Irish Feast Week - Players Era in Vegas

LAS VEGAS – For the second straight year, Notre Dame will jet west for the Players Era Championship in Las Vegas. Feast Week provides a giant opportunity for a squad with March aspirations to build a resume. The Fighting Irish will challenge Kansas on Monday, Nov. 24, at 3:30 p.m. ET, then Rutgers the next day at 1 p.m. Both games will be on TNT and be inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The Irish will have a third game either on Wednesday or Thursday.

Notre Dame hasn’t clashed against Kansas since January of 1988. Back then, the price of gas was $0.95 per gallon; the No. 1 song in the country was The Way You Make Me Feel; the No. 1 movie was Three Men And A Baby. The Irish lead the overall series 9-3.

On Tuesday, Notre Dame can enact some revenge against Rutgers, as they meet the Scarlet Knights once again in Vegas. Last year, Matt Allocco forced overtime with a dramatic three and then put the team on his back in OT where he drained three more three-pointers in a 30-second span. He had a chance at the buzzer to win it, but it just rimmed out as the Irish fell, 84-85. Braeden Shrewsberry had 16 points in the match. Overall, ND leads the series still, 21-14.

FEED THE HOT HAND

Braeden Shrewsberry has been lights out over the last four games and has been one of the hottest shooters in the country from deep. The junior guard is 15-24 (.625) from three over the last four. He’s now 57.7 percent from deep on the season which ranks 20th nationally and third in the ACC.

And get this – he boasts an effective shooting percentage of 77.7 and a true shooting percentage of 78.1. Both rank in top-20.

GIVING ND A NEW LOOK

Jalen Haralson gives this Notre Dame offense a new and dangerous look. He’s another ball handler who can attack the paint, or post up or get to the front of the rim. Plus, he takes pressure off Burton and gets him off the ball. He also provides length on the defensive end.

He’s taking a three-game double-digit scoring streak into Vegas. He’s averaging 15.3 ppg in that span, shooting 60.7 percent.

Haralson is converting 76.5 percent of his shots around the rim and knocking down 59.4 percent from two overall.

REBOUNDING TRANSLATES

Coach after season opener:

“He’s energy personified. There have been a ton of transfers that transferred up and there scoring output doesn’t necessarily follow. Rebounding translates at every level. It’s heart and it’s effort. That’s what he does.”

As Coach Shrews alluded to, rebounding translates at every level. Last year’s NCAA rebounding leader Carson Towt has been a high-level impact transfer from Northern Arizona. To start, he tied his career-high 19 rebounds in the win over LIU, which also set a new record for an Irish debut. He now has two double-doubles over the first five games.

More impressively, Towt has started the season with five straight games with double-digit rebounds, which has not been accomplished by an Irish player in the conference era (1995-present).

Towt’s current rebounding rankings:

• 12.6 rpg ranks 4th nationally, 1st in the ACC
• 4.6 offensive rpg – 10th nationally, 1st in the ACC
• 8.0 defensive rpg – 13th nationally, 3rd in the ACC
• 1,130 career rebounds – leads all active players

Coach after OSU game: “Carson is just max effort, man. He plays really hard. His effort on the glass on both ends, his physicality. He’s a big brother to these dudes. He’s feeding their belief because of the energy and the confidence that he gives them.”

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Burton posted three 20+ point performances over the first five games. He now has over 30 in his career.
• Burton is coming off his most efficient game, converting 10-13 from the field to finish with 25 points.
• Last time out – Certa was big off the bench with 12 points behind two triples and 6-6 from the free throw line.
• Certa is a perfect 10-10 from the FT line.
• Braeden Shrewsberry has an offensive rating of 152.1 which ranks 38th.
• Mohammed is converting 55.6 percent from two-point range.
• According to CBB Analytics, ND’s offensive rating of 123.8 puts them 53rd nationally.
• ND is averaging 32.0 points from its bench, which ranks 44th.
• ND is shooting 50.7 percent from the floor which ranks 39th nationally & 3rd in the ACC. They are converting 40.5 percent from three which ranks 26th in the country, 2nd in the ACC.
• For the first time since the 2016-17 season, the Fighting Irish opened the season with three straight 20+ point victories.
• Certa is converting 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, averaging 2.0 made three’s per game.

A KEY FOR THE SEASON

Coach Shrewsberry stated during the preseason that if this program wanted to turn a corner, it had to be mentally tougher in close games down the stretch.

Last season, the Irish were involved in 14 games that finished by six points or less (two possessions). They went 7-7 in those games. They were 5-5 in one-possession games and 0-3 in games decided by one point.

At Ohio State, they had a lead as large as 11 in the first half; wound up down six late in the second half; battled back to go up one with two minutes remaining; had two chances to extend the lead after; another chance at the buzzer for the win; but ultimately fell 63-64.

“We’re a good team and we were right there in a close game against a good team,” said Braeden Shrewsberry. “We’re angry right now, but we’ve got to build off the good things and get better at the bad things and come out and win the next close game. We gotta close it out and prove we’re a different team.”

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR BURTON

The collegiate landscape is starting to pick up on what Notre Dame fans already knew – Markus Burton is a special player. The junior guard picked up two major preseason accolades

• First Team Preseason All-ACC – last Irish player to garner Preseason First Team honors was senior forward John Mooney in 2019.
• Bob Cousy Award Watch List – recognizing the top-20 point guards in the country.
• Naismith Trophy Watch List
• Wooden Award Watch List

MASTER OF THE MIDRANGE

Burton is most dangerous attacking the basket and utilizing his quickness. He shot 46.9 percent from two-point range last season. More specifically he was 44.6 percent from the midrange and 46.4 percent from the paint.

This season, Burton is driving and finding success in the paint where he has converted 60.0 percent (9-15).

And more likely than not, Burton will get fouled attacking the basket and last season he was the team’s best free-throw shooter. He converted 84.8 percent from the stripe, which ranked 6th in the ACC.

This season, Burton is 27-30 from the stripe, as his 90.0 percent is a career best so far. Plus, that number ranks 8th in the ACC.

— ND —