SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Needed it, wanted it, got it. The Notre Dame men’s basketball team returned to Purcell Pavilion in front of a large and noisy crowd and treated them to a 74-66 victory over Virginia Tech. The Fighting Irish (8-16, 3-10) rallied down four at the half to outscore the Hokies (13-10, 5-7) 39-27 in the second half.
The Fighting Irish not only snapped its seven game losing streak, but also a six-game skid in the all-time series against the Hokies. Tonight’s victory marked the first victory against Virginia Tech since March 7, 2020.
Markus Burton balled out with an impressive stat line of 16 points, a season high tying eight assists and a season best six steals – the latter tied for the third most steals in a single game in program history.
Burton joined very rare company with his stat line tonight. Since 1996, only two other Irish have finished with at least 16 points, eight assists and six steals in a game – Chris Thomas in 2001 and Jerian Grant in 2013.
Kebba Njie tallied a season high 11 points to go along with his six rebounds. Then there was Braeden Shrewsberry who poured in 12 points behind a 4-for-6 night from three-point range. Furthermore, all nine Irish who checked into the game scored points tonight.
Notre Dame shot 54.2 percent in the second half and finished with their second highest assist total on the year with 14. They also tallied their second lowest turnover total at eight and out-rebounded Virginia Tech 34-28.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia Tech started unbelievably hot from three-point range, draining five of its first six attempts to jump out to a 13-17 lead. On the flip side, Notre Dame threw some offensive punches back, recording a stretch in which they connected on 8-of-10 from the field. That resulted in a 15-5 Irish scoring run in which six different players recorded points, all leading to a 22-19 lead.
Just when the Irish offense was humming a slight cold spell swept through Purcell Pavilion. Notre Dame recorded a 1-for-12 shooting stretch as Virginia Tech capitalized with an 11-0 run spanning 2:18 to go up 30-39.
The duo of Shrewsberry and Burton rallied the Irish right before the half to cut the deficit to 35-39. Virginia Tech shot 57.7 percent in the opening half compared to Notre Dame’s 45.2 percent. Burton already tied his career high of four steals by the midway point.
The first possession for the Irish in the second half was a Shrewsberry three. Then Kebba Njie and Burton (twice) added to it on the next possessions and just like that it was a 14-0 run (9-0 to start the second) extending from the end of the half. Soon after, Roper II tallied five straight points to keep the Irish out front at 49-44 with 14:37 on the clock.
A four-minute Notre Dame drought allowed Virginia Tech to tie the game at 49-all until Imes registered his first basket of the evening with 9:55 left.
Out of the under-eight media timeout, Imes converted a huge three-pointer to get the home crowd fired up. Then Burton and Njie delivered in the paint and it was a 9-0 Irish run in two minutes to put Notre Dame up 60-51 with 6:09 remaining.
The home crowd erupted again when Burton found Shrewsberry in the corner for a three, his fourth of the contest, which pushed the score to 63-54.
Notre Dame found a groove and connected on 5-of-7 across a 5:07 stretch, as a Njie and-one extended the Irish lead 67-56.
The Hokies responded with a trey to bring it within eight, and after each squad knocked down a pair of free throws, it remained an 8-point game with 1:40 remaining.
Virginia Tech closed the gap to seven at 73-66 with 52 seconds left, but the Hokies missed their final four shots of the night and the Irish took home the win over Virginia Tech 74-66.
The Irish knocked down eight free throws to close out the game, shooting 13-15 from the charity stripe on the night.
UP NEXT
The Irish now look to build upon the win when they stay at home and host Georgia Tech on Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. ET.
— ND –