BLACKSBURG, Va. – With an 82-76 loss at Virginia Tech (18-13, 10-10), the Notre Dame men’s basketball team fell to 12-19 overall and 7-13 in its first ACC season under Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry. Of its 13 league losses, seven were decided by single digits, as this young Irish squad proved to be a tough out.
Case in point on Saturday inside Cassell Coliseum when Notre Dame fought back down seven with just under seven minutes remaining, and had a shot for the tie, but ultimately came up short.
The Fighting Irish had two thorns in their side today – Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla and giving up offensive boards. Pedulla finished with a game high 28 points on 12-for-21 shooting and ended up being the dagger in the final minute when the Irish were only down two. Notre Dame also gave up 15 VT offensive boards that contributed to 17 second-chance points.
“First off, congrats to Virginia Tech. A hard fought game against a good team. They were hard to prepare and tought to deal with. They are so good offensively and we gave them extra chances,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “They wanted it more and all those offensive rebounds killed us.”
Markus Burton continued to do Markus Burton things with a team high 24 points on 10-of-20 shooting. Burton scored 17 points in the second half. It marked his fourth 20+ point performance over the last five games and his ninth overall on the year. Burton also recorded four rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Burton now has 535 points on the season, which breaks the Notre Dame freshman scoring record, blowing by Troy Murphy’s 519.
Tae Davis produced 13 points, 11 of which came in the second half. Davis has been solid down the final stretch, as he picked up his fifth consecutive game in double figures. Davis also reeled in a team high six rebounds.
Braeden Shrewsberry and Julian Roper II tallied 10 and 11 points, respectively. It marked Roper’s first double-digit scoring performance since Georgetown on Dec. 16.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia Techs first three made buckets were triples as they jumped out to a 10-5 advantage just over four minutes in. Carey Booth recorded a stretch in which he made five straight points to narrow the gap, down 10-12 at 14:09.
Yet, soon after, the Hokies fired off an 8-0 run to go up 22-12 after an 8-for-14 start from the field, compared to Notre Dame’s 3-for-9.
However, the Irish would settle in and tie the game on a 10-0 run in a swift two-minute span. During said run, Booth and Logan Imes each hit a triple, then Burton followed with a patented drive to the basket, then finally a Kebba Njie putback.
From there, both team’s offenses were clicking. From 6:47-4:12, Notre Dame recorded a stretch in which they made 5-of-6 from the field, which included two Julian Roper treys and two under-the-basket makes from Braeden Shrewsberry. The hot shooting spree gave the Irish a 34-31 lead – its first lead since up 2-0 to start the game.
Later, a Shrewsberry free throw would tie the game at 31-all with 1:32 remaining in the half. The Hokies ended the final 92 seconds on a 5-0 run to claim a 43-38 halftime lead.
Virginia Tech’s Sean Pedulla scored a team high 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the half. Notre Dame was led by Roper and Booth who each had eight points, followed by seven from Burton. The Irish shot 13-25 (.520) for the half, plus 6-of-12 from three, compared to the Hokies’ 15-31 (.484).
A Burton three-pointer with 17:37 on the clock in the second half was the record-breaking shot. In fact, Burton tallied seven of the team’s next eight points to keep them within striking distance, down 48-51 with 14:10 left.
Next, the Hokies built its largest lead of the second half to seven, up 58-51 with 10:38 remaining. Then, Notre Dame attacked the rim with force: a Roper dunk, a thunderous slam from Davis, a Shrewsberry layup and another Davis take. Four straight field goals from the Irish made it a one-possession game at the 7:34 media timeout, now down just 59-62.
Soon after, the Hokies pushed their lead back to seven with 6:58 left in the game. Burton & Davis combined for nine of the team’s next 11 points to pull within two at 70-72 with two minutes remaining.
Down four with 90 seconds left, Burton delivers yet again with another drive 1-v-1 with his defender – two point game.
The Hokies then turned to Pedulla who delivered on back-to-back possessions to push VT’s lead to 78-72. It brought Pedulla’s game total to 28 points.
Burton did his best by adding on four more points, but the damage was done and time was no more in the 82-76 defeat.
UP NEXT
In terms of ACC Tournament seeding, it’ll be a wait-and-see approach, for the Irish were the first league contest of the day. Notre Dame could be as high as a No. 12 seed and as low as No. 14 seed.
The ACC Tournament kicks off in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, March 12. For more information, please visit www.theacc.com.
— ND –