TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-12, 4-7) fell 67-60 to the Florida State Seminoles (13-9, 4-7) on Tuesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Center.
The Irish finished the night shooting 36.5 percent (23-63), while the Seminoles shot 49 percent on the night. Turnovers were costly for Notre Dame, coughing it 14 times and giving up 16 points off turnovers to the Seminoles.
Markus Burton notched another 20-point game as the sophomore guard put up 25 points, going 10-22 from the floor and shooting an impressive 50 percent from three as he went 3-for-6 from behind the arc.
Tae Davis finished the night with 14 points, shooting 6-11, while also leading the Irish on the glass with nine boards. He was followed by Garrett Sundra, who chipped in eight points, and Braeden Shrewsberry who put up six points and grabbed seven rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Tied at 5-all early, the Irish looked to be aggressive as they went on a 7-0 run in less than a minute’s time as baskets from Burton, Sundra, and Davis put the Irish up 12-5 at 14:59.
A Shrewsberry three and a Njie tip-in would give Notre Dame the 10-point advantage, but the Seminoles responded with two quick buckets of their own heading into the media timeout.
The Seminole hot hand continued as they put up nine more unanswered baskets for an 18-0 run. A layup from Sundra broke up the run as Mohammad found him on a roll to the basket to make it 25-19 with 5:01 remaining.
The Irish continued to fight as the momentum started to shift and Burton was heating up. A trey and midrange jumper from Burton was followed by another three from the sophomore guard as a Roper steal on the inbounds pass got the ball back in Burton’s hand behind the arc.
Notre Dame closed out the half with a 9-0 run to bring it within one at 29-28. The Irish were 36.7 percent (11-30) from the floor but shot the three at an impressive clip of 45.5 percent (5-11). The Seminoles were held to 11-26 from the floor (42.3 percent) and were 0-7 from three.
Burton led all scorers at halftime with 12 points, followed by Shrewsberry and Sundra with six and five, respectively.
Davis would knock down a pair of baskets for the Irish, followed by a Seminole turnover that led to a tough Burton finish at the rim to tie it up 34-34 at 17:23.
Florida State responded with three straight treys for a 9-0 run to take the lead 43-34. Burton’s third triple of the night was followed by another made drive from Davis to bring it within four.
Njie was in on the action too as he went through a pair of defenders for a made layup. A Burton bucket capped off the 9-0 run heading into the media timeout to make it an even 43-43 with 11:36 remaining.
The Seminoles and the Irish exchanged baskets to keep it tied at 47-all with 10:00 on the clock. Florida State looked to pull away as they went on a 5-0 run, but a Sundra three from the corner brought it back within two at 52-50 at 5:17.
A Davis three kept the Irish within one possession at 56-54 with 3:43, but the Seminoles would take the lead yet again.
The Irish trailed 60-55 and while a Burton layup cut it to three at 60-57, a Seminole and-one would make it a six-point game at 63-57 with just under 50 seconds left. Florida State would sink another pair of free throws to extend the lead and while the Irish worked to cut the deficit, the Seminoles would win it 67-60.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back in Purcell Pavilion on Saturday, Feb. 8 for 574 Day as they host the Virginia Tech Hokies at 1:00 p.m. Notre Dame will play six of their last nine regular-season games at home.
– ND –