SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team was left short-handed on Saturday against Pitt as injuries sidelined both Braeden Shrewsberry and Matt Allocco. However, other Irish stepped up in a major way to supplement the duo of Markus Burton and Tae Davis. The end result was a 76-72 Fighting Irish (12-15, 6-10) victory over the visiting Pitt Panthers (16-11, 7-9)
There were a total of nine ties and 12 lead changes in the game. Pitt never had a lead larger than five. Notre Dame never had a lead larger than four until a decisive 13-2 run which started with 6:51 remaining.
Junior forward Tae Davis led the team in scoring with 21 points on 8-11 shooting, plus 4-6 from the charity stripe. He was followed closely by sophomore sensation Markus Burton who dropped 20 points on 8-17 shooting. Burton also tallied six boards and three assists.
The aforementioned second-half heroes were freshman guard Cole Certa and senior guard J.R. Konieczny. They both finished in double figures and both recorded all their points in the second half.
Certa caught fire and drained three triples and finished with a career high 12 points. Konieczny was clutch in the final moments where he went 6-6 from the free-throw line to finish with 10 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
At the first break of the game, aka the 14:40 media timeout, the Irish were up 8-7 after a 4-4 shooting start but four early turnovers as well. By the second media at 11:47 the Irish had incurred seven turnovers.
The good news is that the Irish only committed one turnover the rest of the half and settled in offensively and recorded quite an efficient shooting display.
In fact, Notre Dame finished the half 13-23 (.565) compared to Pitt’s 12-19 (.632). The Irish defense upped its intensity and eventually forced eight Panther turnovers to even the slate.
Notre Dame’s first half scoring was powered by a combined 21 from Davis and Burton. Burton got the last laugh of the half with a jumper with seven seconds left that evened the score 30-30. There were five ties and three lead changes in the half.
The second half was a true boxing bout in which both Notre Dame and Pitt traded blow for blow. Fast forward to 12:45 remaining and the Irish were down one at 41-42. None other than freshman Cole Certa recorded a great sequence in which he drained back-to-back threes to get the crowd on their feet, reclaiming the lead at 47-44.
At 10:27, Certa drained his third triple to keep the hot hand and Irish lead intact at 50-46.
Later down one, the Irish trio of Konieczny, Davis and Burton combine for a 7-1 run, all recording a made basket to prompt a Pitt timeout up 59-54 with 6:28 left.
Out of the timeout, Burton turned it on with back-to-back jumpers, which was followed by a great drive from Davis. Moments later, it was another great drive and pull-up from Burton and the Irish found themselves with their largest lead of the game up 11 at 67-56 with 2:43 left.
While it was a six-point game with 1:36 remaining, Notre Dame would have to continue to work for it as they led 67-61. Pitt worked to chip away at the deficit as they knocked down a jumper and two three’s in between fouling and forcing the Irish to the free throw line.
Konieczny and Burton were clutch down the stretch as the pair of guards went a perfect 8-8. Konieczny went 6-6 when the Irish needed it most, knocking down the final two free throws with five seconds to secure the Irish win 76-72.
UP NEXT
The Irish hit the road for two games next week against teams with NCAA Tournament aspirations. First, Notre Dame will travel to Clemson on Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network. Next, the Irish will go to Wake Forest on Saturday, March 1, at 5:15 p.m. ET on the CW.
– ND –