32. ACC Tournament in Charlotte Starts Tuesday

CHARLOTTE – The calendar is well into March and that means high-stakes basketball. For some, it means keep the season alive or go home. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish earned a No. 12 seed in the ACC Tournament, emanating from the Queen City of Charlotte, North Carolina. The Irish will kick off ACC Tournament play inside the Spectrum Center on Tuesday, March 11, at 2 p.m. ET. The first opponent – No. 13 seed Pitt.

IRISH AT ACC TOURNEY

The Fighting Irish are 12-9 all-time in the ACC Tournament. They have reached the title game twice and took home the tournament crown back in 2015. Notre Dame’s .571 ACC Tournament winning percentage ranks fourth behind Duke, North Carolina and NC State.

Round-by-Round Record Breakdown:

1st Round: 4-2

2nd Round: 2-3

Quarterfinals: 3-2

Semifinals: 2-1

Title game: 1-1

The 2025 edition of the ACC Tournament will mark the second time Notre Dame has been the No. 12 seed (second straight year in fact). The farthest a 12-seed has gotten at ACCs is the semifinal round – it happened twice back in 2006 and 2010.

The last time Notre Dame won back-to-back games in the ACC Tournament was in 2018 at the Barclays Center, knocking off Pitt and Virginia Tech. Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry is ultimately 6-3 in league tournament action as a head coach. A season ago, the Irish knocked off Georgia Tech on day one but fell against a game Wake Forest squad in day two.

LAST TIME VS PITT

There were a total of nine ties and 12 lead changes in the game. Pitt never had a lead larger than five. Notre Dame never had a lead larger than four until a decisive 13-2 run which started with 6:51 remaining.

Tae Davis led the team in scoring with 21 points on 8-11 shooting, plus 4-6 from the charity stripe. He was followed closely by Markus Burton who dropped 20 points on 8-17 shooting. Burton also tallied six boards and three assists.

ND had two second-half heroes by the names of Cole Certa and J.R. Konieczny. They both finished in double figures and both recorded all their points in the second half. Certa caught fire and drained three triples and finished with a career high 12 points. Konieczny was clutch in the final moments where he went 6-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 10 points.

TRENDING

Markus Burton has been playing like a man possessed heading into the postseason. In fact, since Feb. 26 (over the last 4 games), no one in the country is averaging more points than Burton. The sophomore guard is averaging 31.5 ppg on 46.9 percent shooting. He’s 11-22 (.500) from beyond the arc and 39-46 (.848) from the free-throw line during that span. He’s also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals.

Burton has now surpassed Bonzie Colson for most 30-point performances in ACC games with four.

Also trending – graduate guard Matt Allocco. After missing seven games dealing with (and still is) a right-wrist injury, he came back and helped lift the Irish to back-to-back wins over Stanford and Cal. Allocco exploded for a season-high tying 24 points in the 4OT win over the Golden Bears. He tallied 10 points alone in the fourth OT period.

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 put his stamp on ACC play. He averaged 23.5 ppg in conference play which led all ACC players.

He’s twice fired off five consecutive games with 20 or more points which hadn’t been done by an Irish player since Ben Hansbrough in February of 2011. He’s currently riding a streak of five straight. All-in-all, Burton has produced 20+ points in 15 of his 18 games since his return.

Overall on the year he’s averaging 22.2 ppg which ranks him second nationally, trailing only Villanova’s Eric Dixon (23.6). 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.

Burton continues to write his name in different areas of the record book, alongside the all-time Irish greats. Here’s one for example – Burton is currently averaging 22.2 ppg and a team best 3.1 apg. If those averages hold, he’ll join Ring of Honor legend David Rivers as the only Irish players to average 20+ points and 3+ assists in a season.

Furthermore, add the clutch gene to Burton’s resume after recording a career-high 43 points in the 4OT win over Cal. The Mishawaka native dropped 21 points in the overtime periods in which he was 6-9 from the field and 4-4 from three. Burton’s 43 points were:

• the most by an Irish player in an ACC game
• most by an ND player of any game since Adrian Dantley recorded 49 against Air Force on Feb. 10, 1975
• most by any ACC player in any game this year

QUICK TO 1,000

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:

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 – 54
8. Gary Brokaw – 58

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.

MORE ON BURTON

In ACC play, the sophomore ranked first in scoring, 10th in free-throw percentage (.855) eighth in steals (1.6), seventh in threes per game (2.2) and 11th in FG% (.445).

Burton is most dangerous attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He’s shooting 47.8 percent from two-point range overall. More specifically he’s 47.4 percent from the midrange and 45.7 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 85.3 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 39.0 percent this season. He’s tied his career high of four made triples four times since returning Jan. 4, converting 40.2 percent over league play. .   

40T THRILLER

It was one of the most entertaining and thrilling Notre Dame men’s basketball games and it could only have come in March. The Fighting Irish outlasted the California Golden Bears in not one, not two, not three but four overtimes, taking it 112-10.   Notre Dame hadn’t competed in a 4OT or more game since they went 5OT deep against Louisville in 2013.

The leading scorer of the ACC, Markus Burton, was one of the many heroes with his 43 points. Hero number two was Matt Allocco who tied his season high of 24 points. Allocco stepped up in the fourth OT after Burton fouled out, dropping 10 points including an insanely clutch go-ahead three with 15 seconds left.

It was a complete team game that featured moments from so many players. J.R. Konieczny recorded 13 points and a season high eight boards. Nikita Konstantynovskyi reeled in 17 rebounds, the most since Paul Atkinson grabbed 17 vs. Syracuse on Feb. 23, 2022. Julian Roper II recorded seven points and a season high eight rebounds. Tae Davis netted 12 points before fouling out late in the second half.

THE TAE-KOVER

Tae Davis was one of the most Improved in the ACC this season. He’s averaging a career best 15.4 ppg, up from last year’s 9.2 ppg. The Indy native is shooting a career best 49.1 percent, which ranks sixth in the league in overall games. In ACC play, Tae averaged 15.2 ppg on 47.7 percent shooting – the latter ranked sixth.

The junior has been highly proficient around the rim where he’s 65.4 percent. An added bonus to his game this year has been his three-point shooting. He was 9-56 from three in his first two years of college. This season, he’s converted 16-48 (.333). Since Feb. 1, he’s 9-20 from deep.

Lastly, after recording just 4 points against Georgia Tech on Jan. 28, Tae has responded with 10 out of 12 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

February 22 – a 76-72 win over Pitt – aka the Cole Certa game. Certa recorded all 12 of his points in the 2nd half but it all stemmed from a 125-second period in which he drained 3 triples.

Then March 5 happened and that might now be dubbed the Certa game. After the Irish stormed back with a 15-0 run, Stanford counterpunched with an 8-0 run and grabbed a one-point with 18 seconds left. Tae Davis then drove the paint and dished to Certa in the corner who found nothing but net and the eventual 56-54 victory.

Certa almost did it at Wake Forest as well. 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.

NOTRE NOTABLES.

• Markus Burton broke his own record set last season (349) for most points during an ACC campaign with 423.
• Burton’s 22.2 ppg would rank him third all-time for sophomores at Notre Dame. Top-3 are Adrian Dantley (30.4), Troy Murphy (22.7) & Austin Carr (22.0).
• Nikita Konstantynovskyi reeled in a season best 17 rebounds in win over Cal. It was the most since Paul Atkinson grabbed 17 vs. Syracuse on Feb. 23, 2022.
• According to Haslam Metrics, Notre Dame has a rating of 10.67 vs. the average opponent in potential points allowed off of second chances (ranked 12th in the country).
• Also according to Haslam, Notre Dame has done a good job preventing opponents from draining threes this year. They rank 36th in the NCAA in defensive three-point percentage, allowing the ‘average opponent’ to make just 31.5 percent of their attempts from afar.
• The 14-point comeback at BC was the largest come-from-behind victory in the Coach Shrews era.
• 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.
• Last five games, Kebba is shooting 70.6 percent from two.   
• Sir is shooting 53.8 percent from two-point range.
• 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.
• Sir Mohammed will be competing in his hometown of Charlotte for the 2025 ACC Tournament.
• Julian Roper II has collected a career best 33 steals this season.

VET LEADER

Matt Allocco missed seven games due to a right wrist injury and continues to deal with it, but suited up this past week against both Stanford and Cal and was a real difference-maker.

When Coach Shrews added the grad transfer he was hoping to add two things – a talented guard with NCAA Tournament experience and a leader by every definition of the word. Coach Shrews hoped that his young core of players would pick up those characteristics and then be leaders to the next group young freshmen group coming in.

This season, Allocco has averaged 9.5 ppg on 45.8 percent shooting. He boasts a true shooting percentage number of 60.6.

He’s drained a career best 45.5 percent from three which would rank eighth all-time at Notre Dame. If Allocco’s season ended today, he would break the program record for highest A/TO ratio for a season at 3.6. Allocco also leads the team in defensive rebounds per game at 4.1.

— ND —