While Notre Dame’s Micah Shrewsberry goes about gathering early-season information about his rebuilding project, his collection of new players and returners are reducing a lot of the game-day angst.
It’s much too early to tell if Saturday’s performance will eventually be regarded as a season statement of sorts, but there was no denying the promise in a slick 84-63 victory over a likewise rebuilding Georgetown (2-1) program.
“Road wins are gold, man,” Shrewsberry said in the post-game media conference. “It doesn’t matter who you beat … We have to be good in our non-conference games.”
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From Matt Allocco’s 15-point first half performance to backup center’s Nikita Konstantynovskyi’s eight points and eight rebounds, to backup forward Burke Chebuhar’s nine points on 3-for-3 shooting on threes — all new members of the Irish roster — the options and depth for Shrewsberry appear real.
“When those guys (Konstantynovskyi and Chebuhar) got in there in the first half, I thought they really settled us,” Shrewsberry said. “Because we use our bigs as ball handlers, as passers, everything else. To have two seniors come in like they did, they weren't shook by the pressure. And that's when we started really taking the lead out a little bit.
“In the first half, when those two guys subbed in, they played with great effort. They handled the ball, they didn't turn it over, and then Burke’s shooting is something that you know you're worried about.
“Allocco is just a gamer. When the lights come on and are the brightest, he’s at his best. And he was an absolutely great pickup for us this summer.”
Ed Cooley’s second Georgetown team figures to improve on last season’s 9-23 mark — and had pocketed wins over Lehigh and Fairfield prior to Saturday’s match in Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. — but the Irish (3-0) appeared well ahead of a Georgetown program that nicked the Irish in overtime a year ago.
Even with club offensive leaders Tae Davis and Markus Burton limited by foul trouble, the Irish pulled away in the first half.
The 6-foot-4 Allocco, a Princeton transfer who came in as one of the country’s most efficient scorers, went 5-for-6 from the field and the 6-8 Chebuhar, a Lehigh transfer, nailed a couple of late first half threes to lead a 65% field goal shooting assault in the first half.
It helped produce a lead that hit 17 in the first half and 15 at the break at 44-29, to basically take the crowd of almost 9,000 out of it.
It could have been, and probably should have been a bigger lead.
Eight of Notre Dame’s 12 turnovers came in the first half, including four straight over a two-minute span, and of the Hoyas’ 21 rebounds, a whopping 15 came on the offensive end. For context, the Irish had four offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
What remained steady, no matter which combination of the 11 players Shrewsberry used in the first half, was the defensive energy and communication. It helped force a first-half Georgetown scoring drought that lasted 8:50.
“They were really locked in defensively,” Shrewsberry said of his club. “And that’s where you saw us push ahead.
“You know, last year, all of our time was spent on becoming a good defensive team because I thought that was the only way we could hang in the games, the only way we could stick around. We had to make it a game in the mud and try to score in the 60s and play in the 60s.
“As we've gotten better offensively, our defense hasn't shifted at all, right? So, like, we won't play in the 80s, we want to hold you in the 60s, and that's the kind of effort that it takes. And you know, we're just shuffling bodies, playing different people and different guys come in and play at the same effort level. That's what I love the most, there's no dropoff when we sub defensively.”
Georgetown shot just 26% from the field and 17% on threes (3-18) in the first half.
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And Shrewsberry’s halftime adjustment solved 6-10 freshman Thomas Sorber, who didn’t start because of a leg issue. One of the country’s top 50 incoming recruits and reigning Big East Player of the Week after averaging 22.5 points through two games, had 12 points at the break and didn’t score again, finishing 3-for-9 from the field.
In the meantime, Shrewsberry could get back to his regular lineup in the second half and it held steady after an early hiccup.
Burton, averaging 18 coming in, finished with 16 on 4-for-11 shooting (8-for-8 on free throws), five assists and just one turnover in 30 minutes. Davis, after collecting nine early in the first half to get the Irish off to a solid start, totaled 13 on 5-for-6 shooting. He was coming off a career high 27 against Buffalo and came in averaging 18, twice his average of a year ago.
The Hoyas made a dent early in the half behind a couple of Jayden Epps (Illinois transfer) 3-pointers and a few early Irish misses to get within 10 a couple of times. But that push ended after a Braeden Shrewsberry floater from 12, a couple of Burton free throws and a Konstantynovskyi putback.
The Hoyas had one more mini run in them before another scoring drought lasting five and a half minutes did them in.
For the game, the Irish shot 59% from the field to the Hoyas’ 32% and 43% to 25% on threes.
The Irish wound up with a 42-33 edge in rebounds and allowed only three offensive rebounds in the second half.
The Irish will host North Dakota (2-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. EST.
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