It was closer than we’d have liked, but the Micah Shrewsberry’s ND coaching career started with a win for the Irish. Behind a record breaking night from Markus Burton, Notre Dame beat Niagara 70-63 at Purcell Pavilion. The Indiana Mr. Basketball scored 29 points to break the record for a freshman debut previously held by LaPhonso Ellis (27 points). Fellow freshman Carey Booth added 10 points off the bench. The 6’10” forward was the only other ND player in double figures.
Slow Start but Strong Response
The Shrewsberry Era didn’t get off to the best start as the Irish trailed 12-2 after the first media timeout. Julian Roper II made jump shot two minutes into the game before the Irish were held scoreless for the next 5 minutes while the Purple Eagles built their lead. Roper II ended the run with another bucket at the 14 minute mark. After the slow start, however, the Irish played fairly well. They slowly chipped away at the lead throughout the first half going into the break down 30-29.
The game stayed tight after the break with Niagara holding a tight lead. ND’s first threes of the night by Braden Shrewsberry and Carey Booth gave the Irish their first lead just after the first media timeout. Burton took control the rest of the way scoring 16 points in the final 10 minutes of the game to keep the Irish in front. With four minutes left and Notre Dame leading 63-61, the Irish defense stood tall to finish the game. ND held their nerve down the stretch and held Niagara scoreless until the final 10 seconds with the game was already in the bag to seal the 70-63 win. While some Brey teams were able to lock in for a possession or two, this Irish squad got stops on five straight possessions in crunch time. That’s a very welcome change from the last few years.
Looking Ahead
One area for concern on the night was poor outside shooting. The Irish shot just 3/17 from deep on Monday night, but have the chance to find their touch at home later this week. Shrewsberry’s squad hosts Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon before the schedule really heats up. Notre Dame will face Auburn on Thursday, November 16th to open the Legends Classic in Brooklyn. They’ll face either Oklahoma State or St. Bonaventure the following night to finish the tournament. After seeing them against a couple high major opponents, we’ll have a bit better idea of how good this team might be. After one night, however, they have the makings of an entertaining one. At the very least, that’s an improvement over the end of the Brey-era.
It’s nice that they were able to turn up the defense when it mattered down the stretch, but for this new high-effort era getting out OReb by Niagara and drawing with them in steals and forced turnovers feels underwhelming when the Purple Eagles led most of the game.
But got the win and Markus Burton looked great, so some (two) positives.
Burton was fuuuun.
This team is gonna be up and down, but should be an entertaining season. So happy to have some hardwood excitement back!
Burton was very fun. I’m really interested to see how he holds up in ACC play; in high school, I was skeptical that he has the size to play at this level. 1 game in and he’s certainly exceeding my expectations by a mile!
Hopefully we can start knocking down some jumpers. I don’t think we’re going to be out-muscling teams, so we have to be able to shoot. If we can get some shots to fall from the outside, should be very exciting indeed.