SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Elon should probably brace for a little mayhem.
The school from North Carolina comes to Purcell Pavilion for a men’s basketball game on Friday night.
And Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry promises his club is “going to play like their hair’s on fire.’’
That’s because it didn’t on Tuesday night, in a 75-58 Irish victory over North Dakota in front of 3,912 that left Shrewsberry thoroughly unimpressed.
No matter what good stuff the Irish (4-0) did to overtake North Dakota went unnoticed by the second-year Irish coach — his assessment clouded by the visiting team’s 14 offensive rebounds that produced 14 second-chance points, a 38-36 disadvantage overall on the boards as well as what he considered an overall lack of energy by his Irish team.
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Never mind that his electric sophomore guard, Markus Burton, was a joy to watch with a seemingly bottomless bag of tricks to get open in the lane for 29 points — a bucket off his career high — on 13-for-20 shooting.
Never mind that the Irish defense forced a 34.4% shooting performance out of the Fighting Hawks along with 15 turnovers in 68 possessions.
And never mind that Shrewsberry’s club shot 51.6% from the field, despite going just 3-for-17 (17.6%) from the 3-point line.
None of that seemed to matter to Shrewsberry, who just saw the dark side.
“I don't want to take anything away from those guys (2-2 North Dakota), because I thought their movement and how they run so much different stuff, side-to-side type stuff, and how they've been guarding to this point in the year, especially the 3-point line — I thought they did a really good job.
“I think we prepared the same way that we prepared for our last game, or other games that we've played this season. So, that's the most disappointing thing for me. For a team that played with so much maturity on Saturday [road win over Georgetown], we played with a lot of immaturity today.”
His ire may have peaked on North Dakota’s first possession of the second half, when Hawks 6-2 guard Eli King flew in from the side on a missed shot for a rebound bucket because no one blocked his path.
It pulled North Dakota to within 38-33.
It came just minutes after Shewsberry told his club “after their shot goes up, I better see some bodies moving.”
Looking for a spark, Shrewsberry found it in Julian Roper II, a 6-4 senior who transferred in from Northwestern last season. His minutes had been limited to a total of 24 through the first three games, but he was on the floor for almost 22 on Tuesday.
Part of his extra time may have been due to the loss of Sir Mohammed, the 6-6, 215-pound freshman who Rivals ranked as the country’s No. 20 shooting guard and 62nd player overall nationally in his class.
He was playing 13 minutes a game through the first two games but had surgery Monday for a “lower body injury,” per a prepared Irish statement.
He is out indefinitely but is expected to make a full recovery. He was off to a slow start offensively in the two games, averaging 2.5 points, shooting 2-for-9 overall and 0-for-5 on 3s. But he did average 3.5 rebounds and two assists.
Roper’s spark came primarily on the defensive end, infiltrating the Fighting Hawks’ passing lanes for five steals. He also had two of ND’s 12 assists and three rebounds.
“Coach talks about just being prepared, and that's what I've just been doing,” Roper said, “coming every day, taking every day and practice as a way to stay fresh and stay ready to go whenever my number’s called.
“[It’s] definitely tough [waiting for minutes]. But just being mature, just knowing, that's the game. You see it all the time with different teams. Anybody could have a day. And I know I can contribute in multiple ways. So, whenever I get out there, I just pride myself on doing something to help us win.”
The 5-11 Burton, coming off a terrific freshman year, has had offensive help in the first three games as the Irish averaged 86 points a game.
He was averaging 17.7 points, but shooting at just a 36.7 clip that included 3-for-15 on 3s. He was 2-for-4 from long distance on Tuesday night, but punished North Dakota the most with his wily work in the lane that helped give the Irish a 46-24 edge in points in the paint.
He also had nine rebounds to narrowly miss his first career double-double and committed just one turnover in almost 34 minutes.
“I’m just staying patient, reading the game, allowing my teammates to help me become a better player,” Burton said following the win. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of great players, so just feeding off them, trusting the process, trusting my coaching staff, and just allowing the game to come to me and just not rushing. I’m just having fun, going out and playing basketball.”
Burton had 16 points by halftime with a 7-for-8 start, and six points over a four-minute swath early in the second half as the Irish started to pull away.
He didn’t have his usual help, with 16-point scorer Tae Davis managing just eight points and Braeden Shrewsberry suffering his worst shooting night of the season, scoring six.
He came into the game scoring 15 a game and shooting 56% from the field, including 7-for-14 from the 3-point line.
Tuesday, he was 3-for-11 from the field that included 0-for-7 on 3s.
The only other double-digit scorer for the Irish was J.R. Konieczny, who came off the bench and delivered 12 points (6-for-9 shooting) in 19 minutes.
It was the most offensive production of the season for the 6-7 senior, who made 19 starts a year ago, averaging 7.7 points a game.
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