Winning in Cameron Indoor Stadium isn’t easy. Shooting 33.9% from the floor makes it nearly impossible.
Notre Dame men’s basketball found that out Wednesday night in a 71-53 loss at No. 9 Duke.
Not much has gone right for the Irish (7-16, 2-10 ACC) in a seven-game losing streak. But no outcome during that streak has seemed as certain as this loss to the Blue Devils (17-5, 8-3).
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Duke proved early it was ready to bounce back from Saturday’s loss to rival North Carolina, the third-ranked team in the country. When Duke went on a 15-0 run to go up 20-5 with 10:20 remaining in the first half, it seemed improbable the offensively challenged Irish would be able to mount a comeback victory.
Notre Dame made the game a little more interesting than expected to end the first half. The Irish trailed by only eight points, 33-25, at halftime thanks to a pair of made free throws by Braeden Shrewsberry after he was fouled on a 3-point attempt with less than a second remaining.
It felt like Notre Dame should be trailing by more at the break when shooting 9-of-29 (31.0%) from the field and committing eight turnovers. But the Irish defense forced seven first-half turnovers and turned them into 10 points on the other end.
An Irish run never materialized in the second half. Notre Dame failed to create a scoring streak of more than four points for the entire second half. Freshman guard Markus Burton cut Duke’s lead down to nine points twice, but the Irish trailed by double digits for all but 1:19 of the final 20 minutes.
Duke’s offense relied on balanced scoring and a significant advantage in the paint. All five starters scored at least seven points. Starting forward Mark Mitchell tied with bench guard Caleb Foster for a team-high 13 points. Fellow freshman guard Jared McCain added 11 points.
More than half of Duke’s 71 points came within the paint (38). The Blue Devils took advantage of 16 offensive rebounds with 21 second-chance points. Notre Dame managed just two second-chance points. Duke outrebounded ND, 43-35.
Mitchell grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds for Duke. Center Kyle Filipowski was right behind him with nine.
“They were pretty tough on the glass with those two guys,” said Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry. “They do a good job of going. We’re usually one of the best defensive rebounding teams.
“They got 16, three of those were team, so they got 13 offensive rebounds. They hurt us there. They just beat us up on the glass at times. Sometimes we play a little bit smaller and we give up some things, because we are a little bit smaller.”
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Notre Dame sacrificed size in the hopes of generating more scoring with its ninth different starting lineup this season. The 6-foot-3 Braeden Shrewsberry made his first start since the Dec. 19 home loss to The Citadel. He replaced 6-7 guard J.R. Konieczny, who started 19 straight games. The Irish lined up with three freshman guards — Shrewsberry, Burton (5-11) and Logan Imes (6-4) — alongside forwards Tae Davis (6-9) and Kebba Njie (6-10).
Braeden Shrewsberry’s 13 points complemented 19 points from Burton, ND’s leading scorer this season. But no one else scored more than six points. Imes contributed more turnovers (3) than points (0) and assists (1) combined.
In fact, four of Notre Dame’s five starters each committed three turnovers. Davis only gave up one turnover, but he fouled out of the game with 5:44 remaining.
Notre Dame finished 7-of-27 (25.9%) from 3 and 20-of-59 from the field. It was the worst field-goal percentage for the Irish since losing to The Citadel.
What Notre Dame did do well, again, was defend Filipowski. He entered the game averaging 17.7 points per game this season. He’s only scored 15 points combined in two games against the Irish. Filipowski finished with eight points Wednesday on 2-of-9 shooting with three assists and three turnovers.
Micah Shrewsberry wasn’t ready to divulge how the Irish have had success defending him.
“We had the game plan,” Shrewsberry said. “But I coach Notre Dame. I don’t coach for the rest of the ACC. So they can figure that out themselves.”
The Irish have plenty to figure out on their own. Perhaps a return to South Bend after three games on the road in eight days can get Notre Dame back in the winning column for the first time since Jan. 9. The Irish host Virginia Tech (13-9, 5-6) on Saturday (6 p.m. EST on The CW).
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