30. Final Homestand Starts Wednesday Night With Stanford

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team gets to end the regular season at home, hosting two games inside Purcell Pavilion with two opponents that are new to the ACC and haven’t played here in quite some time. The first challenge is Stanford on Wednesday, March 5, at 9:05 p.m. ET on ESPNU. The Irish are 3-0 all-time against the Cardinal, a team they haven’t matched up with since 1993. Then Notre Dame hosts Cal in the regular-season finale on Saturday, March 8, at 4 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

Notre Dame enters the week in a tie for 13th place. One of the teams they are tied with is Cal (13-16, 6-12). There’s another group of three tied at 7-11, just one game in front of the Irish (FSU, Pitt, Virginia). The only team that could technically catch the Irish are the Wolfpack at 4-14. NC State plays Pitt and Miami this week. The ACC Tournament begins on Tuesday, March 11, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Now back to the task at hand. To topple Stanford, the Irish will have to figure out how to stop one of the best big men in the country, Maxime Raynaud. He ranks 15th nationally in points per game (20.2), fourth nationally in rebounds per game (10.9) and leads all DI players in double-doubles with 21.

The Irish will look to counter with sophomore sensation Markus Burton who has been putting up insane numbers over the last three games. He’s totaled 79 points in that span, good for a 26.3 ppg average. He’s shooting 48.1 percent from the floor and he’s 23-25 from the free-throw line.

Over the last three games, Tae Davis has done superb as well, averaging 17.0 ppg on 52.9 percent shooting. He’s 4-9 from three in that span.

BURTON – A WALKING BUCKET

Grab your popcorn because Markus Burton is a walking bucket. Burton has produced 20+ points in 13 of his 16 games since his return on Jan. 4. 

In his last three games, Burton has gone 20-30-29. A little further back, Burton dropped a career-best 32 points at BC on Feb 12, marking the fourth-highest point total by a Notre Dame player in an ACC game. Burton has now surpassed Bonzie Colson for most 30-point performances in ACC games with three.

With all that said, Burton is now averaging 22.3 ppg in ACC play which surpassed Duke’s Cooper Flagg (21.1) for the No. 1 spot.

Overall on the year, he’s averaging 21.1 ppg which places him seventh 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. Now here’s the kicker. If you take out his two-point Rutgers injury game in which he departed four minutes in, Burton’s average would be 22.0 ppg which would rank him third nationally.

ACHIEVEMENTS UNLOCKED

54 games. That’s all it took for Markus Burton to cross over the 1,000-career point milestone, etching his name alongside the program’s all-time greats. He became the seventh fastest Irish player to do so:

• Austin Carr – 35 games
• Adrian Dantley – 44
• Tom Hawkins – 44
• Bob Arnzen- 47
• John Shumate – 47
• Troy Murphy – 48
• Markus Burton – 54
• Gary Brokaw – 58
• Chris Thomas – 60

He also became the program’s 68th overall player to do so which moved Notre Dame into a tie with Kansas for 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 21.1 ppg and a team best 3.1 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.

MORE ON BURTON

In ACC play, the sophomore currently ranks first in scoring, eighth in free-throw percentage (.874) eighth in steals (1.6), 11th in threes per game (2.0) and 14th in FG% (.443).

Burton is most dangerous attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He’s shooting 48.4 percent from two-point range overall. More specifically he’s 45.7 percent from the midrange and 48.9 percent from the paint.

And more likely than not, Burton will get fouled attacking the basket and he’s the team’s best free-throw shooter. He is converting 86.8 percent from the stripe, which ranks 5th in the ACC. That number is up from last year’s 82.1 percent.

Furthermore, Burton worked hard in the offseason on his three-point shot and it shows. He went from a 30.0 percent shooter from three to 37.3 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples three times since returning Jan. 4 In fact, he’s converting 38.1% from deep in ACC play.   

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. The Indy native is shooting a career-best 49.7 percent, which ranks fifth in the league in overall games. He’s also shooting a career-best 73.5 percent from the free-throw line.

In ACC play, Tae is averaging 15.7 ppg on 48.5 percent shooting – the latter ranks 10th. The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 66.9 percent.

After recording just 4 points against Georgia Tech on Jan. 28, Tae has responded with nine 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.

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.

Certa almost did it again at Wake Forest. He had already drained two triples and found the ball in his hands with 10 seconds left down three, but the rim just didn’t allow it.

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. Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Miami, Syracuse and NC State all followed the same script. Protect those leads and their record would be flipped at 12-6.

Over the 2024-25 season, the Irish are 4-7 in games decided by six or fewer points. Four losses have been by one possession.

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.

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• Markus Burton broke his own record set last season (349) for most points during an ACC campaign with 356.
• Burton’s 21.1 ppg would rank him fifth all-time for sophomores at Notre Dame, trailing Adrian Dantley (30.4), Troy Murphy (22.7), Austin Carr (22.0) and Bob Arnzen (21.3) aka VERY good company.
• Over the last three games, Cole Certa is averaging a point every two minutes.
• According to Haslam Metrics, Notre Dame has a rating of 11.0 vs. the average opponent in potential points allowed off of second chances (ranked 18th in the country).
• Also according to Haslam, Notre Dame has done a good job preventing opponents from draining threes this year. They rank 45th in the NCAA in defensive three-point percentage, allowing the ‘average opponent’ to make just 31.9 percent 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 the win at BC and recorded the game-winning putback.
• Limited sample size but Sir is shooting 55.9 percent from two-point range.
• Garrett Sundra tied his career high of 11 points vs. SMU on Feb. 19.
• 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 —