Notre Dame MBB's persistent identity shows progress in loss at Syracuse
The outcome looked bleak for Notre Dame men's basketball throughout different points of Saturday's game at Syracuse.
Head coach Micah Shrewsberry's team spent extensive time on Friday night accustoming to the JMA Wireless Dome during shootaround, but you couldn't tell with how the game started.
Not only was Notre Dame not hitting shots, they weren't taking them. The Irish only got up 20 field-goal attempts in the first half and had multiple offensive possessions end in shot clock violations. More miscommunication amounted to 11 turnovers and a 29-point deficit at one point in the first half.
The Irish — who must win the ACC Tournament to receive a bid to next month's NCAA tournament — didn't spoil and upset the Orange on 'Boehiem Day' — but they didn't quit either.
Markus Burton didn't quit driving into the lane through contact and frisky defenders.
Braeden Shrewsberry didn't quit hoisting 3-pointers despite not scoring in the first half.
Julian Roper II, a 6-foot-4 guard, didn't quit crashing the defensive glass against taller opponents.
Notre Dame's resiliency ultimately fell short in the 88-85 loss, but the Irish had chances to pull off the biggest comeback of the head coach Micah Shrewsberry era. Burton and Shrewsberry attempted 3-pointers in the final 23 seconds that would've tied the game, but each rimmed out.
While the Orange looked disengaged at points in the second half, ND's effort never dropped. The camera panned to Notre Dame's bench in the final minutes where coaches, reserves and walk-ons stood on their feet and fed off the players on the floor's energy as Syracuse's lead slowly shrunk.
The Irish (10-17, 5-11 ACC) had their three-game winning streak snapped, which was a season-long. Syracuse (18-10, 9-8 ACC) honored former head coach Jim Boeheim and the former coach joined ESPN's broadcast during the game and offered praise for the Irish coach and young point guard.
“[I'm] proud of our guys for their effort in the second half, but we just didn’t compete with the same fight in the first half,” Shrewsberry said. "Just the same carefulness we had been playing with ... the 11 turnovers, they outrebounded us in the first half, and then our competitive spirit wasn’t there. But when it did show up, that’s who we are and that’s who we have to be. We have to play like that for 40 minutes.”
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The freshman backcourt tandem of Burton and Shrewsberry combined for 46 points, including a 28-point outing from Burton, one point shy of his career high. Shrewsberry's connection from the 3-point line (6-of-9) energized the Irish in the second half and led to multiple defensive stops on the other end.
With J.R. Konieczny and Logan Imes combining for only two points, Burton and Shrewsberry's other backup, Roper, offered the biggest assist in the scoring column. The Northwestern transfer guard started the game on the bench but received the starting nod from the coaching staff in the second half instead of Kebba Njie.
Roper, who hadn't contributed a single point in two of ND's last four games, scored eight points against the Orange, including two 3-pointers of high importance. Roper's first 3-pointer beat the first-half buzzer and helped shift the momentum into the second half. Roper's other 3-pointer, a shot from the corner in front of the Irish bench, came with 1:07 left in the game and cut Syracuse's lead to three. Roper also led the Irish with seven rebounds — all of which were defensive — and six that came in the second half.
Tae Davis scored 12 points while Carey Booth and Njie finished with nine and eight points, respectively. Davis added six rebounds and five assists, the latter being a career-best. As a team, Notre Dame finished with 16 assists, which is well above its team average of 10.1. Burton's eight assists tied a career-high and marked the second time in the last four games Burton has hit that number.
After a 49-point first half, Syracuse's offense took a step back in the final 20 minutes but still produced five scorers in double-figures, including former Irish guard J.J. Starling. The former five-star recruit in the 2022 recruiting class, who played his freshman year in South Bend under former head coach Mike Brey, scored 14 points in the first game against his former team.
Starling, who took the most shots for Adrian Autry's squad with 17 field-goal attempts, was only outscored by Judah Mintz (21) and Chris Bell (18). Syracuse did most of its damage in the paint and off turnovers, the latter of which they scored 31 points off of ND's 17 turnovers committed.
Notre Dame returns to Purcell Pavilion on Tuesday for a bout with Wake Forest (18-9, 10-6 ACC). Tip-off is 9 p.m. EST on ACC Network.
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