WASHINGTON D.C. – The Notre Dame men’s basketball team’s season came to a close on Wednesday in the Second Round of the ACC Tournament. The 12th-seeded Fighting Irish (13-20) fell to the 5th-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons (20-12), 72-59.
The first year under Glenn & Stacey Murphy Head Coach Micah Shrewsberry showed plenty of promise and plenty of growth with this young and hungry Irish squad. A team that started three freshmen and two sophomores for the majority of the season. A team that stuck together and won six of its last 10 games, including an ACC Tournament victory.
“Credit to Wake Forest. Just an old veteran team that was trying to get into the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what they looked like. That’s how they played. I thought they started the game with a little more juice than we did and got to a quick 8-0 run, and we just played from behind the whole game,” Glenn & Stacey Murphy Notre Dame head coach Micah Shrewsberry said.
“I’m proud of our guys for their fight, for their effort, not just today but this whole season. When I look at KenPom, I see No. 361 in the country in roster continuity, we’re No. 357 in the country in experience. You start three freshmen and two sophomores in the second round of the ACC Tournament game against a team that’s got a few fifth-year seniors and some older guys. Just proud of our effort, proud of our fight.”
Markus Burton scored a game-high 21 points, converting a career-best 12-for-12 from the free-throw line. The ACC Rookie of the Year recorded his 11th 20+ point game of the season and his sixth over the final seven games. Burton finished with 577 points on the year, further elevating the new Notre Dame freshman scoring record.
Tae Davis ended the season on a strong note with his career-best seventh consecutive game in double figures. Davis finished with 16 points today with a career-high tying 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.
Carey Booth also finished in double figures with 11 points – all in the first half. Booth finished with a team-high of six rebounds alongside Kebba Njie.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame absorbed several Wake Forest punches in the opening 10 minutes, courtesy of Hunter Sallis and Kevin Miller. The duo shot a combined 6-of-8 to start and scored 19 of the team’s first 23 points, building a 23-9 advantage.
The Irish bent but they didn’t break. As Wake Forest built a lead as large as 14 points in the half, the Irish stuck around thanks to Booth’s 11 first-half points, which included three treys. At 4:11, Julian Roper II kicked off an Irish 6-0 run which cut the deficit to just five at 31-36.
The Demon Deacons had an immediate response with back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to nine, prompting a Notre Dame timeout. The Irish kept driving and getting to the free throw line where they cut their deficit to six points at the half, down 34-40.
Wake Forest, who started the game 9-of-13, connected on just five of their next 16 from the field to finish 14-of-29 (.483) in the half. Notre Dame, who started 1-of-7, finished 9-of-24 (.375). The Irish were 10-of-12 from the free-throw line. Lastly, the Demon Deacons scored half of their points in the paint.
Davis, who sat most of the first half with two fouls, scored the first seven points of the second half for the Irish. Five of said points came from the free throw line and Davis’ basket at 13:33 was the first Notre Dame made field goal since 4:11 in the first half.
Ultimately, a Wake Forest 6-0 run pushed the Demon Deacon lead back to 13 points at 39-52 with 14:51 remaining. At 9:51, a separate 7-0 Wake Forest run created their largest lead of the game at 43-59. Notre Dame never got closer than nine points after that.
Only Burton and Davis scored points in the second half, combining for 25 points. The team shot just 5-of-25 in the second half, including 0-for-6 from three-point range.
— ND –