SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame men's basketball team did everything but finish on Wednesday night inside Purcell Pavilion.
In 40 minutes of game action, NC State threw a bunch of different looks at the Irish, including full-court pressure, pick-and-rolls with its four-guard lineup and consistent paint touches to forward DJ Burns Jr.
Through it all, the Irish never relinquished the lead and kept a grasp on their second conference win of head coach Micah Shrewsberry's tenure — until they didn't.
After Notre Dame junior guard Julian Roper II missed the front end of a one-and-one, Burns scored a go-ahead basket with under one second left on the next possession to seal NC State's 54-52 win.
As sophomore forward Kebba Njie stood behind him, Burns received the sideline inbounds pass, took two dribbles to his right, shot faked, and got Nije to soar through the air — clearing an open path for a step-through move and left-handed layup.
"We knew that he was gonna get it," Njie said. "I was undisciplined in that last possession. I jumped on the shot fake, [and] he got an easy layup."
Njie might've grown too excited and jumped at the opportunity of a game-defining block, but that final play doesn't tell the complete story of how Notre Dame (6-8, 1-2 ACC) arrived at that point.
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Shrewsberry's squad held an 11-point lead with under eight minutes left in the second half, but there were signs scattered throughout the game of Notre Dame potentially letting one slip away.
After taking an eight-point lead into halftime, Notre Dame was outscored 6-1 in the first five minutes of the second half. With Njie, freshman forward Carey Booth and sophomore forward Tae Davis — all 6-foot-9 or taller — on the floor in that span, the Irish allowed seven offensive rebounds. The Wolfpack (10-3, 2-0 ACC) ended the contest by outrebounding Notre Dame, 17-5, on the offensive glass.
"That big lineup actually didn't rebound as well," Shrewsberry said. "We didn't rebound at all in the second half. It wasn't the turnovers at the end. It wasn't missed free throws at the end. It's the 13 offensive rebounds in the second half to a team that historically is not really good at getting second-chance points. They can't get 66 field-goal attempts to [our] 47 and expect us to win ... that's where the game was won.
"When we came out in the second half and we allowed them to play volleyball on the backboard instead of going and getting the ball with two hands, it's simply box a guy out. We're switching screens and we continue to watch ... not watch, sorry, because we didn't even turn and look.
"[We] let Casey Morsell just run in from the opposite corner and get offensive rebounds and tip it up. And like nobody makes any adjustments. You can only say something so many times. At some point in time, discipline's gotta kick in."
The Irish committed 13 turnovers while facing defensive pressure all game, six fewer than they did in their last outing against a pressured-oriented defense in Marquette.
Notre Dame's turnovers didn't stack upon each other but came at inopportune times — sophomore forward J.R. Konieczny was caught in a rush and traveled with 26 seconds left while attempting to evade on-ball pressure. Notre Dame's primary ball handler, freshman guard Markus Burton, lost his handle in the halfcourt while being hounded by a defender with under two minutes to go. Burton finished with a team-high six turnovers.
Burton was Notre Dame's driving force on offense with 18 points, including multiple shots off the dribble from the mid-range, and two made 3-pointers on three attempts. Davis was Notre Dame's next leading scorer with seven points, but all of those came in the first half. Davis finished 0-of-4 in the second half and missed his only free throw with 49 seconds left in the game.
Shrewsberry said the Irish didn't have enough players who had moved on from Saturday's win against Virginia, and it showed in how they started the second half and what weaknesses they allowed NC State to exploit as the game prolonged.
"I'm happy when I'm leaving here, because we started the right way," Shrewsberry said. "But we didn't. And they got on that offensive boards, and now we're battling the whole time. Now they're scoring. Now they're getting free throws, because we keep fouling them.
"They're not the team that gets to the free-throw line. They're not a team that gets offensive rebounds. And we allow them to do that. Now, guess what — we're taking the ball out of bounds. Now we've got to handle the press. Now we've got to get the ball across the court. Now we're up against the shot clock the whole time.
"When simply, if I'd just boxed my man out and got that rebound, now we could push in transition maybe or we're playing a little more clean."
Finding a positive
While Notre Dame's passiveness against NC State's effort to attack the offensive glass played a role in the loss, the Irish defense strung together consistent stops and prevented the Wolfpack from their normal success.
Burns led the Wolfpack with 13 points, and junior guard Jayden Taylor followed closely in the scoring column with 12. Taylor, who entered the matchup averaging 13 points per game, scored five points from the free-throw line and was held to 3-of-13 shooting.
NC State's leading scorer, graduate student guard DJ Horne, scored eight points while primarily being guarded by Burton and Roper. Coach Kevin Keatts' squad came into Purcell Pavillon averaging 79.8 points per contest, including games against No. 12 BYU and Boston College, in which they exploded for 86 and 84 points, respectively.
Notre Dame held the Wolfpack — who relied on isolation sets and post feeds to Burns — to two points more than their season-low 52 points at the hands of Ole Miss in November. The Irish only forced four turnovers, and two players — Davis and senior forward Matt Zona — were the only two credited with a steal.
For the most part, ND's defenders stayed in front of their man and forced NC State into highly contested and low-percentage shots, which is a nod to the foundation Shrewsberry is building within his program.
ND's backcourt, who were tasked with surviving in one-on-ones and defending pick-and-roll sets, proved to be capable of defending without fouling. Burton, Roper and freshman guard Logan Imes combined for five fouls and were disciplined until it came to boxing out shooters.
In its seven previous games against Power Five programs this season, Notre Dame held opposing offenses to an average of 68.2 points per game, which is lower than all of those same programs' season averages: Virginia (66.6), Georgetown (72.7), South Carolina (75.5), Oklahoma State (75.7), Marquette (78), Miami (84.7) and Auburn (84.8).
"We're gonna guard people, I can tell you that ... I don't care who you are," Shrewsberry said. "We're gonna guard you, man. I don't know how many points Virginia scored, but now NC State scored 54 ... we're gonna lock in [and] we're gonna guard people."
Notre Dame returns to the court Saturday against Duke (10-3, 1-1 ACC). The No. 14-ranked Blue Devils pose another offensive threat, with five players averaging double figures including sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski with a team-high 17.5 points per game.
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