As of Tuesday night, Notre Dame men’s basketball remains unbeaten, defeating North Dakota by 75-58 for its fourth win of the season.
As the first half started, the Fighting Hawks won the tip off and put up the first two points of the night, but the Irish responded by putting up a jump shot to make the score 2-2 thanks to sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry. The Fighting Hawks added five more points for themselves, but junior forward Tae Davis added on a layup for himself alongside sophomore guard Markus Burton to bring the Irish ahead 7-6. Graduate forward Nikita Konstantynovskyi and senior guard JR Konieczny entered the game and both added on two points to make the score 11-7. The Fighting Hawks then added on points for themselves to bring the score within two, but Konstantynovskyi added on another jump shot. Two points each from Burton and Davis would make the score 17-9, but the Fighting Hawks responded with a layup to close within 17-11.
After a shooting foul from Burton, North Dakota was given two free throws to make the score 17-14, and a turnover from the Irish gave the Fighting Hawks another opening to score two more points and bring the score difference to one. Shrewsberry responded, adding on two more points to make the score 19-16. A shooting foul from the Fighting Hawks gave graduate guard Matt Allocco two free throws, and as he made both the score moved to 21-16. Konieczny kept the ball rolling, adding two more points, but the Fighting Hawks responded putting up two more points of their own.
With the Fighting Hawks adding three more points to bring the score to 23-21, Burton brought the ball and put up four points thanks to the help of a rebound from junior forward Kebba Njie, but the Fighting Hawks responded with a layup of their own to bring the score to 27-23. With that, Davis re-entered the game, and the Irish scored a three-pointer thanks to Burton. With 3.8 seconds left in the first half, graduate forward Burke Chebuhar was given two free throws and made both, finishing the first half with the Irish up 38-31.
With the second half underway, North Dakota put in the first two baskets, but Njie responded with a basket of his own after two rebounds. An under-the-basket shot from Konieczny and a basket from Burton then brought the score to 44-35. A steal from and underneath layup Burton widened the score further before a rebound from Burton and a steal from the Fighting Hawks caused a foul on Notre Dame after an attempted block. Another steal from Burton gave the Irish two more points, as he drove straight to the basket with a layup, but North Dakota responded with a basket of its own. Notre Dame wasted no time adding on seven more points thanks to Njie and Burton to bring the score to 53-38.
North Dakota, using a method of passing around the court, seemed to be no issue to the Irish as another steal from Burton brought the ball to the other side of the court, and as Konieczny attempted to put up a layup, a foul sent him to the line for two free throws. Konieczny made one of the two, but North Dakota added on a three-pointer to bring the score to 54-41. Burton wasted no time as he added on two points alongside Roper to make the score 58-41. North Dakota added on six more points, but a key rebound from the Irish helped Davis put in two more points alongside a jump shot from Konieczny for a 62-47 score. Allocco re-entered the game for the Irish after a foul was called on Roper and Burton with nine minutes left in the half. After a missed shot from the Irish, a rebound from the Fighting Hawks gave them two points with a tip-in to make the score 62-49.
After a timeout, a shooting foul was called on North Dakota, allowing Davis to make free throws for a 64-49 lead. Burton put in another basket for the Irish, but North Dakota responded to make the score 66-52.
With the chants of “Let’s go, Irish” from the student section, a rebound from Burton allowed him to score a three-point shot, but North Dakota managed one in response to make the score 69-55. A rebound from Burton allowed Konstantynovskyi to score two more points alongside Allocco, whose two points made the score 73-55.
A foul called on North Dakota gave Konstantynovskyi a free throw, but with it no good, the score remained the same. North Dakota added a layup to make the score 73-58, and within the final minute, Konieczny put in a basket to make the final score 75-58.
Burton led for the Irish on defense and offense finishing with a total of 29 points and nine rebounds. Reflecting on his success, he gave credit to his teammates.
“Just staying patient, reading the game, allowing my teammates to help me become a better player [has been key],” he said.
While the Irish did take the win, head coach Micah Shrewsberry wasn’t satisfied, saying that the team did not perform the best that it could.
“[The] last thing I said before we came out of that huddle at halftime was, ‘If there is a rebound, I want to see bodies moving,’” he said. “And there wasn’t, and that’s immaturity.”
Shrewsberry also spoke on the team’s highlights.
“Their movement and how they run so much different stuff, side-to-side type stuff, how they’ve been guarding to this point in the year — especially defending the three-point line — I thought they did a really good job,” he said.
Burton agreed, “There’s still a lot more work to be done,” the leading Irish scorer said. “Today we didn’t play our best basketball, but we still got the dub, but obviously there’s still room to improve.”
In terms of getting ready for the next game against Elon, Roper said they are aiming to, “Stay level-headed, keep our heads on straight and come in tomorrow ready.”
Now at 4-0, the men’s basketball team prepares to face off against Elon on Friday starting at 7:30 p.m.
