32. Leave Nothing Left In The Tank

WASHINGTON D.C. – The page has turned to postseason basketball. Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry told his team to empty their tanks for there is no guarantee for tomorrow. The Fighting Irish are here in Washington D.C. to disrupt the ACC Tournament script and create chaos. To do just that, the Irish will first have to topple Georgia Tech in the first round on Tuesday, March 12. The Irish and Yellow Jackets will tip off inside the Capital One Arena at 2 p.m. ET on ACC Network.

TOUGH TO BEAT A TEAM THREE TIMES

Notre Dame finished with seven conference wins (7-13) and two of those victories were against Georgia Tech. The Irish will look to defy the old basketball saying, “It’s tough to beat a team three times.”

When these two teams clash, it’s always close. Notre Dame and Georgia Tech have squared off 22 times since the Irish joined the league back in 2013. Out of those 22 encounters, 20 have been decided by single digits with 14 of them being five points or less.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 17-13, and have met only once in the ACC Tournament: a 78-71 victory on March 12, 2019, in Charlotte.

First Meeting at GT:

The Irish clinched it in overtime win by the final score of 75-68. Notre Dame outscored Georgia Tech 9-2 in the OT period. Braeden Shrewsberry scored a career-high 25 points, draining five triples. Plus, Tae Davis (10p/10r) and JR Konieczny (10p/11r) each recorded double-doubles. Notre Dame also converted 19-of-21 from the free-throw line and outrebounded the Yellow Jackets 48-33.

Second Meeting vs. GT:

The Irish overcame shooting 31 percent from the field by getting it done in other areas: tied season high in offensive rebounds (16), season high in second-chance points (20), season high in free-throw attempts (22) and a season low in turnovers (6). Burton led with 18 points, five assists and five steals. Davis produced 17 points and six boards.

IRISH ACC TOURNEY HISTORY

The Fighting Irish are 11-8 all-time in the ACC Tournament. They have reached the title game twice and even took home the tournament crown back in 2015. Notre Dame’s .579 ACC Tournament winning percentage ranks as the third highest behind Duke and North Carolina.

Round-by-Round Record Breakdown:

1st Round: 3-2

2nd Round: 2-2

Quarterfinals: 3-2

Semifinals: 2-1

Title game: 1-1

The 2024 edition of the ACC Tournament will mark the first time Notre Dame has been the No. 12 seed. The farthest a 12-seed has gotten at ACCs is the semifinal round – it happened twice back in 2006 and 2010.

COACH SHREWS – MARCH RUNNER

Coach Shrewsberry made plenty of noise in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament in Chicago, defeating No. 7 Illinois, No. 2 Northwestern and No. 3 Indiana to reach the championship game as a No. 10 seed. It marked Penn State’s second-ever Big Ten title game appearance. In addition, Penn State was just the third double-digit seed to reach the Big Ten Tournament championship game and the first since 2008.

In a rebuilding year one, Coach Shrews advanced the Nittany Lions to the quarterfinal round of the 2022 Big Ten Tournament after winning two postseason games.

Thus, Shrewsberry is 5-2 in league tournament action as a head coach.

ND’S END OF SEASON SURGE

From Feb. 1 to March 1, Notre Dame was the biggest mover in kenpom AdjEM across the Power-Five conferences.

Another fun stat: when the first NET rankings came on Dec. 4, the Irish were 238. As of March 10, the Irish are up to 126.

The culture has set in and the guys don’t want the season to end. Notre Dame is playing its best basketball of the season and that includes freshman sensation Markus Burton, along with sophomore forward Tae Davis.

Burton is averaging the 2nd most points in the ACC since Feb. 24 aka over the last 5 games. He’s averaged 22.6 ppg in that span, second to just Syracuse’s Judah Mintz and his 22.8 ppg. Burton has produced 4 20+ point games in that span, with one of 30+. Shooting 48.8 percent from the field.

Meanwhile, Davis is enjoying the best stretch of his career with 5 straight double-digit scoring performances. He’s averaged 13.0 points (2nd most to Burton in that span) on 52.3 percent shooting, plus 6.0 rebounds as well.

FRESHMAN SCORING RECORD

In the final game of the regular season, Markus Burton etched his name in the Notre Dame record book once more, breaking the program’s freshman scoring record. Burton surpassed ND great Troy Murphy and his 519 points for the No. 1 spot. Burton enters the ACC Tournament with 535 points on the season.

From a scoring average perspective, Burton’s 17.3 ppg ranks 3rd all-time behind Troy Murphy (19.2) and Adrian Dantley (18.3).

BURTON LEAVING A FRESHMAN YEAR LEGACY

Freshman guard Markus Burton is grabbing the attention of Irish fans, ACC opponents and the national media, but what’s crazy about it all is that he’s doing something that has never been done before in the history of the program.

Burton is currently averaging over 17.0 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals. If that stat line holds up upon season’s end, he’ll be the first player to put up those numbers in Notre Dame history (aka at least 17 points, 4 assists and 2 steals). ND great Chris Thomas would be the closest one to that with his 15.6 points, 7.6 assists and 2.2 steals for the 2001-02 season.

Burton is the only rookie in the country and just 1-of-3 Power-Five players overall (Syracuse’s Judah Mintz and Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV) averaging at least 17p-4a-2s. Burton and Mintz are just 2 of 4 total ACC players to produce that stat line since 1996 (Duke’s Jason Williams & Maryland’s Steve Francis).

ACC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Notre Dame has never taken home an ACC Rookie of the Year award and Markus Burton is looking to change that on Monday, March 11. He has proven himself to be one of the most dynamic freshman guards not just in the ACC, but in the entire country. If Burton wins the award he would become the program’s third-ever Rookie of the Year joining Chris Thomas (2002) and Troy Murphy (1999) who each won it in the Big East.

With that said, here are some quick hitters on Burton’s stellar rookie year with the Irish:

• His 17.0 ppg leads all ACC freshmen, with the next highest being Pitt’s Carlton Carrington at 13.6. He also ranks 3rd nationally amongst DI freshmen.
• His 535 points broke the ND freshman scoring record.
• Looking to become the first player in ND history to average at least 17 points, 4 assists and 2 steals in a season. 1-of-3 P5 players this season to do so (only rookie).
• ACC freshman rankings: 1st in scoring, 2nd in assists/game, 1st in steals/game
• Double-digit points in all but 3 games. 9 games with 20+ points.
• ACC play only rankings: 17.5 points (6th), 2.2 steals (1st), 4.8 assists (3rd).
• Overall rankings: 6th in the ACC in scoring, 6th in Assists (4.3), 4th in Steals (2.0), 13th in FT% (.802).
• Produced two games with 15+ point, 5+ assists, 5+ steals. Since 1996, only one other Irish player (Chris Thomas) had produced two games in the same regular season with at least 15 points, 5 assists and 5 steals.
• Averaging 8.9 points in the 2nd half – has scored double-digit points 13 times in the 2nd half alone this season, including a season high of 20.
• 61 steals (tied for 5th most in a ND season).
• 2.0 spg — would become just the 4th player in program history to average 2 spg in a season (Chris Thomas, David Rivers, Jerian Grant).
• Four-time ACC Rookie of the Week – set a new ND record.

1ST YEAR STAMP ON THE PROGRAM – DEFENSE

The year one Coach Shrewsberry stamp on the program has been the defensive intensity. 20 ACC games and 14 different ACC opponents – all but three (Virginia Tech on March 9, UNC on March 5 & Syracuse on Feb. 24) were held under their season average, with Miami, Duke and Louisville each held to season low point totals.

Of the 20 ACC matchups that have already happened, only 6 opponents have reached the 70-point park against the Irish defense.

Notre Dame’s scoring defense of 66.6 ranks 43rd in the country, plus 2nd in the ACC. According to KenPom, Notre Dame’s defensive efficiency ranks 27th nationally. In ACC play, Notre Dame ranked 2nd in scoring defense (66.4) and 2nd in field goal percentage defense (.417).

SHARPSHOOTER SHREWS

Markus Burton won’t be the only freshman leaving his name in the ND record book this season after Braeden Shrewsberry continues to light it up from three.

Shrewsberry has knocked down 55 three-pointers in ACC play, breaking the Notre Dame ACC record. The previous record was 51 held by Prentiss Hubb, Matt Farrell and V.J. Beachem. FYI – those 55 threes in ACC play tied for the fourth most amongst league players.

Shrews’ 72 made threes on the year are the 3rd most nationally by a freshman. His 2.3 made threes/game are 4th nationally by a freshman.

As far as individual games – Shrewsberry tied the program record for made three-pointers by a freshman after draining seven against the Louisville Cardinals. He tied the likes of Pat Connaughton, Chris Thomas and Ryan Hoover. Shrews’ 23 points marked his second highest points total on the season.

Lastly, Shrewsberry shot 41.4 percent from deep in ACC play – that number ranked 6th amongst ACC players and ranked 7th all-time in Notre Dame ACC program history.

YOUNG BUT NOT AFRAID

Two young freshman guards in Burton and Shrewsberry have proven they aren’t afraid of a hostile environment. In true road games, Burton and Shrewsberry averaged 16.3 points and 12.8 points, respectively.

Road games since February 3 for Burton – 24 points at Virginia Tech, 9 points at UNC, 28 points at Syracuse, 16 points at Louisville, 17 points at Pitt, 19 points at Duke.

For Shrewsberry, we’ve already mentioned his 18 points in the 2nd half at Syracuse and his 23-point showing at Louisville with seven made threes. Both of those were outdone by his season high 25-point effort in the OT win at Georgia Tech. Shrewsberry has shot 48.2 percent from the field and 42.2 percent from three, averaging 2.9 made threes/game.

#TRENDING

Here are some other under-the-radar stats to keep an eye out for:

We’ve already mentioned how Tae Davis is on the best stretch of his career with five straight double-digit scoring performances. In correlation, he’s been getting it done from the free throw line as well. Davis has made 36 of his last 42 from the free-throw line, raising his percentage from .618 to its current .722.

Next, Carey Booth’s production has ramped up down the final stretch. Over the last 6 games, he’s averaged 9.5 points and 5.2 rebounds on 40.8 percent shooting. He’s 11-of-30 (.367) from three. Thus, 11 of his 31 made threes on the year have come during this time-frame.

Julian Roper II had 11 points at Virginia Tech (3/9) in the ACC regular season finale. It was his first double-digit scoring performance since Dec. 16 vs. Georgetown. Roper went 4-for-6 from the field, which included two threes.

Team-wise, Notre Dame is 6-0 this year when limiting their turnover total to single digits.  They have produced single-digit turnovers five times over the last eight games.

IN YOUR BAG

Speaking of trending, Markus Burton has ratcheted up his defensive intensity down the final stretch. The starting point guard is now up to 61 steals (tied for 5th most in a single season at ND). Christ Thomas holds the record at 72.

He’s averaging 2.0 spg. If that holds, he would become just the 4th player in program history to average 2.0 spg in a season (Chris Thomas, David Rivers, Jerian Grant).

His 2.0 steals per game ranks 4th in the ACC. Furthermore, his 2.1 steals/game in league play leads all ACC players.

— ND —