SOUTH BEND, Ind. – While most families across the country were doing their final Thanksgiving prep, the Notre Dame men’s basketball team was already feasting on a 75-55 victory over Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday night inside Purcell Pavilion. The Fighting Irish (3-2) moved the ball quickly and efficiently, posting a season best 18 assists on 28 made field goals against the Hawks (2-3).
In addition, the Irish hit double-digit three-pointers for the first time this season, connecting on 13-of-27 from deep. In fact, nine different Irish players recorded a made three-pointer tonight.
Guard Braeden Shrewsberry had a breakout game with a season high 13 points. He spearheaded the hot night from three, tallying a 4-for-6 night.
Point guard Markus Burton registered his fifth straight game in double figures with 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting. He also recorded season highs in rebounds (6), assists (5) and steals (3).
Kebba Njie made his Notre Dame debut tonight, returning from a right-hand injury. The sophomore netted seven points and four boards.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Notre Dame produced its best start of the season, connecting on six of its first eight, which included a 3-for-5 mark from three-point range. In fact, the Irish fired off a 13-2 run behind two treys from Roper II, a three from Konieczny, four points from Zona and a putback from Davis.
Thus, the Irish led 15-7 at the 15:03 media. Slight hiccup though offensively when Notre Dame recorded four turnovers over the next four minutes to reach the next media at 11:23 with the same point total, now 15-10.
The ND offense started to click again all thanks to Braeden Shrewsberry. The freshman guard hit four three-pointers over the next five minutes, which included a run of 10 straight points from 7:35-5:51. The end result after Shrewsberry caught fire, a 32-17 ND lead.
Notre Dame then took a 38-22 lead into halftime on 46.4 percent shooting (13-of-28), as they limited Maryland Eastern Shore to 30.0 percent (9-of-30) from the floor. Shrewsberry was the lone Irish player in double figures with 13 points. He was 4-for-6 from three in the opening half.
It was a pretty balanced attack in the second half as the three-pointers continued to fly, with Zona, Booth, Imes and Njie all connecting from deep early on. As a result, the Irish maintained a comfortable lead, up 65-39 at the under-eight media timeout.
Njie got comfortable in the second half where he secured all seven of his points.
Two more moments to note in which the home crowd erupted – with 3:45 remaining, Tony Sanders Jr hit his first three since Duke back on Jan. 31, 2022. Then with 1:20 left in the game, walk-on Thomas Hattan got in on the action and hit one from beyond the arc to bring us to our final score of 75-55.
UP NEXT
The Irish will have the next two days off to enjoy the holiday before getting back to work to prep for the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge. Notre Dame will hit the road to clash with South Carolina on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
— ND –