CLEMSON, S.C. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team drew an incredibly tough assignment on Wednesday night, trying to topple No. 13/14 Clemson on their home court. The Fighting Irish (12-16, 6-11) absorbed some opening blows and stormed back to reclaim a lead in the first half, but the Tigers (23-5, 15-2) recorded a 7-0 run in the final minute to claim a 10-point lead at halftime. From there, Clemson countered any ND runs and settled in to hand Notre Dame a 68-83 defeat.
Markus Burton had 17 points at the half and finished with 30 in the game, two shy of his career high. It marked his second 30-point game of the season and third of his career. The MIshawaka native shot 8-19 from the field and was 12-13 from the free-throw line. He also tallied four rebounds, five assists and zero turnovers.
With tonight’s 30-point performance, Burton became the seventh fastest Notre Dame player to 1,000 career points, accomplishing the feat in 54 games. He became the program’s 68th overall 1,000-point scorer, moving Notre Dame to fourth place for all-time 1,000-point scorers behind North Carolina, Duke and Louisville.
Junior Tae Davis was the lone other Irish player in double figures with 15 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Davis was 6-12 from the field, including 2-3 from beyond the arc.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Burton, Davis and Sir Mohammed combined for the team’s first 14 points but the Tigers countered with five three-point plays by the second media timeout to claim an early 14-21 lead.
Over the next stretch of the game, the Notre Dame defense put its stamp on it, keeping Clemson scoreless for over 6.5 minutes while claiming its first lead of the game after a 10-0 scoring run made it 22-21. Burton had six of the points and reached double figures by 7:38, while J.R. Konieczny supplied the other four points with back-to-back layups.
Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin ended the drought for the Tigers and became a big problem, recording 13 of their next 16 points. The Irish got some production with a Logan Imes three-pointer and six straight points from Burton, but Clemson ultimately recorded a 7-0 run in the final minute to go up 31-41.
Burton had 17 of the team’s 31 points at the half, thus already crossing over the 1,000-career point milestone. Burton was a perfect 8-8 from the free-throw line at this point. Burton was countered by Clemson’s Schieffelin and his 16 points at the half on 6-7 shooting.
After back-to-back Konieczny layups, the Irish pulled within six early, but a Clemson 9-0 run over the next 2:18 put the Blue & Gold down 37-52 at the 14:45 media timeout. The Tigers went on to build a 16-point lead, up 43-59 at 11:29.
It became the Burton and Davis show on Notre Dame’s offensive end of the floor as the duo combined to score 16 straight points over 10 minutes to pull the Irish within single digits at 53-62 with 8:41 remaining.
In the up-and-down flow of the game, the Tigers counter-punched again with a 15-6 scoring spree to extend their lead to 18 points with 4:54 left and rode that to the 68-83 final.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame will remain on the road for another tough challenge in Wake Forest on Saturday, March 1. The Irish and Demon Deacons will tip off at 5:15 p.m. ET on the CW.
– ND –