Notre Dame coach Micah Shrewsberry promises changes after The Citadel loss
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — About midway through the first half of Tuesday evening’s contest against The Citadel, a Notre Dame possession featured six shots and zero field goals from point-blank range.
It ended with a couple of J.R. Konieczny free throws, which made it one of the better offensive trips of the night for the Irish in Purcell Pavilion.
A dreadful performance that produced a stunning 65-45 loss to the military school — enrollment 3,500 — from Charleston, S.C., left first-year head coach Micah Shrewsberry frustrated, apologizing to anyone in the small crowd who paid to watch it and threatening his current rotation.
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“I don't know what's gonna happen on Friday,” he said about the 8 p.m. contest against Marist. “But if people don't compete, then you're gonna see more walk-ons a lot earlier than this (seven and half minutes remaining in Tuesday’s game) because we're building a culture. And that ain't it.
“That is not the culture we're trying to build. So a message needs to be sent to some of these guys that if you don't play hard, then you can sit and rot over there on the bench, and I'll find a way. I'll go and talk to the people in compliance. I will help you transfer because this culture is getting built the right way. And if you ain't a part of it, you're out. And I don't care.”
The Irish were without a couple of injured players, starter Julian Roper II (foot), and contributor Logan Imes (shoulder). Neither is expected to be sidelined long-term. Hard to know exactly how much their absence hurt, but it was felt. Roper is averaging nine points, 5.2 rebounds and 31 minutes a game. Imes, a solid defender, is averaging a couple of points in his 18 minutes a game.
There were some early signs of trouble with stretches of indifferent defense and The Citadel shot 48% in the first half and 44.4% for the game. The 6-foot-10 Quentin Millora-Brown, a Vanderbilt transfer averaging nine points a game, got to the bucket four times on simple pick-and-rolls in the first half and finished with 15.
The Bulldogs are not expected to take the Southern Conference by storm. In a preseason poll, they were picked to finish ninth in the 10-team league and the Irish went into the contest favored by nine points.
Elijah Morgan, a 6-1 grad student and former Notre Dame walk-on under Mike Brey, is averaging 11.7 points. He went 6-for-10 from the field, including 5-for-7 from the 3-point line, to finish with a game-high 19 points, one of four Bulldogs in double figures. He had 22 points total in his time at ND.
“He played fantastic tonight,” said Irish senior Matt Zona, his former teammate. “As a competitor, it's not what I wanted, but I'm happy that he's doing well over there.”
Thanks to a 14-point first-half performance by Konieczny, the Irish trailed just 32-29 at the break, and a strong start to the second half created some hope that the worst was behind them.
A tip-in by Konieczny, a hook shot in the lane by Kebba Njie and a fast-break layup by Markus Burton, following a Njie steal, gave ND a 35-32 lead at the 17:52 mark of the second half.
Then things started to crumble.
“Just lack of focus, lack of concentration, you know? That's on all of us,” Konieczny said.
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Five of the next six Irish possessions ended in turnovers and the Bulldogs slowly pulled ahead. The Citadel opponents were averaging 10 turnovers coming in and the Irish had 13.
“The game flips right there with turnovers like that,” Shrewsberry said. “And then our emotional intelligence is not very good. We don't handle failure well at all. When failure happens, we collapse. So that's all on me as a coach. I gotta find a way for us to be better.”
What may have been hardest to understand is how lost the Irish were offensively.
There was no home court shooting edge — the Irish went 3-for-24 (12.5%) on threes with Konieczny, Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry a combined 2-for-15. After going 11-for-33 from the field in the first half (33.3%), they were just 6-for-31 in the second (19.4%) and finished at 26.6% for the game, well under their season average (40.7%).
“It starts with me,” Micah Shrewsberry said. “I need to find new ways to motivate them, because whatever is happening or whatever's going on right now is not working. So I’ve gotta change my approach … I hate every loss, but to not come out and compete, man, that doesn't sit well with me ever.”
With the Irish floundering and falling behind by double digits with 7:30 to play, Shrewsberry yanked three of his starters.
“I should have done it earlier,” he said.
Konieczny wound up with 18 points, to match a career high, but went 2-for-7 in the second half. He led the club in rebounds with 10, six on the offensive end, for his third double-double of the season.
“He's coming every single day and competing and fighting,” said Micah Shrewsberry. “And that's all you can ask.”
Burton (5-for-14) was the only other Irish player in double figures with 13.
“We'll get back in here early tomorrow (to practice),” Micah Shrewsberry said. “I don't care about this game on Friday. I can tell you that right now. This is about our team getting better.
“This is about our team finding some kind of focus. Having some kind of competitive balance. It doesn't matter who you play. Everybody can beat you. And these dudes (The Citadel), they get up in the morning and they march, and they’ve got some toughness to them and we don't have toughness. And we wilted right away.
“But again, that starts with me. I have to change my approach. So we'll have a different approach. We'll see what happens. So I’ve gotta be better. I'll be better. I'll be better and I'll get the message sent across better.”
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