3. Irish Prep For Two Games In Three Days

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Fighting Irish men's basketball program views the coming days as Vegas prep in terms of a short turnaround time and getting the body ready to go. They’ll play two home games in a three-day span, starting with Eastern Illinois on Monday, then South Carolina State on Wednesday. The Irish and Panthers will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ACCNX on Nov. 9 inside Purcell Pavilion. 

The 2-0 Irish will challenge a Big Ten-tested 0-2 Panther squad. Eastern Illinois has only played on the road thus far, suffering losses at Indiana and Iowa.

Tanner Vogel nearly averages a double-double with 9.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. He’s a 7’0” center from Busselton, Australia, and is listed among the tallest players to ever play for the Panthers. Demar Burton also averages 9.5 points, converting 57.1 percent from the field. Burton was a Division II standout last season at Tiffin University.

NO JET LAG VS. MERCYHURST

Any doubts or concerns over jet lag or an Italy hangover were put to bed almost immediately after the opening tip vs. Mercyhurst. The Fighting Irish jumped out to a 14-0 lead, which was later extended to 25-7, and never looked back. The Lakers scored the first four points of the second half to cut the gap to 11 points, but the Irish responded with its longest run of the Shrewsberry era - 17 points. ND ultimately won 83-56.

The Irish shot over 50 percent from the field each half, finishing 28-of-52 (.538) in the game. They drained 15 three-pointers (15-of-32, 46.9 percent) for the first time since Jan. 14, 2023. The Blue & Gold also outrebounded Mercyhurst 32-22, which included limiting them to zero first-half offensive rebounds.

Ethan Roberts led the Blue & Gold in scoring that night with 18 points. He missed just one shot from the field (6-of-7) and drained three triples.

FLOOR GENERAL

Notre Dame has reaped the benefit of having an experienced floor general commanding the team out on the court. In fact, Braeden Smith’s fingerprints have been all over ND’s 2-0 start.

Versus Villanova, it wasn’t just the fact he co-led the team with 16 points; it was what he did down the stretch.

Out of the final media timeout, Smith sank three straight free throws to make it 66-63. He had the assist on the Koehler dunk. He had a steal then assisted on the Duncomb three. He gathered the rebound after the Koehler block and called a timeout. On Villanova’s final shot, he boxed out an opponent so more time came off the clock.

Smith ultimately scored or assisted on 15 of ND’s final 19 points vs. Villanova (7 points, 3 assists).

“I think it’s this guy right here, man,” Coach Shrewsberry said. “The poise that he has. He kind of wills you to the right moments. I can be talking to somebody that’s subbing in, but he’s got the other four guys huddled, and we’re all on the same page late-game. And I thought we did a good job of handling those situations.”

Against Mercyhurst, Smith tied his career high of 10 assists to go along with his five points. He earned an assist on four of the team’s first seven made baskets of the game.

BREAKOUT BRADY K

The basketball world took notice of Brady Koehler after his impressive 16-point, 8-rebound, 2-steal, 2-block performance vs. Villanova. He recorded two memorable moments down the stretch, which included a takeoff poster dunk and a huge block on a corner-three attempt.

“Brady Koehler’s a beast,” Coach Shrewsberry said after the game. “He was so good late and down the stretch for us, defensively and offensively.”

In game two, Koehler tied his career high of 17 points, missing just one shot from the field. He went a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, marking a new career best in made triples.

Through two games, the sophomore is shooting 60.0 percent from the field and is 5-for-8 from three.

WIN IN ROME

What a way to open the season. Notre Dame erased a 10-point second-half deficit, utilizing a 14-4 scoring run down the final 3:37 to topple Villanova, 74-72.

The final stretch saw a little of everything: a beautiful Ethan Roberts cut to the basket and score, a fast-break Brady Koehler poster dunk, Logan Duncomb’s first career three-pointer to push the Irish ahead, or Braeden Smith being clutch at the free-throw line. In fact, Smith scored or assisted on 15 of ND’s final 19 points.

The Irish won despite shooting 35.4 percent compared to Villanova’s 46.2 percent. Shooting a lower percentage than your opponent and finding a way to win was something last year’s ND team never accomplished. This year’s squad did it through defense and resiliency.

Notre Dame’s defense forced 20 Villanova turnovers and converted that into 20 points.  The last time Nova committed 20 turnovers in a game was December 1, 2019 vs. La Salle.

In addition, the Irish defense secured 14 steals, the most in the Shrewsberry era.

Next, the Irish offense dished out 14 total assists. The last time Notre Dame totaled at least 14 assists and 14 steals in the same game was Nov. 14, 2014, vs. Binghamton.

Finally, the Blue & Gold worked hard on the glass, collecting 17 offensive rebounds, which they converted into 16 second-chance points. The 17 offensive boards marked the second most in the Shrews era.

NOTRE NOTABLES

• Notre Dame landed at No. 29 in Rothstein’s top-45.
• ND’s KenPom heading into Monday’s game is at No. 70.
• Four Irish currently average double-digit points.
• The Irish are currently averaging 14.5 assists on 25.5 made field goals.
• Smith is 9 assists away from 500 in his career
• Shrewsberry is 4 triples away from 250 in his career, which would put him in sole seventh place all-time at Notre Dame.
• Shrewsberry has started this season 8-of-18 (.444) from beyond the arc.
• Roberts is a perfect 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
• Duncomb has drawn nine fouls through two games.

COUNTDOWN TO 2000

Notre Dame men’s basketball is a richly historical program that’s been around since 1897. It’s a program full of history, major upsets, legendary individual performances and team glory.

The 2026-27 Fighting Irish are closing in on a major milestone. They are just 7 wins away from reaching 2,000 all-time, currently boasting a 1992-1146-2 record. They will become just the ninth team ever to reach the 2,000-win milestone.

It’s impossible to encapsulate over a century of accomplishments, but here’s a few By The Numbers for you:

• 92 winning seasons
• 37 NCAA Tournament appearances - tied for the 12th most
• 40 NCAA Tournament wins
• 1 Final Four appearance
• 737 wins inside Purcell Pavilion since it opened on Dec. 1, 1968
• ND has knocked off the AP No. 1-ranked team eight times inside Purcell - tied for 8th most. That includes the memorable upset over UCLA on Jan. 19, 1974
• 108 ACC wins
• 13 ACC Tournament victories, which includes the 2015 ACC Tournament title
• 38 All-Americans spanning 62 honors
• 68 NBA players
• Austin Carr - NCAA Tournament scoring record holder for 61 points in a single game. His scoring average of 34.6 ppg still ranks as the 2nd highest in NCAA all-time. Carr still holds the Notre Dame scoring record, amassing 2,560 career points.

BRAEDEN CAREER CHARTS CHASING FROM THREE

Braeden Shrewsberry will be chasing several career three-pointer records and top-5/top-10 lists during his senior season.

He started the 2026-27 campaign with 238 career treys, which already cracked the program top-10. He currently boasts 246, with No. 7 Ryan Hoover up next at 248.

He’s tracking to surpass 300 made threes, which only three Notre Dame players have done prior:

• Colin Falls = 331
• Chris Thomas = 302
• Matt Carroll = 301

-- ND --