Fresh off the program’s first-ever road victory at Virginia, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish men’s basketball team returned home to host the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Tuesday evening. This would be the second meeting between the two programs this season, as the Jackets rang in the New Year with a resounding 86-75 win back on Dec. 31.
Winners of two of their last three ACC contests, the Irish returned to Purcell Pavilion with a 9-10 record as they attempted to climb into the top half of the ACC standings. Notre Dame has been spearheaded all season long by the play of sophomore guard Markus Burton. The Mishawaka product, who was named to the preseason All-ACC First Team, has averaged 21.7 points per game since returning from injury, ranking second in the league behind Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg.
The Ramblin’ Wreck traveled to South Bend also just below .500 at 9-11, but contrary to the Irish, they have dropped four of their last five games, including three double-digit defeats. Like Notre Dame, Georgia Tech is also best in the backcourt, as the senior tandem of Lance Terry and Javian McCollum combine to produce nearly 29 points nightly.
Tuesday night’s matchup also marked the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game, where the coaching staff wears suits and sneakers in conjunction with the American Cancer Society. It was announced during the first media timeout that the University of Notre Dame helped raise over $485,000 for cancer research and awareness.
On the court, it was a three-point barrage throughout the first half with both sides shooting well above their season average. Tech connected on four of 10 treys, and the Irish knocked down seven of their 14, including a triple at the horn from graduate guard Matt Allocco to knot the score at 37 apiece. Notre Dame, which has shot the three-ball at over 41% during the league slate, saw six players cash in from beyond the arc during the opening 20 minutes.
Sophomore guard Braeden Shrewsberry led the Irish attack in the first half with nine points, while Burton added eight of his own. It was also a balanced attack for Georgia Tech, which had five players score five or more points before the intermission.
The first half went just as Irish head coach Micah Shrewsberry expected it would, explaining, “We’ve played them five times since I’ve been here, and each time it’s been close. So I told our guys that this game would be a fight.”
A point of concern for Shrewsberry, however, was Tae Davis’s play. After scoring a career-high 27 points in the first meeting, the junior forward from Indianapolis, who had averaged 16.4 points per game on the campaign, was scoreless.
The late tip-off time appeared to have an effect as the Irish missed their first five shots to open the second stanza en route to a five-minute scoring drought. Burton then took the lid off the rim with a pull-up mid-range jumper. The Notre Dame defense, which ranks eighth in the ACC, kept the team in it as Georgia Tech managed only six points throughout the first seven minutes of the half.
The Yellow Jackets were able to push the lead to seven at 62-55 with just over five minutes to play before consecutive triples from Braeden Shrewsberry and Burton made it a one-point game with two minutes remaining. Burton’s fourth three of the night punctuated the 9-0 charge to give the Irish the 64-62 advantage with 68 ticks left.
Tech center Baye Ndongo missed the front end of a one-and-one, and on the ensuing Irish possession, Allocco dished it off to junior forward Kebba Njie, who finished through the contact with just one second left on the shot clock, icing the game for Notre Dame.
“There were times when we could’ve given up and let Georgia Tech win, but we battled to the final buzzer,” Burton said in his postgame press conference.
Njie agreed, saying, “All we needed was a couple of stops, and we knew we would score.”
Sparked by the late 13-0 push and Burton’s 26 points, Notre Dame escaped Georgia Tech with a 71-68 win, its second straight win overall and its fifth in the last six contests played at Purcell Pavilion. It also moved the Irish to 19-14 all-time against the Yellow Jackets.
“Notre Dame made plays down the stretch that we didn’t make, and that decided the game,” Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire said, one of just 19 bench bosses across the country to have played in the NBA.
“Our guys just stuck around and found a way to win. That’s something we hadn’t been able to do yet this year,” Micah Shrewsberry said after the win. He continued by praising his team’s maturity following the setback two weeks ago at Syracuse, expressing, “I’m happy that we are still growing going into February. We had some tough conversations about how we need to play after the Syracuse loss, and the guys responded.”
The clutch performance was also Burton’s fifth consecutive game of over 20 points, an Irish feat last achieved by Ben Hansbrough in February of 2011.
Asked about the responsibility he feels to lead his team, Burton said, “Pressure is a privilege. I can handle it. My teammates and my coaches trust me. They all put time in, and we get a chance to play more basketball, do what we love and compete at a very high level.”
Naithan George led the Jackets in scoring for the fourth time this season, tallying 20 points. The sophomore guard from Toronto is usually pass-first, averaging over six assists a night, which is good for top-20 nationally. Junior forward Duncan Powell lived up to his billing as a sharpshooter, adding 18 points on three treys for Tech.
“A lot of the attention was on other guys, and my pull-up game was able to get me going,” George said postgame.
The Yellow Jackets led for nearly 37 minutes but still left with their fifth loss in six games. Georgia Tech will be back in action on Saturday when No. 21 Louisville travels to Atlanta.
The Irish will now escape the brutal cold of northern Indiana, as a two-game road trip to the Sunshine State embarks in Coral Gables on Saturday before concluding next Tuesday night in Tallahassee against the Florida State Seminoles. Saturday’s contest with the ACC-worst Miami Hurricanes is set for an 8 p.m. tipoff on ESPN2.
