Notre Dame's young nucleus can't overcome defensive pressure at Marquette
One program inside Fiserv Forum on Saturday returned four of its five starters for a third consecutive year and is challenging for a conference title in the Big East.
The other program — Notre Dame men's basketball — is still working out the kinks in the first year of head coach Micah Shrewsberry — and it showed in No. 8 Marquette's 78-59 win.
Notre Dame's (4-5) main rotation is made up of four true freshmen, three transfers from different schools and one holdover from the previous coaching staff. Three of those true freshmen — Markus Burton, Braeden Shrewsberry and Logan Imes — are primary ball-handlers for the Irish.
Marquette and head coach Shaka Smart took advantage of Notre Dame's inexperienced backcourt by opening the game in a 1-2-2 defensive press, which led to 13 first-half turnovers by the Irish. The Golden Eagles only had seven steals, but their veteran guards, Tyler Kolek and Kam Jones, harassed Notre Dame ball-handlers once they brought it up the floor or dribbled into a corner.
The Irish ended with 19 turnovers, and Marquette (8-2) scored 30 points off those turnovers, including 26 on the fastbreak. Several of Notre Dame's turnovers were intercepted passes in the press and others came on shot-clock violations.
Although the score was lopsided, the Irish had their moments, which included outscoring Marquette by nine points in the second half. After halftime, Notre Dame's offense had fewer stalled possessions and moved the ball more consistently, with six assists compared to four in the first half. Burton, who scored a team-high 20 points, maneuvered his way off pick-and-rolls and created scoring by himself or for others by creating off the dribble.
Burton was the only Notre Dame player to score in double figures, while Julian Roper III hit 3-of-6 attempts from beyond the arc for nine points. In total, Notre Dame shot 9-of-35 from the 3-point line and 12-of-15 from the free-throw line.
Forward Matt Zona only logged five minutes at the end of the second half but drew multiple foul calls that resulted in him going 3-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Making strides defensively
The Irish never mounted any full-court pressure against Marquette's offense, but their on-ball pressure in the halfcourt was just as effective to slow the Golden Eagles down as the game wore on. In the fall, coach Shrewsberry told Inside ND Sports he wanted to create a defensive DNA in preseason camp that was evident in Notre Dame's play during the regular season.
In its last game against a Power 5 opponent, the Irish held a Miami team that was previously averaging 86 points to 62. Notre Dame's defensive effort showed up against Marquette by causing tips and deflections. Burton tallied four steals and Roper, Imes and J.R. Konieczny each had two. The Irish also held Marquette, who had two 6-foot-11 forwards in Oso Ighodaro and Ben Gold, to seven second-chance points.
Ighodaro, a senior out of Chandler (Ariz.) Desert Vista, paced the Golden Eagles with 20 points, including 14 in the first half. He scored eight of his points from the free-throw line, while several other buckets came in transition or down low against Kebba Njie. Kolek added 17 points, while Jones rounded out Marquette's primary scoring with 11 points.
Notre Dame returns to action next Saturday at home against Georgetown (5-4). Tip-off is 2:15 p.m. EST.
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