CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Notre Dame took home their first ever win inside of John Paul Jones Arena as the Irish (9-10, 3-5) defeated the Virginia Cavaliers (9-11, 2-7) in a 74-59 victory on Saturday. This is Shrewsberry’s second win over Virginia in just his second year at the helm of the program.
The Irish were led by Markus Burton with 21 points, shooting 50% on the night and 4-6 from behind the arc. Burton has now put up 20 or more points in four straight games and for the seventh time this season.
Tae Davis finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Braeden Shrewsberry poured in 13 points as well for the Irish.
Notre Dame shot 48% on the game and an impressive 52% from three, knocking down 12 from deep. The Irish held the Cavaliers to 40% from the floor as they outrebounded Virginia 39-27.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Irish were on the board with two free throws from Burton, followed by a steal from Allocco and a transition three from Burton to give Notre Dame the 5-0 early advantage, holding the Cavaliers scoreless in the first two minutes of play.
Burton continued to lead the Irish offense as he knocked down another three and was fouled on the play, hitting the freethrow to complete the four-point play.
An Allocco step-back jumper followed by a Roper three gave Notre Dame the 14-3 edge, forcing a Virginia timeout. The Irish were in a scoring drought for about four minutes until another Allocco three made it 17-11 with 9:47 remaining in the half.
Back-to-back baskets from Davis extended the Notre Dame lead 22-11 at 7:21.
A Njie dunk sparked a 9-0 for the Irish as finishes at the rim from Shrewsberry and Davis were followed by another Burton trey to give Notre Dame a 31-18 lead.
The two squads traded buckets to close the period as the Irish led at 39-27 going into the second half.
Burton led the way in the first 20 minutes of play, putting up 15 points and going 4-5 from deep. Davis and Shrewsberry each had 7 points a piece, with Allocco and Njie chipping in 5 rebounds a piece in the first half.
The Irish shot 41% while holding Virginia to 38% from the floor. Both teams were shooting well from behind the arc as Notre Dame was 7-15 (47%) and Virginia was 5-12 (42%).
It continued to rain threes as the Irish opened the half with treys from Shrewsberry, Allocco, and Njie. Notre Dame led 49-31 heading into the first media timeout at 15:33.
A Konstantynovskyi layup gave Notre Dame their largest lead of the game at that point as the Irish led by 21 at 53-32 with 12:15 remaining.
A steal and fastbreak layup from Burton had the Irish on a 6-0 run to force a Virginia timeout, but the Cavaliers responded with a run of their own as a 10-0 run made it 63-46 at 5:41.
Virginia worked to chip away at the deficit, but the Irish and Cavaliers swapped baskets til the very end as Notre Dame closed out the historic win in JPJ 74-59.
UP NEXT
The Irish are back at Purcell as they host Georgia Tech (9-11, 3-6) on Tuesday, Jan. 28 to take on the Yellow Jackets for the second time this season. Tip is set for 9:00 PM on the ACC Network. Notre Dame will then head south as they travel to Miami on Feb. 1 and Florida State on Feb. 4.