5. Midweek Hoops Back in Purcell on Wednesday Night vs. Bellarmine

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -The Fighting Irish men’s basketball team (3-1) will get a chance to bounce back at home on Wednesday before jetting off to Las Vegas for what has become the premier early-season MTE, the Players Era Championship. To earn that trip, it’ll be the Bellarmine Knights first inside Purcell Pavilion for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff on ACCNX.

Notre Dame leads the overall series against Bellarmine, 3-0, with all three victories occurring at home. The last time these two met was Dec. 23, 2020, in an 81-70 Irish win.

A win on Wednesday would keep the Irish unblemished at home, improving them to 4-0 inside Purcell.

Bellarmine enters the game 1-3 on the year. The Knights average 77.5 ppg on 48.7 percent shooting. They are led by Jack Karasinski, who averages 21.3 ppg on 55.0 percent shooting.

A KEY FOR THE SEASON

Coach Shrewsberry stated during the preseason that if this program wanted to turn a corner, it had to be mentally tougher in close games down the stretch. Last season, the Irish were involved in 14 games that finished by six points or less (within two possessions). They went 7-7 in those games. They were 5-5 in one-possession games and 0-3 in games decided by one point.

At Ohio State, they had a lead as large as 11 in the first half; wound up down six late in the second half; battled back to go up one with two minutes remaining; had two chances to extend the lead after; another chance at the buzzer for the win; but ultimately fell 63-64.

“We’re a good team and we were right there in a close game against a good team,” said Braeden Shrewsberry. “We’re angry right now, but we’ve got to build off the good things and get better at the bad things and come out and win the next close game. We gotta close it out and prove we’re a different team.”

THE POSITIVES FROM OSU

• The Irish defense did its part, limiting a hot-shooting OSU squad to 64 points, 31 below their early-season average
• Jalen Haralson attacked the rim at will, recording his second straight game in double figures with 13 points.
• Speaking of attacking the rim, 24 of Notre Dame’s 34 first-half points were scored in the paint.
• As alluded to earlier, the Irish fell behind by six points with 6:38 remaining in front of over 12,000 fans and fought back to reclaim the lead with two minutes left.
• Carson Towt continued to be a beast on the boards, grabbing 12. He’s now 4-4 on double-digit rebound games.
• Braeden Shrewsberry maintained his hot hand with 11 points on 4-7 shooting. More on that next.

FEED THE HOT HAND

Braeden Shrewsberry has been lights out over the last three games. In fact, he co-led the team in scoring in that span with 16.0 ppg.

The junior guard has been impressively sharp from three-point range, where he’s 13-19 (.684) over the three-game span. He has now raised his season three-point shooting percentage to 61.9 percent, which ranks 18th nationally and fourth in the ACC.

And get this – he boasts an effective shooting percentage of 80.4, which ranks 13th nationally, while his true shooting percentage ranks 11th at 81.0.

Now, the Irish have plenty of other sharpshooters at their disposal, and the threes have been raining in Purcell. ND is converting 41.2 percent from de,p which ranks 27th in the country and second in the ACC. They are averaging 10.0 made threes, compared to last year’s final number of 7.6.

Who else is behind the early season three success?

• Cole Certa – 2.0 per game / 42.1%
• Ryder Frost – 1.5 / 50.0%
• Garrett Sundra – 1.0 / 50.0%

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Coach after season opener: “He’s energy personified. There have been a ton of transfers that transferred up and there scoring output doesn’t necessarily follow. Rebounding translates at every level. It’s heart and it’s effort. That’s what he does.”

As Coach Shrews alluded to, rebounding translates at every level. Last year’s NCAA rebounding leader Carson Towt has been a high-level impact after transferring from Northern Arizona. To start, he tied his career-high 19 rebounds in the win over LIU, which also set a new record for an Irish debut. He became the 16th different Irish player all-time to record at least 19 rebounds in a game.

Towt has now started the season with 4 straight games with double-digit rebounds which has not been accomplished by an Irish player in the conference era (1995-present).

• 13.0 rpg ranks 6th nationally and 1st in the ACC
• 5.0 offensive rpg – 11th nationally, 1st in the ACC
• 8.0 defensive rpg – 14th nationally, 4th in the ACC

Coach after the OSU game: “Carson is just max effort, man. He just plays really hard. His effort on the glass on both ends, his physicality. He’s a big brother to these dudes. He’s feeding their belief because of the energy and the confidence that he gives them.”

Towt now has 1,130 career rebounds, which leads all active players.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Burton posted two 20+ point performances over the first three games, which gave him 30 in his career.
• Haralson is shooting 70.0 percent around the rim and 60.0 percent in the paint. He’s recorded back-to-back games in double figures.
• Mohammed is converting 55.6 percent from two-point range.
• Sundra has made a three in all four games.
• Frost is averaging 6.3 ppg on 8.0 minutes.
• The Irish are averaging 33.5 points from their bench, which ranks 36th nationally and 2nd in the ACC.
• Notre Dame is averaging 83.0 ppg on 49.4 percent shooting.
• According to CBB Analytics, ND’s offensive rating of 123.0 puts them 55th nationally.
• For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Fighting Irish opened the season with three straight 20+ point victories.
• Certa dropped a career best 22 points on 6-9 shooting from three in the season opener.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR BURTON

The collegiate landscape is starting to pick up on what Notre Dame fans already knew – Markus Burton is a special player. The junior guard picked up two major preseason accolades

• First Team Preseason All-ACC – last Irish player to garner Preseason First Team honors was senior forward John Mooney in 2019.
• Bob Cousy Award Watch List – recognizing the top-20 point guards in the country.
• Naismith Trophy Watch List
• Wooden Award Watch List

— ND —