SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Needed it, wanted it and got it. The Notre Dame men’s basketball team got back in the win column on Friday night, treating the Irish faithful to an early holiday gift with a 60-56 victory over Marist. The Fighting Irish (5-7) trailed by one at the half but then outscored the Red Foxes (7-3) 36-31 in the second half where they shot 52.9 percent and went 15-of-16 from the free-throw line.
Markus Burton recorded his fourth 20+ point performance of the season and 10th in double figures. The freshman point guard scored 21 points on 8-of-18 shooting to go with his three assists and season-high tying four steals.
Burton now heads into the holiday break amassing 88 points over the last five games, averaging 17.6 ppg in that span.
Fellow freshman Carey Booth got the starting nod tonight and rewarded Coach Shrewsberry with an 11–point effort, marking his most points since his season high of 20 in game two on the year against Western Carolina.
Tae Davis was clutch down the stretch, scoring 10 of the team’s final 17 points. Davis finished with 12 points, his fourth in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Marist hot a hot hand to start, converting five of its first six shots to jump ahead 12-6. Next, the Irish defense settled in and kept the Red Foxes off the scoreboard for nearly a six-minute stretch, tying the game in the process at 12-all.
Later, the Irish connected on three field goals in a row, which included threes from Booth and Zona, resulting in an 8-0 run and their first lead of the game up 20-16.
Burton was in double figures already with 4:51 remaining in the first half after a steal and breakaway layup made it 22-18.
Marist then recorded a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to regain the lead as Notre Dame missed seven straight from the field. Davis eventually ended the drought but the Irish trailed at the half 25-24.
Burton was 5-for-11 with 11 points while the rest of the Irish went a combined 4-for-16.
The freshman then picked up right where he left off, scoring seven of the team’s first 10 points in the second half. Next, Booth stepped up and banked in a three and scored five straight. Then, Konieczny knocked down a pair of free throws, and just like that the Irish had a 10-point lead up 43-33.
Notre Dame turnovers (three to be exact) allowed Marist to creep its way back, firing off a 7-0 run in two minutes to make it a one-possession game with ND up 45-52 at the 7:36 media timeout.
With Burton picking up his fourth foul shortly hereafter, other Irish stepped up in his absence, as Davis and Shrewsberry got the offense going and pushed the lead to 53-42.
With 90 seconds remaining in the game, the Irish lead was diminished to just two points, up 56-54, as turnovers haunted the home team again. With 26 seconds on the clock, Davis was huge from the free-throw line, knocking down both. Then Njie grabbed a big defensive board and moments later it was Shrewsberry converting from the stripe and game over.
The Irish outrebounded the Red Foxes 32-25, which included 11 offensive rebounds. The Irish finished the game 18-of-44 (.409) and 6-of-16 from beyond the arc.
UP NEXT
The Irish go home for the holidays and then it’s ACC play in the Bend. Notre Dame will re-open league play with three straight at home: Virginia (Dec. 30), NC State (Jan. 3) and Duke (Jan. 6). The Irish versus Cavaliers will tip off at Noon ET on the 30th. It also marks the program’s “574 Day,” paying homage to our local fans, along with our hometown players.
— ND –