3. Georgetown on NBC Saturday

WASHINGTON D.C. – It’s a Fighting Irish kind of Saturday on NBC. Notre Dame fans can tune in at 1 p.m. ET to catch men’s basketball take on Georgetown inside the Capital One Arena. Then at 3:30 p.m. the football team hosts Virginia. Your 2-0 Irish hoops squad will endure their first road test of the young season when they travel to the nation’s capital. The Hoyas are 2-0 as well.

REVENGE ON THE MIND

Notre Dame will complete a home-and-home series with Georgetown on Saturday. Last season, the Hoyas invaded Purcell and escaped with a 72-68 OT thriller.

In that matchup, Notre Dame rallied down nine against Georgetown in the second half to take a lead with eight seconds remaining. However, the Hoyas got the tying basket with 1.2 seconds left and then sealed it in OT. Markus Burton led the Irish with 17 points.

Notre Dame trails the overall series, 13-17, with a 5-7 record in Washington D.C. They look to break a three-game skid in the series, claiming their first victory since their Big East days in 2010. Four of their last 17 matchups have gone to overtime.

The Irish are no strangers to Capital One Arena for they just competed there in the ACC Tournament last March.

Not only is revenge on the mind of the Irish, but a sense to change their road narrative as well. Last season, Notre Dame went just 2-10 in road matchups with the wins coming at Georgia Tech and Louisville.

NOTRE DAME ON NBC

It’s been a long-standing partnership for between NBC and Notre Dame football; however, it’s been a hot minute since the men’s basketball team has been on the station.

The last time Irish men’s hoops was on NBC, it was Notre Dame vs. Providence on Feb. 28, 1998. On Saturday, at 1 p.m. ET, the Irish return to the station and the game will lead into the Notre Dame football vs. Virginia matchup at 3:30 p.m.

TAE FEELING BULLISH

It was the Tae Davis breakout game in the 86-77 win over Buffalo in game two of the season. The junior poured in a career high 27 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Plus he drained a career best 12-of-13 from free-throw line. Davis got it done in crunch time as well, scoring 13 of Notre Dame’s final 15 points.

The trio of Davis, Shrewsberry and Burton combined for 43 of the team’s 48 points in the second half.  Burton flirted with what would have been just the program’s second ever triple-double. The sophomore guard supplied 19 points, a career high nine rebounds and a career-high tying eight assists. Shrewsberry scored all 13 of his second-half points in the opening 7.5 minutes and finished with 19 in the game.

OFFENSE CHURNING IN YEAR TWO

In year one under Coach Shrews, the Irish only produced three games with 80 or more points, averaging 64.0 ppg. In year two, Coach promised pace and a more prolific offense and we are getting just that so far.

The Irish have won back-to-back games, scoring 80+ points in both. In fact, they are averaging 87.5 ppg, shooting a blistering 50.8 percent from the field.

They are being led by a dangerous trio of shooters in Burton, Shrewsberry and Davis. All of whom are averaging betwen 18-19 ppg. Braeden is a hot 13-for-22 from the field (.591) and 6-for-11 from three-point range (.545).

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR BURTON

Point guard Markus Burton looks to continue his ascent in collegiate basketball for his sophomore season. He went from winning Mr. Indiana Basketball as a high school senior to stepping on his home court in Purcell Pavilion and making an immediate impact with the Irish. He won the 2024 ACC Freshman of the Year Award (the first ND player to do so) and also took home Third Team All-ACC honors.

Before the 2024-25 season has officially gotten underway, Burton has collected more awards/recognition. First, the ACC named him a Preseason First Team selection. Burton’s 17.5 ppg is the third highest returning scoring average in the ACC behind North Carolina’s RJ Davis (21.2) and Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis (18.0 ppg).

Next, it was the Naismith Starting 5 – Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Top 20 Preseason Watch List. This prestigious award honors the best point guards in men’s college basketball and is presented by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Burton is the first Irish point guard to be named to the Bob Cousy Top-20 Preseason Watch List since Matt Farrell (2017-18 Watch List).

Shortly after, ESPN.com announced its top-100 players ahead of the 2024-25 season. Burton landed at No. 40.

Last but not least, the Naismith Trophy added Burton to their College Player of the Year Watch List. A total of 50 players were named to the preseason list.

SHREWSBERRY SIGNS HIGHEST-RATED ND RECRUITING CLAS IN THE MODERN ERA

When Micah Shrewsberry became the Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Men’s Basketball Head Coach he told fans to jump on now because the train was taking off. Said recruiting train built massive momentum that ultimately materialized in Notre Dame’s highest-rated recruiting class in the modern era.

Tommy Ahneman, Ryder Frost, Jalen Haralson and Brady Koehler all signed their Athletic Aid Agreement on Wednesday and officially became Irish. The class is ranked fourth in the nation by 247Sports, fifth by ESPN, fifth by Rivals and sixth by ON3. It’s also the top-rated class in the state of Indiana; second overall in the ACC.

“We are very proud of the four who signed with us this morning. They are all tremendous young men and fantastic basketball players who will represent Notre Dame on and off the court at a high level. When we as a staff began focusing on this class, we had a clear vision for what we wanted. We were looking to improve our skill level, size, and athleticism, and we were able to land four of our top priority recruits, in what can only be described as an elite recruiting class.” – Coach Shrews

FROM LEAST TO MOST

When Coach Shrewsberry took over the Notre Dame job, he had to start at the ground-level. In fact, Notre Dame only returned 35 points at this point last year, which equated to 1.6% of scoring returning. That number ranked in the bottom five of Division-I schools. However, this year is quite a different story.

The Irish return the most scoring in the ACC by a landslide. With a solid young core of seven returnees (Markus Burton, Braeden Shrewsberry, Tae Davis, Julian Roper II, J.R. Konieczny, Kebba Njie, Logan Imes), Notre Dame returns 85.6 percent of its scoring. The next highest is Wake Forest at 59.8 percent.

In addition, the Irish return the third highest percentage of minutes in the country at 83.9 percent. Navy (91.3) and Wofford (84.3) hold the top two spots.

— ND —