SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Anything that was supposed to be a little bit easier on Notre Dame’s men’s basketball team this time of year won’t be as long as its best player is on the bench nursing a knee injury.
But it doesn’t mean the 6-5 Irish can’t grow while waiting for his return.
Head coach Micah Shrewsberry saw it in a 77-65 win over a 4-5 Dartmouth team in Purcell Pavilion on Wednesday that probably would have looked a lot better with Markus Burton’s 18 points a game.
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The Irish guarded well in a 69-64 win over Syracuse on Saturday when the Orange did all it could to overwhelm the Irish inside.
And the Irish guarded well against the Big Green, a team averaging 30 3-point shots a game.
Two opponents, two completely opposite offensive approaches.
“I told our guys in the locker room just now how excited I am about how we could, on the short prep turnaround, change defensive game plans,” Shrewsberry said in the post-game press conference.
“...We needed to be better in transition, because I think they got some open looks in transition, but for the most part, I thought a lot of their threes were contested. Credit our guys for following the game plan.”
By the time it was over, Dartmouth, picked to finish last in the eight-team Ivy League, hoisted 33 3-pointers and connected on only six. That’s 18.2%, well off the 34.3% the Big Green had been shooting coming in.
Another ACC team, Boston College, learned how much damage Dartmouth can do from the perimeter. It nailed 17 of 31 to knock off the Eagles, 88-83.
On the offensive side for the Irish, they had a size advantage and they capitalized on it with 46 points in the paint to 32 for the Big Green.
Tae Davis, the 6-foot-9 junior, made the most of his edge.
Finding his way to the rim, he went 9-for-13 from the floor for 20 points which included a couple of dunks, along with 10 rebounds.
“That was the game plan,” Davis said. “Get it inside, get in the paint and finish.”
Davis came in averaging 14.5 points in 26.6 minutes a game and shooting 50.5% from the field.
He had 15 points in the win over Syracuse and has helped pick up some of the scoring in Burton’s absence.
“He's a hard matchup for a lot of people,” Shrewsberry said. “... We use him in a lot of different ways.
“He was gassed at the end, and, you know, he played 36 minutes. I was like, ‘Hey, it's how it feels when you're not playing 20 because you're in foul trouble.’ … I want him in this (30-minute) range. I thought he did a good job of guarding (vs. Dartmouth), switching on the different people guarding different guys on their team … he moves around and guards a bunch of different people, and he did it without fouling today.”
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No matter how well the offense can click in spurts, there’s a fragility to it. The Irish rank 254th in the country in assists at 12.7 a game and the passing limitations show up the most when the Irish suddenly go blank for long stretches.
It happened against Dartmouth.
They were favored by 17, never trailed and led by 18 as late as 5:32 remaining in the game when the Irish made their last field goal.
Seven empty possessions later, Dartmouth, which had five players in double figures, was within nine following one of two free throws by Jayden Williams (13 points) with 1:32 to go.
From there, Dartmouth had to foul four times to get the Irish into the bonus.
Braeden Shrewsberry, who followed up his 25-point performance against Syracuse with 22 against the Big Green, hit two free throws with 1:18 to play, Logan Imes hit one of two with a minute remaining and Davis dropped in two with 42.8 seconds left.
Braeden Shrewsberry, who came in averaging 16 points and shooting 42.6 from the field, was steady all night, going 8-for-14 overall and 4-for-9 from three.
“The thing I'm proud about his last two games is he's been efficient,” said his dad. “He's been efficient in how he scored. And you know, that's been a product of cleaning up some things offensively for all of us, but also some of his teammates really finding him and getting him some open shots.”
The Irish went 6-for-21 from the arc. Nothing special about it at 28.6%, but the Irish still finished at 52.5% from the field for the game after entering the game at 46.9%.
Matt Allocco rebounded from a poor shooting day against Syracuse (four points) for 16 points on a 6-for-10 night, including 2-for-4 on threes.
The rest of the Irish combined to go 8-for-22 from the field, and no one was close to double figures.
It’s still uncertain when Burton will return, but with finals and the holiday looming, the schedule is thin. The Irish won’t play again until hosting Le Moyne on Sunday, Dec. 22 at 6 p.m. EST, and then they’ll have another long break before playing at Georgia Tech on Dec. 31.
“Each game I think is different, and what you need is different, and every style is different,” said Shrewsberry. “So, I don't think everything's gonna be the exact same with this group until we get Markus back, which is good because we're learning different ways to play. We're learning about each other. You know, Markus is watching the whole thing, … so he's seeing it.
“He's been awesome. I hate not having him, but I like him watching the game and seeing the game. He'll come over to me at timeouts and talk about stuff, and I'm like, ‘You can go tell them, this is your team. You're injured, but this is still your team. You know, you see stuff.’
“Those guys respect him, and they listen. And he's been great in that way kind of recognizing things that are going on right now.”
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