Freshman guard Cole Certa waited in the corner knowing he may have a chance to put Notre Dame ahead in the final 30 seconds of Wednesday night’s penultimate home game of the Irish men’s basketball season.
Stanford (19-11, 11-8 ACC) clung to a one-point lead after previously surrendering its nine-point lead more than halfway through the second half. The attention of the Cardinal defense focused on forward Tae Davis with the ball in his possession and guard Markus Burton, who scored a game-high 24 points. As Burton faked a screen for Davis, the 6-foot-9 junior dribbled to his right switched directions with the ball behind his back to get Stanford’s Jaylen Blakes out of position.
That movement led 7-1 Stanford forward Maxime Raynaud to wall off the lane in the paint, but it left Raynaud’s man responsibility, Certa, wide open in the corner. Davis dished it to Certa, and he drilled what proved to be the game-winning 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in a 56-54 victory.
“It was really supposed to be for Tae to make a play,” Certa said. “We used Fat (Burton) as a decoy. [Davis] turned the corner, and he made an unbelievable play. My guy, obviously, helped a lot. For him to kick it out, turn and trust, that was big. That was all Tae.”
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The play design called for Certa to be in the right corner with guard Matt Allocco, who played for just the second time in nine games while dealing with a right wrist injury, to be in the left corner. The confidence that Certa, who finished with six points on 2-of-3 shooting all from 3-point rage, could make a shot in that moment was high.
Head coach Micah Shrewsberry chuckled when asked if Certa was capable of making that shot two or three months ago.
“Him making a shot, that’s what he can do,” Shrewsberry said. “He’s one of the most confident dudes I’ve ever been around. He’s not scared of the moment. He’s not scared to be in situations at all. That’s an unbelievable attribute to have, especially as a shooter.”
The 3-pointer raised Certa’s career point total to 40. His role has increased in recent weeks as Allocco was sidelined and sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry’s season was more recently cut short by an abdomen injury.
In Saturday’s 74-71 loss at Wake Forest, Certa had an open but deep opportunity to tie the game with three seconds remaining. He redeemed himself Wednesday in Purcell Pavilion.
“I felt like I needed to hit that one, because I felt like I should have hit the one against Wake,” Certa said. “So, a little redemption for me. I was pretty happy that went in.”
After Stanford guard Ryan Agarwal’s runner drew iron as time expired, Allocco headed straight toward the bench to give Certa a hug. Allocco, a graduate transfer from Princeton, doesn’t have many games left in his college basketball career. Wednesday’s win guaranteed at least two more opportunities as the Irish (13-17, 7-12) clinched an ACC Tournament spot ahead of Saturday’s regular season finale against California (13-17, 6-13) at 4 p.m. EST.
“It was a huge shot,” Allocco said. “He deserved it. So, I was gonna give him some love. Like he said, he puts all the work in, so he deserves a moment like that.”
An ugly first half of basketball that saw neither team shoot better than 25% from the field made way to a more entertaining second half. But Stanford, which led 24-21 at halftime, appeared to gain control with a 6-0 run that extended its lead to nine points with 8:51 remaining in regulation.
Notre Dame refused to let the Cardinal run away with this one. The Irish strung together a 13-0 run in 4:52. It took the Irish more than 14 minutes at the start of the game to reach 13 points in the first half.
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Notre Dame’s critical run started when Allocco, who in the first half made his first bucket in a game since Feb. 1, grabbed his own rebound on a missed 3-pointer and followed it up with a two-point jumper. Then Davis played tight defense to force a shot clock violation. That brought Notre Dame into a media timeout down seven with 7:49 remaining.
“No panic,” Allocco said of the message when ND trailed by nine. “Urgency, but no panic. Just getting great shots, getting stops. I think right after that we got a bucket and forced a shot clock violation and then there was a media. We tried to build off some momentum there.
“We’ve been in close games all year, obviously, so I think that helps. We have a little experience now. That helps, especially in March playing games like that down the stretch.”
Allocco tied the game at 46 after Davis rebounded a missed free throw by ND forward Kebba Njie and kicked the ball out to Allocco for 3. Burton, who finished 8-of-20 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line, scored the next six points to give the Irish a 52-46 lead with 3:28 remaining.
Burton and Davis have shouldered so much of the offensive workload for Notre Dame this season. The return of Allocco and emergence of Certa is exactly what the offense needed in pivotal moments.
Allocco’s been trying to get back on the court for every game. So much so that he jumped into walkthroughs or portions of practice until Micah Shrewsberry or team athletic trainer Nixon Dorvilien told him to get off the court.
“I’m just happy for him,” Shrewsberry said. “Nobody understands how much pain this dude is in, what he has to go through to practice, what he has to go through to play. But he really, really cares about team. He’s putting his body on the line for team.
“Every time he falls, I’m worried. He steps over and takes a charge on Raynaud, because he ain’t worried about it. He’s like, ‘What does the team need me to do? If you need me to take a charge, I’m gonna take a charge. If you need me to make a jumper, I’m gonna shoot.’
“We’re trying to protect him, because he’s not gonna protect himself, because he cares that much about the team and his teammates.”
Allocco played the third-most minutes, 24:41, for Notre Dame in his return. Only Burton (38:03) and Davis (36:03) played more. Allocco finished with a plus/minus of +15 points when on the court and scored seven points and grabbed seven rebounds. Only Davis, who scored nine points, grabbed more rebounds (eight) than the 6-4 Allocco.
Notre Dame nearly let its big run go to waste. After the Irish led by six points, Stanford responded with a layup by Raynaud, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and 3-pointers by Agarwal and Blakes to regain the lead.
Though Notre Dame has repeatedly failed to respond in such moments this season, the Irish bounced right back Wednesday. Davis got to the free throw line and split a pair with 59 seconds left. Another defensive stop for Notre Dame led to a Shrewsberry timeout with 27.8 seconds remaining, which set up the game-winner for Certa.
“To be able to answer that when things go wrong, sometimes we can’t get out of that,” Shrewsberry said. “But they took the lead, and we were able to just answer back and stay positive. We executed a couple times to be able to try to get what we wanted late.”
Notre Dame will honor its seniors before Saturday’s regular season finale. While it will be an emotional day for the likes of graduate transfers Allocco, Nikita Konstantynovskyi and Burke Chebuhar and seniors Julian Roper II and J.R. Konieczny, the days leading up to it will be crucial for young players like Certa.
“How do we move from this to what’s next?” Shrewsberry said. “Celebrate tonight and then be ready for practice tomorrow. Know the game plan. Know what we’re doing. Know how we’re guarding Cal.
“I’m not worried that he’s gonna stay and shoot after practice. That’s who he is. He’s probably gonna be in tomorrow morning shooting. He’s probably gonna stay after practice. I’m not worried about that part of it.
“OK, I made a big shot. Now, let’s handle success the right way, and let’s be ready for this next game. I think that’s the biggest thing for young guys is how do you handle success. If you handle it the right way, more success is probably coming.”
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