookie class and deserves consideration for the league’s All-Rookie Team. Haralson is averaging a team best 16.3 ppg in ACC play. That number ranks 5th amongst ACC freshman. He shoots an efficient 52.9% from the floor in league play which ranks 7th overall amongst ACC players in any class.

ACC Rookie Averages in League Play:

1. Ebuka Okorie, 22.7

2. Cameron Boozer, 22.5

3. Caleb Wilson, 20.1

4. Thijs De Ridder, 16.5

5. Jalen Haralson, 16.3

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 played.

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).

SHREWSBERRY LEADING FROM THREE

Braeden Shrewsberry continues to prove he’s one of the best from deep, ranking 4th in the ACC in three-point shooting percentage at 40.0%. That number also ranks 45th in the country. He’s converting 2.8 made threes per game which ranks 3rd in the league.

Shrewsberry’s sweet spot? The corner three – where he’s draining 50.0%, which is 14.1% 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 78 threes on the year. For comparison, he recorded 78 as a freshman and 72 in a shortened sophomore campaign.

BRAEDEN CAREER ACCOLADES

Speaking of Shrewsberry making it rain, the junior 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 228 career made threes. He is now 9 away (237) from moving into the program’s top-10.

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Towt’s current rebounding rankings:

• 9.3 rpg ranks 26th nationally, 4th in the ACC
• 3.7 offensive rpg – 1st in ACC/14th in country
• 5.7 defensive rpg – 5th in ACC
• 1,339 career rebounds – leads all active players
• His 1,339 career rebounds have pushed him into the top-100 all-time list at #59.

KOEHLER EARNS STARTING ROLE

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 10 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.

Overall, Koehler has recorded 4 double-digit scoring performances over the last 8 games — 16 points vs. Virginia; 11 points at #24 Louisville; 11 points at SMU, 14 vs. #1 Duke.

Against #1 Duke, Koehler scored the team’s first 9 points of the game before finishing with 14 on 5-9 shooting.

He now averages 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, in ACC play on 48.7% shooting, 13-32 (40.6%) from three.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• The Irish are 10 wins away from 2,000 all-time. They would become the eighth program to achieve this feat.
• Certa is averaging a team-best 16.6 ppg against ranked opposition.
• Brady Koehler has been excellent in the midrange, where he’s shooting  57.9%.
• Logan Imes recently produced back-to-back games in double figures for the first time of his career, filling in for the injured Jalen Haralson. He produced 12 points at Pitt, and the game prior vs. Georgia Tech, Logan delivered a career high 14 points on 6-12 shooting (2-4 from three).
• Cole is 75-83 from the free-throw line. His 90.4% leads all ACC players and would rank 2nd for a season at ND. Steve Vasturia holds the top spot at 91.0%.
• Garrett Sundra is 9 for his last 10 from two-point range.
• Sir Mohammed thrives in the paint, where he’s shooting 51.0%.
• NET is at 93 — 2-10 in Quad 1 // 1-4 in Quad 2// 2-1 in Quad 3 / 7-1 in Quad 4.
• KenPom is at 89 — ORtg ranked 93 at 115.0 — DRtg ranked 104 at 106.0.