LAS VEGAS – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team faced major adversity in the opening minutes of the Players Era Festival against Rutgers. Reining ACC Rookie of the Year and First Team Preseason All-ACC pick Markus Burton left the game early after going down with a lower-body injury. Yet, the Fighting Irish banded together and went toe-to-toe with the Scarlet Knights.
Graduate guard Matt Allocco put on a show in Vegas, dropping a 24-point, 10-rebound, double-double. He forced overtime with a dramatic three and then put the team on his back in OT where he drained three more three-pointes in a 30-second span. He had a chance at the buzzer to win it, but it just rimmed out as the Irish fell, 84-85.
Allocco recorded his second career double-double and first of the season. It also marked the first Irish 20-point, 10-rebound double-double since Nate Laszewski vs. Radford on Nov. 10, 2022.
The Fighting Irish now fall to 4-2 on the season and face another huge test tomorrow in No. 6/7 Houston (3-2).
“There’s no other group of guys I’d rather be with then the guys in our locker room,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “We might not be as talented as some of the other teams out here but we are (for) sure just as tough. We are going to fight no matter what.”
Burton will undergo further elevation by the team physician and trainer on Wednesday to determine the severity of the injury.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Braeden Shrewsberry started on a heater scoring all 12 of his first-half points 10.5 minutes into the game. Following a Matt Allocco three-pointer and a Tae Davis and-one, the Irish flipped an 11-12 deficit to a 25-15 advantage, their largest lead of the half.
However, Rutgers amounted a comeback via a 6-for-8 shooting stretch from the field, outscoring Notre Dame 17-7 to tie the game at 32-all with 1:11 remaining. Allocco hit his second three of the half in the final minute as Notre Dame claimed a 35-34 halftime lead.
Shrewsberry and Allocco combined for 20 of the team’s 35 points on a combined 6-for-13 shooting, 5-for-11 from deep. Allocco already had a season-best seven boards at the break.
Notre Dame shot 11-for-28 (.393) in the half compared to Rutgers’ 13-for-30 (.433). The Irish owned the boards 24-13.
Davis brought some energy to start the second half, scoring on back-to-back possessions to get the Irish scoring going up 41-36. Rutgers started the second 1-for-7 but quickly regrouped and fired off a 6-0 run to take back the lead.
Burke Chebuhar then responded with his second three of the game and back-and-forth it went. Shrewsberry, Imes, Allocco, and Chebuhar all provided buckets in a two-minute stretch and it was 54-51 Irish at the 11:14 media timeout.
Fast forward to just under eight minutes remaining and the game was tied at 56-all. The Irish needed some big baskets and they got it. Imes and Chebuhar connected on back-to-back three-pointers and ND pushed ahead 62-56 at the 7:01 media timeout.
Of course, basketball is a game of runs and Rutgers came out of the timeout and fired off a 9-0 scoring run to take back the lead at 65-63 with 3:25 remaining.
Tae Davis got to the free-throw line at 2:11 which ended a near five-minute scoring drought, making both to make it 64-65.
About 40 seconds later, Davis got a big defensive board which led to an Allocco driving layup, Irish back on top 66-65 with 1:19 left.
Later down three, coming out of a timeout with under 15 seconds remaining, Allocco made his biggest three of the young season to tie the game at 69-all. The Irish defense locked it down in the final seven seconds and forced overtime.
Overtime got away from the Irish. A pivotal stretch in which Rutgers recorded an 8-0 run over a two-minute span was the difference maker, giving them a 73-79 advantage with 57.3 seconds remaining.
Despite the odds, Allocco said the Irish weren’t done yet. It was an unbelievable sight, as Allocco went bang-bang-bang, nine points in 26 seconds to tie the game. Rutgers then took a one-point lead after being sent to the foul line. Irish later called a timeout with 3.8 seconds with a chance for the win. The ball got to Allocco’s hands at the top of the key and it just missed.
UP NEXT
Grab your caffeine because it’s going to be a late one on Wednesday night (technically Thanksgiving morning for you East Coasters). The Irish will look to topple the No. 6 Houston Cougars at 12:30 a.m. ET/9:30 p.m. PT in day two action of the Players Era Festival. That matchup will air live on TBS/max.
– ND –