Irish Pass Preseason Test With Flying Colors, Defeat Purdue Fort Wayne, 91-54

PDF Box

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – It was hoops for a cause on Wednesday night as Notre Dame men’s hoops traveled two hours to challenge Purdue Fort Wayne in a charity exhibition. All proceeds tonight benefited both Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Indiana and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne. Then the Irish gave its fans a good cause to be excited for the Nov. 6 season opener, recording a dominant 91-54 victory over the Mastodons.

Notre Dame scored 51 second-half points on a blistering 70.4 percent from the field. There was one point in the second half in which ND was 8-for-11 from beyond the arc, ultimately finishing 9-for-15. All-in-all eight Irish drained a three in the game finishing 14-of-28. 

Eight Irish finished with six or more points, with three finishing in double figures. As a team, Notre Dame finished 56.9 percent from the field. Preseason All-ACC First Team selection Markus Burton scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half. 

Braeden Shrewsberry shot 4-of-7 from deep and 7-of-12 overall to tie Burton for a game-high 18 points. J.R. Konieczny came off the bench and hit three treys to finish with 11 points.

Notre Dame outrebounded Purdue Fort Wayne, 39-22, and forced 14 turnovers. They limited a veteran Mastodons squad to 34.6 percent shooting. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

Notre Dame started with great pace on the offensive end while causing havoc on the defensive side. Braeden Shrewsberry picked up right where he left off, starting the contest with a three-pointer. Two possessions later, Tae Davis earned the steal and scored on the breakaway and the Irish were off to the races.  

At the 15:40 media timeout, the Notre Dame defense had already forced six turnovers, resulting in an 11-4 ND lead. 

Davis and J.R. Konieczny later splashed in three-pointers and by the next media at 11:53, the Irish were on a 13-0 run, were 4-for-7 from beyond the arc and now boasted a 22-4 lead. 

However, the Irish offense did hit a bit of a lull. After scoring 22 points in the first eight minutes, the second eight-minute stretch only resulted in 10 points. This allowed Purdue Fort Wayne to close the gap slightly, but not by a ton thanks to the Irish defense. All-in-all, Notre Dame was still up double-digits at 34-20. 

Then it started clicking again right before the half, as Notre Dame ended on a 6-1 run over the final 2:09. First, a backdoor cut and score from Shrewsberry. That was followed by some great team offensive rebounding which led to a Davis putback. Matt Allocco then tacked on a pair of free throws and ND took a 40-21 lead into halftime.  

At the midway point, Shrewsberry led with 10 points followed closely by Davis’ eight. Notre Dame was outrebounding Purdue Fort Wayne, 23-9, which included seven offensive boards, resulting in six second-chance points. In addition, Notre Dame forced 11 first-half turnovers which they converted into 16 points. 

Njie got the offense going to start the second half for he was involved in each of the first three scores, whether it was two defensive boards that led to Burton layups or scoring a driving layup of his own. 

Next, a floating jumper from Shrewsberry, followed soon after by a three from him, made it a 13-3 Irish second-half start. 

The shots were flowing at this point. Burton, Allocco, Mohammed and Konieczny all recorded points next, and the Irish started the second half 9-of-10 from the field to jump out to a commanding 61-29 lead. 

Then the threes were falling as Shrewsberry hit his fourth of the game, followed by treys from Burton, Burke Chebuhar, Julian Roper and Cole Certa (x2). Notre Dame hit six threes in a four-minute span to make it 84-47 with just under five minutes remaining. From there, the bench emptied and the 91-54 final ensued. 

UP NEXT

For Notre Dame men’s basketball fans, November 6 has been circled on their calendar. Year two of the Shrewsberry Era will officially tip off next Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET inside Purcell Pavilion. The contest will also be streamed live on ACCNX. 

Tickets are still available on FightingIrish.com. The first 3,000 fans in attendance will receive a “Set The Tone” Rally Towel, presented by Pella Windows and Doors of Northern Indiana.

– ND –